Hey all, Pastor John here. Thanks for tuning
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Now let's dive into this week's message. Well,
this year for Advent, we're asking this question,
how does the Apostle Paul, How does Paul tell
the Christmas story? We decided on kind of a
unique way of approaching the Advent instead
of just doing our normal hope and love and peace
to say, what are some of the ways that Paul describes
this in the New Testament and tells this Christmas
story? And last week in Galatians 4, we saw that
Advent, we kind of saw it from a 30 ,000 foot
above view. And we saw from that vantage point
of God's eternal plan that when the time came
to completion, God sent his son. And it was not
early, it was not late, but right on time. Stepping
into real history, stepping into real humanity,
real brokenness to bring real redemption. And
this week, Paul takes us even deeper in Philippians
chapter two, which is where we'll be. So if you
want to begin to turn over there in your Bibles,
Philippians chapter two, he invites us to see
not just the timing of Christ's coming, but the
mind of Christ behind his coming. And so we're
going to read Philippians chapter two, beginning
in verse five. And I'll also remind you that
through the church center app, which you can
access via that That's a QR code on the back
of the chairs. You can take notes for sermons
right there and they'll save them and keep you
organized there with your note taking. Philippians
chapter two, verse five through 11. Adopt the
same attitude as that of Christ Jesus who existing
in the form of God did not consider equality
with God as something to be exploited. Instead,
he emptied himself by assuming the form of a
servant, taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
to death on a cross. For this reason, God highly
exalted him and gave him the name that is above
every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every
knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under
the earth, and every tongue will confess that
Jesus is Lord. to the glory of God the Father.
This is God's word. I have three points this
morning that we'll cover that'll help you keep
track of where we're at in the sermon. Point
number one is the call that frames the text.
First is the call that frames the text. Before
Paul ever tells us what Jesus did and before
he speaks of the incarnation or before he unveils
the cosmic hymn, I don't know if you guys noticed
that in your Bibles, but if you were reading
from your Bible, you probably saw that Philippians
2 has right there in the middle this sort of
stylistic formatting in your Bible that makes
it look like it's a poem. They move it to the
middle, they have it in italics, whatever your
Bible does. That's because most likely this passage
we read was actually a hymn sung in the church.
Now, some speculate, did Paul write it himself
and was it sung among the churches? Or did someone
else write it and Paul was borrowing it, it was
well -known? Or maybe it was merely a spoken
word poem. But either way, it was a part of the
early church's worship, this thing that we just
read in Philippians chapter two. But before he
gets to that cosmic hymn of Christ's descent
and exaltation, he stops and talks about us,
the church. And that's because this passage we're
going to look at is not just theological, but
it's also a mindset to adopt. It's something
that is supposed to change our way of life, change
our mind, change our way. And before we get to
verse five, there's four verses before in Philippians
chapter two. And I just want you to listen to
how Paul begins that section. He begins with
this. If there is any encouragement in Christ,
if any consolation of love, if any fellowship
with the spirit, if any affection and mercy make
my joy complete by thinking the same way, having
the same love united in spirit. intent on one
purpose. You notice what Paul is doing there.
He's reminding them and he's reminding us of
what we already possess in Christ. Encouragement,
love, spirit -filled unity and mercy. And he's
saying, because Christ has given you all of this,
now let this shape how you treat each other.
But then Paul names the enemy, of that unity.
And the enemy of that unity, he says, do nothing
out of selfish ambition or conceit. And that
word conceit literally means empty glory. In
fact, some old translations used to say vain
conceit or vain glory. Do nothing out of selfish
ambition or Vain conceit or empty glory. And
that is that hollow sense or desire to be important
or enough. That craving to be noticed. It's something
that we all have experienced. And Tim Keller,
Pastor Tim Keller used to say that inside of
everyone in this room. Everyone here is walking
around with an inner vacuum. This deep gnawing
sense. that we're not enough, that we're not
impressive, that we're not secure. And so we
chase things. We chase them to try to fill that
emptiness in us. And that's what Paul is diagnosing
here. He's diagnosing a glory hunger that we
all have, a gravitational pull toward self -centeredness.
And Paul says that right there, that glory hunger,
that self -centeredness, that is the greatest
threat to unity, joy, love, and the mission of
Christ through his church. But what Paul says
next in those opening verses, listen to this,
he says, but in humility, So do nothing out of
selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility
consider others as more important than yourself.
Everyone should look not to his own interests,
but rather to the interests of others. And I've
been around long enough. I've been around in
the church to know that that sounds almost impossible.
Doesn't it? Because humility doesn't come naturally
to us. Humility is not something you can just
decide to have, is it? C .S. Lewis in his book,
Mere Christianity, it's been oft quoted, but
he has this kind of famous line here or the group
words where he describes the humble man. And
he says this, he says, do not imagine that if
you meet a really humble man, he will be what
most people call humble nowadays. He will not
be a sort. who is always telling you that, of
course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think
about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent
chap who took a real interest in what you said
to him. If you do dislike him, it will be because
you feel a little envious of anyone who seems
to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking
about humility. In fact, he will not be thinking
about himself at all. And Lewis is making this
important point. You don't defeat self -centeredness
by constantly measuring how humble you are becoming.
That will only make you more what? Self -focused,
right? In the screw tape letters. I don't have
time to kind of explain how that works, but the
way C .S. Lewis writes in the screw tape letters
is ultimately a warning. And he warns that the
moment someone becomes aware of their humility
and becomes self -satisfied in it, they lose
it. Because now they're proud of being humble.
And that's because humility is actually self
-forgetfulness, not self -congratulation. How
is it formed? Well, if it is self -forgetfulness,
then it is formed by being captivated by something
else greater, more beautiful, more glorious than
yourself. That's how humility is formed in us.
Some of you may resonate with this illustration
or example. But I remember me and my wife were
driving home from Montana. And when we were driving
to Montana, a lot of the drive was in the dark.
But on the way back, we got to see some of the
scenery that was lit now. And as we were coming
through Idaho, we hit this kind of bridge area
and we're driving over this bridge and we look
down and we see this massive canyon. It's the
Snake River, I believe it was. the Snake River.
And there's this massive canyon. I don't know
how far apart it is, but even down in the canyon
next to the river were all these houses. And
we were up above it, driving over top of it.
And I'll tell you, I was driving and I just had
a moment, like knocked my breath out. It was
so beautiful. The perfect time of the day, lighting,
everything was perfect. And you just got this
crazy sense of glory. And I forgot that I was
driving. You know, in that moment, you're like,
oh, it was a joke that's often told, at least
among people that I know. Or in a moment like
that, you might even say something like, man,
I was so captivated by it. Like, I just wanted
to be enveloped by it. Like, I just wanted to
drive off the cliff and fall down into it and
just be wrapped up in that glory. Because for
that moment, For that moment, I forgot myself.
For that moment, I forgot the empty pursuit,
the empty glory I was trying to fill with all
kinds of other empty things. And for a moment,
I was filled. Now it passed. It couldn't hold.
It was a glory that made me forget myself, but
it wasn't a glory that lasted. But if humility
is through self -forgiveness, then there's a
sort of glory that makes you forget yourself.
that makes your, you know this, maybe in a moment,
maybe some of you are more wrapped up in beautiful
music and you've experienced a beautiful musical,
me and my wife were in Italy and we went to like
a symphonic orchestra and I remember being in
this beautiful place and the grandeur of it and
just closing your eyes as you're listening to
the music in this perfectly tuned hall, no microphones
because they didn't need it, it was perfectly
tuned for that music. And you just lose yourself
for a moment. Or maybe it's art for you. But
whatever it is, it's the glory and the beauty.
Something greater than yourself. Something outside
of yourself that makes you forget yourself. This
is why Paul doesn't say, work really hard on
being humble. Work really hard on being humble
because that's not possible. Humility is not
something that you can aim at, look at, and work
on. Instead, what Paul says is he says, adopt
the same attitude, the same mind as that of Christ
Jesus. Meaning humility doesn't begin with the
human will. It begins with beholding Christ.
It begins by fixing your eyes on the one who
had real glory and willingly laid it down. And
when you see that, when you see that the eternal
son descending in love, refusing to cling to
his rights, taking the form of a servant, emptying
himself for your salvation, something begins
to shift inside of you. The glory you were trying
to grasp at, the empty glory, the validation
you were trying to manufacture, the insecurity
that you were trying to manage, it gets replaced
by the only thing that is strong enough to quiet
it. The glory of the love and self -giving humility
of Jesus. And suddenly the people around you,
they're not competition. They're not competitors.
They're not threats. They're not obstacles to
your sense of importance anymore. They become
people that you can serve, people that you can
honor, people you can genuinely put ahead of
yourself because you're no longer scrambling
to fill the emptiness inside. Christ begins to
fill it. He begins to heal it. And he begins
to reshape you from the inside out. And so before
Paul tells us what Jesus did, he starts by telling
us only Jesus' self -emptying can free you and
I from the pursuit of empty glory. And we can
get into, like, where does that empty glory come
from? Why are we in that state? And I think that's
important, see, because we were all created.
Humanity was created by God. The glory of God
was humanity. the crown of his creation, we were
and we exchanged that glory for something else.
We exchanged the glory of God's creation for
our own self -centeredness, for our own self
-will and salvation. And bummer, it turned out
we couldn't save ourselves. It turned out we
couldn't fill the God -sized hole that we had
created in our hearts. And all we found was emptiness.
And so the heart of this passage is this cosmic
hymn of Advent, this Philippians 2, 5 through
11, where Paul begins with one of those statements
that just really stands out and people have discussed
a whole lot in theology, but who existed in the
form of God? but did not consider equality with
God something to be grasped. And so let's look
at that. If you're taking notes, number two,
the descent of the son, he emptied himself. When
Paul begins the hymn in verse six. he starts
at the highest point imaginable, who existed
in the form of God. He's talking about Jesus.
Jesus who existed in the form of God. Well, what
does that mean? What that means is before Bethlehem,
before Mary, before the manger, before the world
was spoken into being, Jesus existed in the form
of God. And this word form in the Greek, it means
the true essential nature of something. And so
Paul is not saying that Jesus was similar to
God or that Jesus was close to God or that Jesus
was created by God. He's saying that Jesus possessed
the full undiluted reality of God's being. He
eternally shared the divine nature. He was not
climbing up to become God as some religions or
false religions would say. He already was God.
And yet, Paul says he did not consider equality
with God as something to be exploited. Jesus
had every right to use his divine status for
his own advantage, but he didn't. He never once
leveraged his deity to avoid hardship or evade
suffering. He refused to cling to his privilege.
He refused to grasp. what he had every right
to hold on to. And at the heart of Advent is
that before Christ ever descended physically,
he descended willingly. You see, he emptied himself.
This phrase that has launched a thousand theological
debates in books written. But I think it's quite
simple when you let Paul interpret it with his
own words right there in Philippians chapter
two. Instead, he emptied himself. Well, what
does this mean? What did Jesus empty himself
of? And let's start with some misunderstandings.
What he emptied himself does not mean is that
it does not mean that Jesus stopped being God
in his incarnation. It doesn't mean that he shed
his divine nature. It doesn't mean he gave up
his divine attributes. It doesn't mean that he
became half God, half man. The Trinity, the triune
God, didn't unravel for 33 years as Jesus walked
on this earth. If Jesus ceased to be God, even
for a moment, the universe would have collapsed.
Because Jesus holds all things together, even
as he lay in a manger. And so Paul cannot be
saying that Jesus emptied himself of his godness.
In fact, the early church fathers all pretty
much said the same thing, that even at Bethlehem,
he remained what he was and he became what he
was not. He remained what he was and became what
he was not. He remained fully God and became
fully human. He didn't subtract deity, he added
humanity. And what he emptied himself does mean
though, I think Paul tells us in those next two
lines. He emptied himself by taking the form
of a servant being born in the likeness of humanity.
How did he empty himself? Jesus emptied himself
by addition, not subtraction. Jesus emptied himself
by taking on, by stepping down. He emptied himself
not by losing something, but by pouring himself
out into something. He did not lay aside his
divine attributes. He laid aside his divine advantages.
Chose not to exercise certain rights. He chose
not to grasp the glory that was truly his. He
chose limitation and weakness and dependence,
not because he had to, but because love demanded
it. The son did not empty himself of his deity.
He emptied himself into humanity. He clothed.
and weakness. He wrapped eternity in time. He
placed infinity inside the boundaries of a mother's
womb. And then Paul says he took the form of
a servant. Not the form of a celebrity or a YouTube
influencer or some ruler or cultural powerhouse.
He took the form of a servant. The one who commanded
angels becoming the one who washed the disciples'
feet. The one who spoke galaxies into existence
learned how to speak Aramaic. The one who owns
the cattle on a thousand hills became the child
of a poor family. This is what Christ did in
the incarnation and it was not an accident. It
was not a tragedy. It was a choice, a self -giving,
self -emptying descent. motivated by love. But
you know, Paul keeps moving forward. The descent
continues. He says that he humbled himself by
becoming obedient to the point of death. Even
in his humanity, Jesus could have lived a life
insulated from pain. He could have chosen a path
of influence or success or acclaim. He could
have stepped out of every single moment of suffering
that he had to endure. But the one who descended
into a manger continued to descend. He embraced
the human experience, the aches and the tears
and the temptations and the loneliness. He humbled
himself in life and then he humbled himself even
further, even death on a cross. And not just
any death. Not an old age death. Not a death
with dignity. Not a heroic death. But the lowest,
most shameful form of execution the Roman world
had. We think of crucifixion as execution, but
it was actually far more than that. Crucifixion
was intended to be degrading. Crucifixion was
specifically designed to strip a person of all
honor, physically, socially, spiritually. And
Paul's point, well, the son didn't just come
to earth. He came all the way down to the cross,
the infinite descent of God from glory to manger,
from manger to servant, from servant to suffering,
from suffering to crucifixion. And it was all
voluntary. Chosen, willed and motivated by love.
And this is at the center of the advent, the
coming of Christ, the humility of Christ displayed
in his willingness to descend for us. But it's
also at the center of Christian discipleship.
The only way that Christ can shape humility in
us, our humility, is if we see his. Empty glory.
dies when you stand before the one who emptied
himself for you. Our pride shrivels next to his
descent. Our self -importance dissolves in the
presence of the self -giving son of God. Why
does this matter for you? You see, if Jesus had
held on to his glory, you would still be under
your guilt. If Jesus refused to descend, you
would never be able to ascend. If Jesus did not
empty himself, your emptiness would remain forever.
And this is why the Advent matters, because the
sun became small so that you could be made whole.
The sun became low so that you could be lifted
up. The sun emptied himself so he could fill
you with grace. Last point, number three, the
ascent of the sun. God highly exalts. So verse
6 through 8 takes us down. Verse 9 through 11
flips it and begins to take us up. Paul shifts
the direction of this hymn with these words,
for this reason. Because he descended, because
he chose humility, because he didn't grasp, because
he didn't hold on to what was duly his. but instead
in humility chose the descent for this reason.
God highly exalted him. Everything that Jesus
laid down, the father now lifts up. Every honor
he refused to grasp for himself, the father now
gives freely. Every right he set aside, the father
restores beyond measure. Paul says that God highly
exalted him. The Greek intensifies it right here.
It really means like super exalted, like lifted
to the highest place imaginable. So if the descent
was Christ's work, the response of the father
is exaltation. Exaltation. If the crucifixion
was Christ's obedience, the resurrection and
enthronement are the father's vindication of
Christ's work. The stamp of approval. And Paul
says, not only did he highly exalt him, but he
gave him the name that is above every name. And
growing up in church, I had heard this scripture
a lot, and I just made a couple assumptions about
what that meant. But it's really interesting
what the text is telling us here, what Paul is
saying. Because the name is not Jesus. The name
that he received is not Jesus because he already
had that name. The name that he received is not
Christ because that was his title and that was
his mission. The name that the Father gives to
him in this high exaltation is the name, the
Old Testament covenant name, Yahweh, Lord. The
very name of God. The name that belongs solely
to God, Yahweh, is now publicly, universally,
and eternally attached to Jesus. Why? Because
the humiliation of Christ didn't reveal weakness.
It actually revealed this deepest truth about
God. His glory is his humility. His power is
expressed. Most glorious. in self -giving love.
This is why Jesus was lifted up. This is why
he was exalted. This is why he was given the
name universally. And then Paul even presses
the point further. He says, so that at the name
of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on
earth and under the earth, and every tongue will
confess that Jesus is Lord, Yahweh, God. This
is total. cosmic recognition every knee in heaven
angels bowing every knee on earth believers and
unbelievers alike every knee under the earth
every dark power every spiritual enemy every
force of evil every creature that exists will
one day acknowledge the supremacy of Jesus Christ
amen the one who descended to the manger will
be confessed as king The one who hung on a cross
will be worshipped on a throne. And the one who
was mocked and spat upon will be honored by every
voice. And you know what? It's not forced submission
either. It's not forced submission. What we will
find is that it is universal clarity. Everyone
will see him as he truly is. And the humility
of Christ did not diminish his glory one bit.
It actually revealed it. The cross did not hide
his majesty. It displayed it for all eternity.
I think sometimes, I'll speak to just the men
in the room, I think sometimes us men can think
humility is a bad word. Humility is something
to be avoided, especially Our concept of humility.
No, I'm supposed to be tough. I'm supposed to
be right all the time. Because I am right all
the time. But I'm supposed to be right all the
time, right? I'm supposed to be strong and manly.
And I think there is no, let's just say this.
Others have said it before. There is no truer
man than Jesus Christ. And if it was good for
him, it good for you. Amen? The one who went
the lowest is now on the highest throne. The
one who served all is now Lord of all. The one
who emptied himself is now filled with glory.
And this is how Paul kind of wraps it all up
with this one phrase, to the glory of God the
Father. He is exalted to the name above every
name. At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow
in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And
every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the
glory of the Father. Even in this exaltation,
there's humility. Do you see that? The Father
exalts the Son. The Son's exaltation glorifies
the Father. The humility of Christ reveals the
heart of God. The obedience of Christ reveals
the love of the Father and the enthronement of
Christ reveals the very purposes of God. And
this is the beauty of the Trinity on display.
The Father glorifies the Son. The Son glorifies
the Father. The Spirit glorifies both and opens
our eyes to participate in it. He overflows with
love into our hearts so that we can be drawn
in to this divine dance of love and humility.
So when we celebrate the advent, we're not just
celebrating a birth, but we're entering into
the whole arc of Christ's mission. His descent,
his obedience, his death, his resurrection, his
exaltation, and his lordship. The baby in the
manger is the Lord on the throne. And because
he is exalted, every promise he made is sure,
every enemy that he faced is defeated, and every
sin he carries is forgiven, and every knee will
bow to him one day. The humble Christ is now
the reigning Christ. The cross -bearing Christ
is the crown -wearing Christ. The servant Christ
is the sovereign Christ. And Paul reminds us,
let this mind Let this attitude, let Christ's
mind be yours. Not try harder to be humble. Not
by suppressing pride by sheer willpower, but
by being so captivated by the self -giving love
of Christ that humility begins to grow in you
in the same way that it flows from him. And so
we're going to conclude with just a few words
on what it looks like. Adopt the same attitude
as that of Christ Jesus. Christ's humility is
not just something to admire, it's something
the Spirit actually intends to form in each one
of you. And you know what stands in the way?
Our pursuit of empty glory. You can't defeat
empty glory by trying harder. You can't try to
be humble. Trying to be humble only keeps you
focused on yourself. The truly humble person
isn't thinking about himself at all. Humility
isn't gained by looking inward, but by looking
at something or someone who is greater. Tim Keller
used to say, the gospel gives you an identity
that is not achieved, but received. And your
glory hunger is satisfied only by beholding Christ.
Your glory hunger is only satisfied by beholding
the one with real glory who refused to cling
to it, who emptied himself for your salvation
and is now exalted as Lord. And when you see
him, something begins to loosen in your heart.
The need to be noticed begins to fade. The fear
of being overlooked begins to dissolve. Christ's
descent begins to dismantle our self -protection
and frees us to serve. Remember where this all
started in Philippians. In humility, consider
others more important. Look to the interests
of others. It's impossible. It's impossible.
Friends, it's impossible unless Christ first
fills the emptiness in you. When the one who
had real glory gave it up for you, you no longer
need to grasp for empty glory from those around
you. You can forgive without winning. You can
listen without being the center. You can take
the lowest place because Jesus took it first.
This is the shape of the gospel, friends. This
is the shape of the gospel. Humility before exaltation.
The shape of the gospel. Humility before exaltation.
The cross before the crown. Always. You think
you're better than your master? No. But his example
is far more glorious than our experience in life,
isn't it? And it has the power to reshape us
and form in us his humility. So I hope you hear
that the assignment today is not to go try to
be more humble. Simply to behold Christ. What
does behold mean? It's kind of like those moments
where you do see something that is beautiful
and glorious, right? Oftentimes we would go,
my family would go often to the beach and you
would stand out with those crashing waves on
the beach and the sound would become kind of
soothing. and life and the work week and everything
else would start to fade away. And pretty soon
you were just there and you didn't want to leave,
but it took some time of beholding. It took some
time of immersion, right? When I was driving
back from Idaho, I was looking at the Valley
for all of five seconds and I had a little mini
vacation, but I had to get back to driving, right?
But even in that five seconds, I beheld for a
moment, the beauty and glory of it. And I was,
Out of myself. We need to string together. A
whole lot of beholding Christ and remembering
him. Being reminded of him and his work. Looking
to him and remembering. His descent. Remember
that it's not just what Christ did. But it's
also what Christ is shaping in us. By his self
-giving humility. He's doing it in us. And we
should let him.