Philippians 2:3-11- Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
When you image Jesus, what do you see? Jesus asked His disciples essentially the same question- who do you see that He is? Pride ends and humility begins when we see Jesus as He truly is.
He is not;
- a ‘baby in a manger’. It is true and it is significant that Jesus entered into this word as a baby in a manger. But he left that manger a long time ago. When you see Jesus face to face, you will not come face to face with a baby.
- a ‘man on a cross’. It is true and it is very, very significant that he hung on a cross as penalty for our sin. But he left that cross a long time ago. When you see Jesus face to face, you will not come face to face with a man on a cross.
Jesus is the King on the throne.
He is Holy.
He rules with sovereignty and He reigns in unparalleled glory.
He’s not a baby; He’s not a man; He is God.
He was God and has always been God. God became a man so that he might act as a savior to mankind and in his death we were rescued and redeemed from slavery to sin and death. Then, when He was resurrected, He ascended and He resumed his seat on the throne, which He will occupy into all of eternity- that’s Jesus.
You’ll see that chronological progression in that passage in Philippians.
- He was on the throne; verse. 6 says that He was ‘in very nature, God’
- He left the throne, humbling himself and becoming a man so that through Him, our sins could be atoned for; verses. 7 and 8 says that He ‘made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross!
- He then rose from the dead, ascended and returned to the throne; verses. 9-11 rightly states that he has now been ‘exalted to the highest place and has been given the name that is above every name; that at His name, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that He is Lord.
I love the song ‘Holy’, written by Ps. Phil (Pringle) and others. We sing that song not so much to tell Jesus that he is holy, but to stir us into a desperately needed awareness that He is holy; that we might see Jesus as He truly is.This helps us in our pride because when we see Jesus as He truly is- holy and glorious- then we see ourselves as we truly are- unholy and sinful- and then if we are wise enough to embrace that uncomfortable truth, we will humble ourselves.
Let me show you a couple of examples of this happening in Scripture.
Isaiah
John 12:41 speaks of Isaiah and says that ‘he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him’. This occurred hundreds of years before Jesus walked the earth as a man when the Prophet Isaiah had an incredible vision of Jesus, as He was and as He is and as He is to come.
Isaiah 6:1-4- In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
That’s Jesus- glorious and Holy.
When Isaiah saw Jesus as He is, he also saw himself as He was in the light of the glory of Jesus and he humbled himself.
Isaiah 6:5- "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."
Simon Peter
For much of Jesus’ life on earth, His glory that Isaiah saw was veiled. Occasionally, however, the veil was taken away and people saw Jesus not as a humble man, but as glorious Lord. Luke’s Gospel tells us in chapter 5 of Jesus teaching by a lake. He saw two fishermen, one of whom was Simon Peter.
Luke 5:4-7- When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
In the wake of this miracle, he saw Jesus as Isaiah did; as He was, and is, and is to come- holy and glorious. Consequently, he also saw himself as he was in the light of the Lord’s glory and he humbled himself
Luke 5:8- When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"
Pride ends and humility begins when we see Jesus as He truly is.
The point is this- Jesus is Lord. He’s not baby on a manger; he’s not man on a cross; He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.And He set an example for us when he voluntarily came down from the highest place, and made himself nothing; he made himself like us; in order to serve us; even to the point of death. He accommodated us, in His mercy.
So, in light of that, what should our attitude be?
The same as the attitude he demonstrated in His humility. Pride has no basis once we see Jesus, and we see ourselves in the light of his glory- because what do we have to boast about aside from Him?For us to accommodate each other and to bear with and forgive each other and to serve each other comes nowhere close to comparing to and repaying Him for what He has done for us.
Philippians 2:3-4- Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
This attitude flies directly in the face of our pride.
In pride, we act on selfish ambition and vain conceit all the time. We consider ourselves to be better or to be more important than others. We look out for #1, rather than looking out for the interests of others.
That is not the Jesus way.
