Imitating Christ’s Humility
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 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.
Shining as Stars
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
My Understanding: The word “unity” is a buzz word today in the church, in the government and in the international community (with the U.S. and its allies). There is much being taught, and strongly (often forced) encouraged, on this subject of unity both in the church and in the government, yet so much of what is being taught has little or nothing to do with Christ Jesus, but has everything to do with man, his goals, dreams, desires and visions, and with rallying the people around these man-made visions.
Any “dissenters,” who would dare to disagree or to challenge these man-made teachings, in light of the teachings of scripture, are considered “disunifiers” and outcasts, and they are often encouraged (strongly) by the church leadership to “go someplace else.” The disagreement or the challenge to these man-made goals and visions does not even have to be outright or forthright, but can be a direct result or the effect of one’s committed life to obedience to Jesus Christ and the teachings of his word, which often stands in stark contrast to these man-made goals and objectives for the church (or for nations).
Nonetheless, the unity spoken of in this passage of scripture is not a forced unity revolving around the goals of men, but comes out of pure and committed relationships with Jesus Christ and with him only. This unity is based upon the believer’s unity with Jesus Christ, not just in a salvation experience, but in thought, word and deed. This unity begins at the cross of Christ where we make the conscious decision of will to leave our former lives behind us (our sinful lifestyles, that is), to be renewed of the Holy Spirit of God in the attitude of our minds, and to put on Christ; to put on the new person, created to be like Christ in all true holiness. This unity agrees with God about our sin, and it accepts what he did for us in dying on the cross for our sins, not only in how he paid the penalty of our sin so we don’t have to pay for our own sins, but in how he conquered hell, Satan, death and sin via his death and resurrection so that we no longer have to be mastered by sin, but we can be free from the control of sin over our lives – free to allow Jesus Christ to now be the master of our lives.
If being united with Christ and his teachings, therefore, conflicts with the teachings of men, then we are to follow Christ, not men, even if it disunifies us, because the desired effect of unity in Christ is that we are unified with his desires, goals and will for our lives, as is taught in his word, the Bible. Jesus said that he did not come to bring peace, but he came to turn even family members against one another. What he meant, I believe, by this statement is that he did not come to bring peace with the world but to set his children apart from the world, and the result of that will be divisions even in the church and in families because some will follow Christ and some will follow men or their own selfish desires. There cannot be true unity in the church if we are not first of all truly united with Christ in all things. Any other kind of unity is a false substitute for what Jesus intended, and this false unity is what truly divides Christ’s church (and nations).
The unity that this passage is speaking about does not compromise the gospel for the sake of “unity” within the body of Christ. It does not make consolations with the world in order to unify the “church.” This is not about making peace with the worldly church so that there is “unity” within the “church.” We are not to desist from divisiveness if the divisiveness is a direct result of true obedience to Jesus Christ and to his revealed word, in the Bible. We are to come out from the world and be separate, says the Lord. We are not to join hands with the worldly church in agreement with their goals, if their goals are based off of following the ways of men over and above the ways of God and his word. The only way true unity can exist in the church is when believers in Jesus Christ are first of all united with Jesus Christ in heart and mind and with his purposes for our lives, and we are walking in pure fellowship with the Lord Jesus in commitment to obey him in all things. When we are united with Christ in this way, we will be united with one another.
Our Attitudes
We are called, in this passage of scripture, to have the same attitude as that of Jesus Christ. He is God the Son, the second person of our triune God. He is the creator of the universe, the beginning and the end; the I AM. He is our holy God who was seated in heaven with God the Father, yet he did not consider his position in heaven something to which he must hold on to. Instead, he humbled himself by taking upon himself the body of man (human likeness), thus making himself a servant. When he became a man, though, he did not cease to be God. He was very man and very God at the same time. Not only did he take upon himself human flesh, but he willingly gave his life up for us in death, and even a humiliating death, as though he was a common criminal, and thus was hung on a cross. He became obedient to this death on the cross so that we could go free from sin and so we could be free to walk in unity with him in obedience to his will for our lives.
He set the example for the kind of attitude of heart and mind that we, too, should have. We should not be so proud of position, education level, social status, heritage, etc. that we are unwilling to make ourselves servants to others in showing them Christ’s love. We don’t have to compromise who we are in Christ or our values, beliefs, etc., though, in order to serve man. Yet, we must be willing to lay down our lives, i.e. to give up our human rights, time, resources, heart, emotion, etc. in order to serve others out of love for them and for God. And, this laying down of our lives may get us rejected, misunderstood, abandoned, pushed aside, told to “go someplace else,” and even killed for our testimony for Jesus Christ. Yet, we must willingly give of ourselves to others for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ so that they can know Christ and the power of his resurrection and so they, too, can be set free from the control of sin over their lives and can be free to walk in obedience to Christ.
Because of what Jesus Christ did in willingly giving of himself so we could go free, God the Father exalted him to the highest place of honor, so that one day, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. This will happen when Jesus Christ returns one day in judgment on the world and in the completion of our salvation when he comes to receive his bride and to take his church, the saints of God, to be with him forever.
Our Salvation
Following this dissertation on the subjects of unity and humility (attitude), Paul said, “Therefore,” which means “as a result of,” “consequently,” or “for that reason,” etc. So, as a result of what Jesus Christ did for us, his example he set for us, and of our relationships with him in unity and all humility, and for that reason we are to continue in obedience to Jesus Christ, and we are to continue to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.” This is not works-based salvation. It is not working for our salvation. When we invite Jesus Christ into our hearts and lives to be Lord and Master of our lives, we are making a heart commitment to follow him in obedience and to live lives pleasing unto him in all things. We do not do this in our own flesh or in our own strength or will. What we do when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives is we appropriate (assume; seize; adopt) what he did for us, in dying for our sins and in conquering the power of sin over us, into our daily lives, character and actions. Basically, we give God permission to do his work of saving grace in our hearts, for it is God “who works in us to will and to act according to his good purpose” for our lives. And, we do this with the holy fear (honor; respect; awe) of God in our hearts so that we shudder even at the idea of giving way to sin in our lives once again.
God is calling out to his church to have this kind of unity with him, and with him alone, which produces unity of spirit among the children of God. He wants to be the desire of our hearts, not for us to live by our own selfish desires and/or to follow the selfish desires and wills of men. He wants to move us in our spirits to lead us to worship him, and him alone, if we will let him. He is calling out to us not only to forsake the ways of men and the ways of this world, but he is calling us to forsake our sins and to walk with him in full obedience to his commands. This is the prayer of my heart. I pray it will be yours, as well:
Lord, Move Me / An Original Work / October 16, 2011
Be my desire, my heart set on fire,
Lord, move me to worship You only, I pray.
Fill with Your Spirit, my heart overflow.
Lord, may I long for You; Your word to know.
Teach me to walk with You, Lord, in Your power,
And may I serve You, Lord, right now in this hour.
Lord, how I want to obey You forever.
Help me to hear You, Lord, so I will not stray.
Teach me to love You; adore You always.
Envelope me, Lord, with Your grace today.
Meet me in my need, and show me Your mercy.
Forgive me for all things, as I humbly pray.
Counsel me, lead me, direct me, and guide me,
So I follow You, Lord, where’er You lead now.
I love to hear You speak Your words to me.
I am so grateful that You set me free.
Wash me, and cleanse me, and make me like You, Lord,
And I will live with You for eternity.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Audio, song lyrics and sheet music at:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/lord-move-me
Song on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K-0kezkuEg
No comments:
Post a Comment