He Emptied Himself

Philippians 2:5-8 ESV

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Jesus Christ is God. He is the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He was with God in the beginning, and he is God, and he is our creator God. He is also the only begotten Son of God, born to a virgin, conceived of the Holy Spirit, with God the Father as his birth father. And he left his throne in heaven, humbled himself, and came to earth. And he was born in the likeness of men. And he lived on the earth for about 33 years.

During his last three years (+) on the earth he selected twelve men to be his disciples who lived and walked with him during that time, and who worked alongside him in ministry. This was his time with them in teaching them and in training them in the ways of God and in preparation for what he had for them to do after he died and was raised from the dead, and after he ascended back to heaven. And during his years of ministry he raised the dead, healed the sick and afflicted, and delivered people from demons, etc.

But Jesus wasn’t all just about performing miracles and healing people physically. He was about healing their sin sick souls so that they could be delivered from their slavery to sin and walk in righteousness and in holiness, and in obedience to him and to his commands (New Covenant). And so he did a lot of teaching and preaching of the Scriptures and of the truth of the gospel in order to lead many people out of their captivity to sin so that they could now walk righteously and be in genuine fellowship with God.

And so one of his first messages was to teach repentance, and repentance, although it means to have a change of mind, in Scripture it is mainly used in the context of forsaking our sins and our idols to now follow Jesus in obedience to his ways and to his truth and righteousness. And Jesus, when he taught the gospel, taught the cost of following him. Yes, we do nothing to earn or to deserve our own salvation, but our salvation requires that we die with Christ to sin and that we live to him and to his righteousness.

The Life of Jesus Christ: 

[Isaiah 53:1-12; Matt 4:17; Matt 7:21-23; Matt 11:20-21; Matt 12:41; Matt 21:28-31; Matt 26:26-29; Mk 1:14-15; Lu 5:32; Lu 9:23-26; Lu 13:1-5; Lu 15:2-7; Lu 17:25; Lu 24:45-47; Jn 1:1-36; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 8:24-58; Jn 10:27-33; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:1-11; Jn 20:28-29; Rom 5:8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 9:5; 1 Co 6:19-20; 1 Co 11:23-32; 1 Co 15:1-8; 2 Co 5:15,21; Eph 4:17-24; Php 2:5-11; Col 2:9; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 1:8-9; Heb 2:14-15; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Pet 1:1]    

So, if we are to have this mind in ourselves, which is ours in Christ Jesus, via God-given faith in him, which is the mind of Christ, and which is described for us here in this passage, then we are to humble ourselves, deny self, submit ourselves to God, surrender to his will, and become obedient to our Lord even to death for righteousness’ sake. And we are to be willing to lay our lives down, and to die, if need be, in order to see other humans be delivered from their slavery to sin and to walk in obedience to our Lord.

And this will mean for us that we must be willing to be hated, rejected, falsely accused, called names (not nice names), and treated unfairly because we love God, and because we love our fellow humans, and because we will speak the truth of the gospel, and against the lies of the enemy, in order to see our fellow humans die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, and thus to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. For that is what Jesus did for us, praise His Holy Name! Glory to God!

The truth of the gospel:

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Ivory Palaces

Psalms 45:8

By Henry Barraclough, 1915

My Lord has garments so wondrous fine,

And myrrh their texture fills;

Its fragrance reached to this heart of mine

With joy my being thrills.

His life had also its sorrows sore,

For aloes had a part;

And when I think of the cross He bore,

My eyes with teardrops start.

His garments, too, were in cassia dipped,

With healing in a touch;

In paths of sin had my feet e’er slipped—

He’s saved me from its clutch.

In garments glorious He will come,

To open wide the door;

And I shall enter my heav’nly home,

To dwell forevermore.

Out of the ivory palaces,

Into a world of woe,

Only His great eternal love

Made my Savior go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGYCQewNdPA

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