“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11 NASB1995)
Jesus Christ, when he lived on the earth, was fully God and
fully human (God incarnate), but without sin. He who is the second person of
our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – left his throne in heaven, came
to earth, and was born as a human baby to a virgin woman of God, but conceived
of the Holy Spirit, and thus he was not born with a sin nature as we are. He
grew to manhood, and in the last few years of his life he, along with his 12
disciples, spread the message of the gospel of our salvation to the people.
But he was hated by many of his people, many of whom were
people of importance, prestige, and/or authority in the temple of God. A group
of them followed him around, continually accusing him of things he did not do,
looking for ways to trip him up with his words in order to accuse him, so that
the people would not listen to him. For they were jealous of him and of his
temporary popularity among the people, and they were threatened by him, worried
that their own positions of authority might be compromised.
His opponents, though, were so bent on destroying his life
that they did not give up, but they continued to accuse him falsely and to try
to do everything they could to discredit him and his ministry. And eventually
they plotted and carried out his death on a cross, hoping to get rid of him for
good. But that backfired on them, for in Jesus’ death, he put our sins to death
with him so that, by faith in him, we will now die to sin and obey our Lord.
And then Jesus rose from the dead, ascended back to heaven, and sent us the
Holy Spirit to continue his work in the hearts of those who believed on the
Lord.
And so the gospel of our salvation continued to spread among
the people. And many people came to faith in Jesus Christ whose lives were also
committed to serving him with their lives, because of what Jesus did for us on
that cross, and because in his resurrection he conquered sin and death on our
behalf so that, by faith in him, we will now live godly and holy lives,
pleasing to our Lord, and so we will no longer walk in sin, living to please
our flesh and not God. His enemies intended to destroy him and his messages,
but God had another purpose in mind. And many people were saved.
Now, when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, to be
Lord of our lives, and so we have died with him to sin, and we are now walking
with him in obedience to his commands, in holy living, and so we are serving
him with our lives in the areas of ministry to which he called us, we are going
to be opposed as Jesus was. We will have people who will make it their aim to
try to accuse us falsely of what we did not do, and to try to trip us up with
our words, because they don’t want people to hear the truth of the gospel.
But despite how we are treated, we must continue in
spreading the truth of the gospel and in sharing the truth of what the
Scriptures teach about what it means to believe in Jesus. Because we love people
with the love of God, we want to see them believe in Jesus, to die to their
sins, and to now live for God in walks of obedience to his commands, that they
might have salvation (deliverance from addiction to sin) and the hope of
eternal life with God. In that way we are having the same attitude as Jesus had,
out of love for us.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John
6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32;
Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2;
1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Hymn lyrics by Anonymous/Unknown
Music by American
Melody
“For indeed He was
crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we
also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God
directed toward you” (2 Co. 13:4 NASB).
I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.
Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but
Thee.
When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.
Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Ks49apflE
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The Attitude of Christ
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