an attitude of servitude

 Philippians 2: 5-11

The text we are looking at today is one of the premiere portraits of Christ, and essential doctrinal statements in all  of Scripture.  It is such a rich passage, that it is possible to spend a month of Sundays in it and still not plum the depths of this passage.   In studying this passage, I had a difficult time trying to determine which direction to go with it.  It presents so many possibilities.

But I think that the direction that is most apparent, that is most intended by the Holy Spirit and in the context of the passage, is clearly presented in verse 5.  And I believe as much as possible we should always endeavor to stay in context to receive the greatest benefit from an exegetic study.

Verses 6-11 are often preached and presented as a great portrait of Christ and a doctrinal statement about Christ, but in context with verse 5 we learn what our response is to this example of Christ.  Vs. 5 says, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…”  And this is so important to recognize that Paul is giving us a directive here to be like Jesus Christ.  To have the same attitude as Christ.  Not just to recognize the characteristics of Christ, but since we are disciples we should respond in obedience by following the pattern of Christ.

This concept is missing today in Christianity.  We present Christ from His glory to His suffering, as our Savior and our Substitute, but we fail to teach what our proper response is to the gospel.  We teach that we just need to have a relationship to Christ, we need to praise Him, to recognize His sacrifice for us, but then we basically want to end our responsibility with just saying the sinner’s prayer and maybe walking an aisle in church during an invitation.  But just as Romans 12 told us that following salvation we now were to begin our reasonable service in response to our salvation by presenting our lives to be living sacrifices for the kingdom, so Paul here in Philippians tells us that now that we are saved we are to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being servants of the kingdom of God.  This is our purpose in life, to now glorify Christ in our lives, by everything we do.

And Paul is not alone in this message.  Jesus himself said “You are my disciples IF you continue in my word.”  In another place He says, “if you love Me you will keep my commandments.”  And “a true disciple bears much fruit.”  And also Peter said in 1Pe 2:21 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,”  The  Greek word for example there is hypogrammos: which literally meant a writing copy, including all the letters of the alphabet, given to beginners as an aid in learning to draw them.  What that meant is that when you were learning to write, you would trace your line over the lines on the hypogrammos, and thereby you would learn how the letters were to be written.  And in the same way, Jesus Christ is our example, and we are to live our lives as He lived His life, tracing our lines over the lines that He made.  We have his pattern for our lives and we are instructed to follow Him, to live as He lived, to be Christ Jesus to the world.  That’s what it means to be a disciple.

Now then verse 5 is the preamble to this great doctrinal statement about Christ.  And so it should prompt us to ask,  who is Christ Jesus?  If we are to be like him, to follow his attitude and example, then we must know who He is.  And Paul gives us four pictures of Christ here in this passage;  that of a Sovereign, a Son, a Servant, and a Savior.  And we will look in detail at each one so that we might know what Christ’s attitude was that we might be able to copy it.

First of all, Christ is Sovereign.  Still in verse 5 we note that the usual order of Christ’s name is reversed.  Instead of the usual Jesus Christ, Paul turns it around to Christ Jesus, to emphasis the Messianic title of Christ.  This was the preferred order for Paul when referred to Jesus, because it emphasizes not the humanity of Christ, as the other apostles who had known Jesus as a man first, but the divine nature of the risen Christ, as Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus long after Jesus had risen from the dead and been exalted to heaven. 

The Messianic title of Christ was the Greek word for Messiah, who was foretold by the Old Testament prophets.  The One who was to come from the seed of David, a King that would sit forever on the throne and rule over the nations as promised to Abraham.  As Isaiah prophesied in Isa 9:6            “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.”

But who Paul presents to us here in verse 6 is so much more than merely a human sovereign, but a divine Sovereign.  Paul says in vs. 6, “who, although He existed in the form of God…”  Paul is establishing the deity of Jesus Christ.  That Jesus Christ is God, existing in the form or the nature or essential essence of God.  This principle is critical to Christianity.  You cannot be a Christian and not believe in the deity of Christ. 

In the first book of  John, the very first verse, the apostle John establishes the deity of Christ this way;  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made which was made.”  I find it awesome that John uses the title, “the Word” to describe Jesus.  He goes onto say in verse 14 of the same chapter, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  It not only reveals the deity of Christ, but the paramount importance of the Word of God, existing in Spirit, in Soul, that is the mind of God articulated in word, and then becoming flesh.

Both the deity of Christ and Christ as the Word of God is presented in Hebrews chapter 1, the very first verse as well.  “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.  And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.”  So we see that Christ is the Word, He is the Creator, He is the Sovereign over all the world, the King of Glory.  In His very nature God. 

Then secondly, Paul presents Jesus as the Son.  Vs. 6; “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.”

The word for “form” used in this verse is from the Greek word “morphe”.  We get words like metamorphosis from this root.  And we already looked at what it meant when Paul used it in vs. 6 in relation to God.  He possessed all the essential nature and essence of God.  He was in the form of God.   And then Paul uses the same word “morphe” to describe His incarnation.  “He took the form of a servant.”  It’s the same word. Paul juxtaposes the form of God with the form of a servant.   Christ emptied Himself of His rights and privileges and glory that was His as God, and took on the clothing of a servant.  He never stopped being God, to having the nature of God, but put on the clothing of humanity, to become a servant.  Christ was fully God, existing before creation with God, then laying aside His glory to become one of His creation, to become one of us, to become a servant. 

Verse 6 says, He “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped…”  that means that He did not regard that equality with God as something to hold onto.  He was willing to relinquish His glory, His privilege, the honor and homage that was due Him, to become a son of man. The Son of God became the Son of Man so that sons of men might become sons of God.

Look at verse 7: “Being made in the likeness of men.”  Vs. 8 says it another way, “being found in appearance as a man.”  He was still  fully God.  But the Word, John says, became flesh and dwelt among us.”  Yet “John 1:10 says, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.” 

What this means is that when Christ took on flesh and became man, He looked like a man.  He didn’t walk around with a halo over his head.  Other than at the transfiguration, He didn’t have a glow emanating from His person.  He looked just like an ordinary man.  Isaiah 52 tells us, that “He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.  He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”  He looked like a man.  He hurt like a man.  He cried like a man.  He grew tired like a man.  He sweated like a man.  He hungered like a man.  He grew thirsty like a man.  He was both son of man, and Son of God.  And we didn’t recognize Him as God.

Thirdly, He was a Servant.  And I think this characteristic of Christ is at the heart of the message that Paul is saying that we should have; an attitude of servitude. God has by his grace saved us from being condemned, cursed sons of men, to become Sons of God.  God has granted through his grace that we who were enslaved to sin might rule and reign with Christ as kings.  But all of that was made possible by the fact that Christ was willing to lay aside all His glory to become a servant.  And the attitude of a servant is what Paul is saying through the Holy Spirit that we also are to have now that we have been made sons of God.  This is our response to the sacrifice of Christ.  We become servants of Christ, by becoming servants of the body of Christ, the church.  This is the way we will bring about the unity of the church that Paul was speaking of earlier in this chapter. 

So Christ our example as a Servant.  Look at verse 7; He “emptied Himself.”  The KJV says it like this;  “He made himself of no reputation.” He came into the world in a way that people did not recognize him as God.  He did not come in the glory of the Almighty God, the Lord of all the heavens, the Creator of the universe.   He did not even come as even an earthly king, but he came as the lowest form of man; that of a slave.  “But emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”

Nothing illustrates that attitude of servitude more than John 13:3; “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, so got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.  Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”  The disciples were all fighting and squabbling over who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and Jesus laid aside His garments, and washed his disciples feet. What a picture of humility.  Vs. 8 says, “He humbled Himself.” 

How this attitude is so lacking in the church today.  Our theology is so “Me” oriented.  God is little more than a Santa Claus type of genie that exists to make us happy and successful.  We’re like children at Christmas that are so fixated on what we are going to get.  And we don’t understand Christ’s words that it is better to give than to receive.  Christ gave up his throne in heaven for a stable on earth.  He gave up heavenly homage for earthly hatred.  He gave up the riches of heaven for the rejection of the world.  But Hebrews 12:2 says He was willing to do that for our sake, “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” So we also need to consider the joy set before us, as we endure the hardship of taking up our cross and following Christ, so that one day we too might be welcomed into heaven and sit down on thrones with Christ.  Jesus emptied himself by taking to himself another posture, another personage, another position, that of a servant.

And fourthly, Christ is our Savior. Phil 2:8            “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” What was the point of the cross? 2Cor. 5:21 tells us that            “God made Him who knew no sin (that is Jesus) to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  Way back before creation, God decided to make a special race of creatures, made in His image.  We were made body, soul and spirit.  A triune being like our Father. Man’s body made him world conscious, able to live in a physical world. Man’s soul made him self conscious, aware that he was an individual with a particular personality, nature, responsibilities.   And Man’s spirit made him God conscious, aware that he needed to worship God and initially able to do so.  We had fellowship with God because we were without sin. 

But Satan in his jealous rage seduced Eve to sin against the Word of God, and eat of the fruit and give it to her husband.  And according to the law of God, man died spiritually because of His sin.  Sin entered the human race and death through sin.  When man’s spirit died, God’s order of creation was turned upside down and instead of being governed by the Spirit of God, we were governed by our bodies, the lusts and passions of our bodies ruled our minds which became depraved, selfish and self serving as described in Romans 1, leading to all sorts of depravity.  Man was sinful by nature, thereby sinful in practice and without hope of restoring our relationship with God.  Man’s sin broke our relationship with God who is holy. 

But God’s plan was for man to be reconciled to Him.  “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe on Him might be saved.”  Jesus came to earth to live the perfect life in perfect submission to the Father’s will that we could never live.  Jesus was man the way God always intended man to be.  And by faith in Christ, faith in His deity, faith in His sinlessness, faith that He was the Messiah, faith in His righteousness, faith in His atonement for our sins on the cross, we receive the righteousness of Christ.  “God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”  That we might become as righteous as Christ.   This is the purpose of the cross, to reconcile us to God, that the order of human creation might be restored right side up.  That having been made holy, righteous by faith in Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit who gives life to our spirit again, (You must be born again.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit) and having been born again we are now Sons of God.  Yes, we’re still sons of men in the flesh, but thank God we are sons of God in the spirit.  And one day Christ will come back to take us home and He promised to remove this body of death and give us a new, glorified body to live forever as kings with God in His kingdom. 

But for now Paul is saying in vs. 5, we are to live like Jesus lived.  In appearance as just men.  Yet as Jesus our example living according to the Spirit of God who lives in us.  Our attitudes are to be ruled by the Holy Spirit.  Our actions are to be  ruled by the Holy Spirit.  Our language is to be ruled by the Holy Spirit.  Our wisdom is from the Holy Spirit.  Our discernment is through the Holy Spirit. Our emotions are under the control of the Holy Spirit.  Christ lives in us and through us. 

Our responsibility to God is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Phil. 3:7 says, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” 

Have you become conformed to His death ladies and gentlemen?  Have you considered all things that you once claimed as your reputation, have you claimed it as loss for the sake of knowing Jesus?  Have you emptied yourself, taking on the form of a servant even as Christ served the church and gave himself up for her?  Are you being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ?  Have you been transformed from a son of man to a son of God by faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ?   

Vs. 11 tells us that one day, “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.”   In the days of the Roman empire when this was written the emperor of Rome, Caesar, was considered deity.  The law of the land was to worship Caesar as god.  They called him Savior and Lord.  He was the Savior of the people of nations that he conquered. He was the Lord of all the known civilized world.  Caesar’s word was absolute authority.  You obeyed the will of Caesar by threat of your life.   So in that day, it meant something to confess Jesus Christ as Lord.  I’m afraid in our culture, words like Lord and Savior have become so common that they have little meaning.  But in that day, one knew the consequences of confessing Jesus Christ is Lord.  It meant absolute obedience to the Sovereign of the universe.  It meant living in accordance to His will.  To forsaking all that living in the Roman world could offer, in exchange for all that the world to come in Christ would bring.  But though the times have changed, the confession has not.  Jesus Christ demands and deserves everything we are.  We are to be completely transformed in His image.  We are to live as He lived, serve as He served.  This is Christianity.  There isn’t any such thing as coming to Christ half way, but we need to follow him all the way, conforming to His death. 

If you’re here today and you don’t know Jesus as Savior, as Sovereign, then perhaps you never understood Jesus as a Servant.  He died for your sin so that you might be called Sons of God.  That you might receive the inheritance of a child of God.  And that inheritance is not a better life here on earth, but eternal life as a son of God, to sit on thrones with God for all eternity to rule and reign with Him.  I pray that you will surrender your life to him, to be conformed to his death on the cross that you might receive the righteousness of God and eternal life through His Spirit.