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Week 2 – Humility

Philippians 2:7-8

Introduction (Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 2:17)

• Last week we talked about Jesus being God, this week we will talk about Jesus being human and specifically how He humbled Himself.
• This is a unique concept because while humility is clearly a value that is honored in Scripture, it’s usually a posture that we are forced into, Jesus voluntarily humbles Himself.
• As we learned last week, Jesus who is God, voluntarily humbling Himself should cause us to Pause and reflect on what that means anytime Scripture calls us to humility.
• Here’s a picture of what that looks like for Christ.

Therefore, it was necessary for Him to be made in every respect like us, His brothers and sisters, so that He could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then He could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. Hebrews 2:17 (NLT)

• So today, let’s turn to Philippians 2 and hear what the process of Jesus’ humiliation looked like.

Jesus humbled Himself by…

1. Becoming a SERVANT (Philippians 2:7a. C/R: Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 20:28)
   1. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges;
          He took the humble position of a slave… Philippians 2:7a (NLT)
   2. I’d like to compare this translation to another one to talk through a huge concept that the NLT kinda avoids.
   3. but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:7 (ESV)
   4. Other translations say made Himself nothing rather than emptied.
   5. Emptied in the ESV – big controversy, called Kenosis Theory. They argue that Jesus gave up some or all of His divinity to become human. This word either means literally empty or pour out or metaphorically that He gave up status or privilege
   6. Took on humanity, addition, not subtraction.
   7. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:28 (NLT)
   8. God came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many, that is the gospel.
   9. APP: Who are you serving for their sake?
2. Being born as a HUMAN (Philippians 2:7b. C/R: Mark 13:32; Luke 2:40,52; Galatians 4:4-5; Hebrews 5:8-9)
   1. … and was born as a human being.
      When He appeared in human form, Philippians 2:7b (NLT)
   2. Likeness – Paul uses this term to explain that Jesus, who is fully human, did not sin and His body Is perfect.
   3. Jesus experienced the human experience.
      1. He was born.
      2. He had a body that experienced hunger, thirst, fatigue, growth and death.

• He had a human mind with limits that grew. He learned obedience. Not that He was disobedient but grew in His capacity to obey even unto death.

1. Even though Jesus was God’s Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered. In this way, God qualified Him as a perfect High Priest, and He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him. Hebrews 5:8-9 (NLT)
2. He practiced spiritual disciplines (prayed, read and memorized Scripture, solitude, worshipped, Sabbath, Old Testament ceremonial laws.
3. When He came to the village of Nazareth, His boyhood home, He went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: Luke 4:16-17 (NLT)

1. Jesus will continue forever in a resurrected body like ours.
2. Jesus did not just take on a body for a temporary time, but for eternity. WHAT A SACRIFICE!
3. APP: Do you believe that Jesus knows what you are going through? Do you look to Him for guidance and peace or someone or something else?

3. Bearing our SIN on the CROSS (Philippians 2:8. C/R: Matthew 27:35; Romans 5:19; Galatians 6:14; Colossians 1:19-20)
   1. He humbled Himself in obedience to God
          and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Philippians 2:8 (NLT)
   2. Form – different than in verses 6 and 7. Again, to show that there is not sin in Him.
   3. Crucifixion was the ultimate way of taking away the dignity of a person.
   4. Not only was it physically excruciating, but also humiliating.
   5. The ESV study bible says it’s the absolute destruction of the person.
   6. But it also satisfied God.

For God in all His fullness
    was pleased to live in Christ,
and through Him God reconciled
    everything to Himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
    by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. Colossians 1:19-20 (NLT)

1. Jesus made everything right through the cross. And we should boast in this.
2. As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. Galatians 6:14 (NLT)
3. Every boasting that we boast of: our inheritance, the fact that God turns bad things into good, that we have a family and do not have to live in isolation, that we are made friends with God, that we can rest and receive peace is because of the cross of Christ!
4. APP: Are you growing in your understanding of the sacrifice of Jesus? Your worship will grow stale, your fervor will be brought down, but all you have to do is look to the cross and remember that Christ died for you!

Brookwood Basic Beliefs

Q: Why must the Redeemer be truly human?

A: So that He might obey the whole law and suffer the punishment for human sin on our behalf.