GLORY THROUGH HUMILIATION
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Opening Prayer
Great God of the Universe, I know myself—and I don’t know why you would notice me, and even more, why you love me. You loved me before I knew you, you love me with my shortcomings and even when I fail you. Please accept my love and praise.
Read PHILIPPIANS 2:5–11
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Footnotes
- Philippians 2:6 Or in the form of
- Philippians 2:7 Or the form
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Draw a parabola. Write ‘in very nature God’ (v. 6) at the top left and ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ (v. 11) at the top right. Trace Jesus’ journey by writing key phrases up and down the parabola.Paul becomes lyrical in expounding Jesus’ journey from glory back to glory via becoming human and dying in humiliation. There were popular stories of gods coming to earth in Paul’s world, but those gods did not give up their powers or status—they could angrily hurt or kill people. Their human appearance was a temporary cloak. Not so Jesus: Paul parallels Jesus being ‘in very nature God’ (v. 6) with taking ‘the very nature of a servant’ (v. 7) in becoming human. Rather than powerfully ‘zapping’ people, he served his Father humbly and obediently all the way to a humiliating death on a cross (v. 8).
This wonderful self-giving is why Jesus is now exalted above everything and everyone (v. 9). Paul echoes Isaiah 45:23, a passage about God’s rule, and puts Jesus at its heart: Jesus is now recognized as Lord of all (vv. 10, 11), greater than rulers such as Caesar. As often in the New Testament, Paul picks up a scriptural passage about God and treats Jesus as its subject, showing that Jesus is the one true God who became one of us.
Apply
Notice verse 5. What does it mean for your life to have the ‘mindset’ of Christ?
Closing prayer
Thank you, Jesus, for your willingness to travel the journey you did for my sake. Lord of my life, you deserve all of my honor and praise.
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