Welcome to Day 2324 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Philippians-5 A Christlike Descent Into Greatness – Daily Wisdom

Putnam Church Message – 01/07/2023 Joy in Serving – A Christ-like Descent into Greatness – Philippians 2:1-11 Last week, we looked into the lives of two devout persons who have been waiting all their lives for the coming Messiah in a message titled, The Oldest Bucket List: Simeon and Anna. This week, we pick up where we left off before Advent in our study of the letter to the church at Philippi. Today, we explore A Christ-like Descent into Greatness. Today's scripture passage is Philippians 2:1-11. Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. To move forward from the first chapter to the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we need to take a step backward to Philippians 1:21, a key verse for the epistle: “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.” Paul knew that to experience martyrdom and to be ushered into the presence of Christ would be a great gain. But he also knew that God had much more work for him to do in the here and now and that he was called to encourage others to live like Christ. But how do we truly live like Him? How do we possibly begin to take even one small step closer toward the greatness Christ exhibited as the God-man? How can we become an imager like Christ? Is there a specific series of deeds we need to do? Fruitless! Do we attempt to mimic His miracles? Impossible! Do we become little gods or messiahs to conform to His divine nature? Blasphemy! No. We're told what it will take in the first part of Philippians 2. It’s pretty simple. We can reduce it to just two words: selfless humility. But just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy. Genuine Christlikeness means embodying and expressing a virtue rarely seen on earth. But when it is, we can begin to experience what it is to live as Christ lived. 2:1–4 “What’s the secret to a great life?” People have pondered this question for millennia—long before there was a self-help section at a bookstore…or twinkle-eyed preachers trading in shallow “believe in yourself” platitudes…or cabinets full of supplements and drugs to increase our energy or enhance our effectiveness. The Bible’s answer to that question isn’t long, convoluted, or complex. As already indicated, we can sum it up in two words: selfless humility. Not the kind we conjure through mantras, summon through meditation, or instill through methods of behavior modification. This supernatural kind of selfless humility has its source in our identification with and imitation of Christ. It results in love, fellowship, affection, compassion, unity, service, and joy. Of all the virtues Christ embodied, selfless humility sums up His overall character well. Jesus Himself said as much to His disciples, "But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 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 20:26–28).   Christ taught—through word and action—a descent into greatness. Paul unpacks this principle in Philippians 2:1–11, but he begins in 2:1–4 with the tangible results of Christ-like selfless humility before focusing on the example of it in 2:5–11. In the Greek text of 2:1–4, there is only one imperative: Make my joy complete” (2:2). In 2:1, a logical (and theological) basis or motivation for the command is given. Paul uses what Greek scholars call a “first-class condition.” The four “ifs” in 2:1 aren’t meant to communicate uncertainty, as if Paul wasn’t sure whether there was encouragement in Christ, comfort from his love, common sharing in the Spirit, or tenderness and compassion in the Christian life. Instead, these things are assumed to be true. These are rhetorical questions. The “if” clauses imply a logical or reasonable relationship: Because these things are true, then there should be an attendant effect. It’s like a dad saying to his son, “If you’re my son, and if I’m your father, and if you’re only seven, and if I’m the head of this home, then clean your room.” On the other side of the pivotal command (“make my joy complete”) stand four means by which Paul’s joy may be filled through the Philippians’ response. The requests in 2:2 mirror the positive assertions in 2:1. Because  these are true Then Make My Joy Complete By showing these results Being united with Christ Be Like-Minded Comfort from His Love Have the same love. Common sharing in the Spirit Be of one Spirit. Tenderness and Compassion Be of one mind.   “Being Like-Minded” (2:2) doesn’t mean that all believers are expected to agree on every minor issue of doctrine, conform to a dress code, or suppress individuality. It means they’re to get along, agreeing on the supremacy of Christ and the centrality of the fundamentals of the faith. In light of their spiritual oneness in Christ, Paul encourages them to be in harmony, not discord … in unity, not uniformity. In this Christ-like unity, believers can maintain selfless love toward each other and direct their purposes toward the same goal—proclaiming Christ and helping others grow in their relationship with Him. The great Bible teacher of yesteryear, Harry Ironside, offers this insight on how the church can achieve a Philippians 2:2 style of unity amid diversity: It is very evident that Christians will never see eye to eye on all points. We are so largely influenced by habits, by environment, by education, by the measure of intellectual and spiritual apprehension to which we have attained, that it is an impossibility to find any number of people who look at everything from the same standpoint. How then can such be of one mind…The “mind of Christ” is the lowly mind. And, if we are all of this mind, we shall walk together in love, considering one another, and seeking rather to be helpers of one another’s faith, than challenging each other’s convictions. The “one mind” Paul urges for the Philippians and us to have is selfless humility. But how is such a feat accomplished? Paul provides some snapshots of selfless humility in 2:3–4. Those who embody this Christ-like virtue will not let selfishness or conceit motivate their attitudes, words, or actions. They will regard others as more important than themselves. They won’t limit their focus to just their interests. They’ll give attention to the needs of others. But saying you’ll behave this way and doing it are two different things. This is why Paul turns next to the crux of selfless humility: the person and work of Christ. 2:5–11 Jesus Christ is the supreme example and source of true selfless humility. In one of the most eloquent passages of Scripture, rightly regarded as a hymn sung to celebrate Christ’s person and work, Paul describes Christ’s glorious life both before and after His selfless humility was expressed in His incarnation and death on the cross. In 2:5, Paul sets up the hymn, which is relayed in 2:6–11. He says, “Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (2:5). To understand the extent of selfless humility expected of followers of Christ, we look to the One who is humility incarnate. When we reflect on His person and work, letting this reflection inform our minds and invade our hearts, it will transform our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. This Christ hymn can be outlined in three basic movements:

• the Son of God in glory before coming to earth (2:6)
• the Son of God in selfless humility on earth (2:7–8)
• the Son of God in glory after leaving earth (2:9–11)

The Son of God in glory before coming to earth (2:6). Prior to the Incarnation, before the fully divine Son of God—the second person of the eternal Trinity—took on a fully human nature, He existed in eternity in equality with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. According to commentator Richard Melick, the phrase “Who being in the nature, God” means He had “an outward appearance consistent with what is true. The form perfectly expresses the inner reality.” This pre-incarnate existence is further described by the following phrase: “equality with God.” Before coming to earth, the Son was fully divine in nature and attributes. Jesus was never lesser than God the Father or God the Holy Spirit. This idea of the full Deity of the Son of God is taught elsewhere in the New Testament. Jesus prayed, “Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began,” (John 17:5). In describing Jesus, the apostle John wrote, “In the beginning, the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God,” (John 1:1).  The author of Hebrews affirms that God the Son is “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God” (Heb. 1:3). But what does it mean that Christ “did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage” (Phil. 2:6)? The noun translated “to be used to his own advantage,” harpagmos, occurs only here in the New Testament. Outside the New Testament, in negative contexts, it refers to the act of robbery or the loot gained by plundering. Clearly, this isn’t the meaning in Philippians 2:6. Christ couldn’t have tried to rob God of His divine power; divine power was something the Son possessed by being the eternal Son of the eternal Father. Positively, the noun harpagmos could mean something like “a great benefit” or “a favorable lot,” like the glory, honor, power, and title that a prince might have by being the son of a king. In this case, the statement that Christ did not regard “equality with God” to be a harpagmos would mean that even though as eternal Son, the glory, honor, power, and title of Deity are His, He did not take the attitude or mindset of a spoiled brat who basked in His own glory. Hansen translates this enigmatic verse along these lines: “The one existing in the form of God did not consider it an advantage to exploit to be equal to God.” Though He could have clutched His heavenly glory with the Father before time and space came into being, and He had every right to do so, He didn’t. Christ voluntarily acted with an attitude or mindset of selfless humility, not with an air of self-focused superiority. Along these lines, I like the words of Clement, the late first-century leader of the church of Rome—who may be the same “Clement” described as one of Paul’s fellow workers in Philippians 4:3. In his own letter urging Christians to humility, he seems to be reflecting on Paul’s Christ hymn of Philippians 2 when he writes: “For Christ is of those who are humble-minded, not of those who exalt themselves over his flock. The scepter of the majesty of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, did not come with the pomp of arrogance or pride (although he could have) but with humble-mindedness” (1 Clement 16.1–2). Think about this. God the Son—eternal, all-powerful—didn’t regard His exalted position as something to be used to his own advantage. Nothing within Him tempted Him to exploit His preeminent position as absolute Sovereign over all. Why not? Because His perfect love for humanity was manifested in selfless humility. In a state of absolute perfection and complete control, Jesus willingly stepped out of His rightful realm of glory for the sake of humanity. Though encompassed by an angelic chorus of perpetual praise, the Son unselfishly came to dwell among those who would curse and abuse Him. Though enveloped in the radiant light of His own divine glory, God the Son put a veil of flesh over His glory—not diminishing it or extinguishing it, but concealing it—all on behalf of a cold, dark world that sought to plunge Him into the shadow of death. What an incomprehensible, unfathomable example of selfless humility! The Son of God in selfless humility on earth (2:7–8). The second movement of Paul’s Christ hymn portrays the heavenly Sovereign as becoming the earthly Sufferer. In His voluntary descent from heavenly glory to earthly agony, Christ’s humility doesn’t even stop in the face of the most excruciating form of torture and execution in the ancient world. Consider the steps that Jesus took to share our humanity and die for our sins according to the Father’s plan and His own voluntary selfless humility:

1. He emptied Himself, made himself nothing, and gave up His divine privileges (veiling His glorious divine power).
2. He took the form, the very nature of a bond-servant (volunteer slave by becoming fully human).
3. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient unto death (submitting to God’s plan of redemption).
4. He accepted a most humiliating death: crucifixion (making atonement for sinners).

Many scholars refer to this poetic section of Philippians as the “kenosis hymn” because of the vivid use of the verb kenoō and because it is cast in the ancient form of a hymn to be memorized, recited, or sung. The “kenosis hymn” can be diagrammed in a V shape, portraying Christ’s humiliation and exaltation, from heaven to earth and then from earth to heaven. Pull out board (Bulletin Insert) The Son of God in glory after leaving earth (2:9–11). /God’s plan and purpose mandated that God the Son empty Himself by voluntarily, selflessly, and humbly veiling His inherent glory and power to take on a humanity like ours (but without sin), subject to pain, suffering, and even death, and to die on the cross for our sins. But once our debt was paid and His mission was accomplished, God raised His Son from the dead, glorified His human body in a miraculous resurrection, and lifted Him again to the position of highest glory and honor. God not only exalted Jesus to the highest position of authority, but He also bestowed upon the God-man the name of highest significance—the name above every name (2:9). He who willingly bowed to the Father’s will in selfless humility is now the recipient of worship, all persons bowing in submission to Him (2:10). Those in heaven will bow—divine creations, which we refer to as angels and departed saints. Those on the earth will bow, from the bitterest skeptic to the most sincere disciple. And those under the earth will bow—the unsaved, the demonic, and Satan himself—in acknowledgment of the absolute lordship of Christ and His right to rule as God, Judge, and King, “to the glory of God the Father” (2:11). If Christ, who had every right to remain enthroned on high, selflessly humbled Himself for others, why would any one of us—who have no right to exalt ourselves above anyone—think that we could do otherwise? In this way, Christ becomes the perfect example, the perfect imager, of selfless humility. As Paul said to the Philippians, he says to each of us: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (2:5). Application: Philippians 2:1–11 Beginning Your Descent Paul’s argument in Philippians 2:1–11 is simple: If the God-man, whose right it was to dwell forever in glory, voluntarily and radically surrendered that right for us, how could we lowly sinners believe and behave as though selfless humility toward others is beneath us? It’s a classic argument from the greater to the lesser. Today's great question is whether we will follow Christ’s example of radical humility by voluntarily and joyfully humbling ourselves, becoming servants of others rather than ourselves. To apply this Christ-centered principle more personally and specifically, let’s return to the two verses that preceded the Christ hymn. With this example of selfless humility before our eyes (2:5–8), listen as I read the following paraphrase of Philippians 2:3–4 and personalize it by filling in the blanks on the bulletin insert with the name of someone you are struggling to get along with. This person could be a fellow church member, spouse, child, parent, sibling, other relative, friend, boss, employee, or co-worker. Following Christ’s example and by the Holy Spirit’s enablement, I will...