Following is part two of the message, "The Humility of Christmas." I sincerely pray that it will be a blessing to those who read it. Merry Christmas

TEXT: Philippians 2:5-11
SUBJECT: The Humility of Christmas, Part II
INTRODUCTION:
Last Sunday we preached a message from verses 5-8 of our text. In those verses we saw the amazing truth of the humility of God in Christ Jesus. That humility was beautifully revealed in the way in which the Son of God emptied Himself of the glory that was His from all eternity.
First, the Lord humbled Himself by becoming incarnate in human flesh. The eternal joined Himself to the temporal! That of itself is staggering. The Almighty God humbled Himself by becoming a human being, forever, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus will always have a human body—for all eternity. As I said in the last message, the incarnation would be like putting the sun inside a rain drop!
God becoming a man is the greatest act of humility that there will ever be.
But the humility of God didn’t cease with the incarnation. The Scripture says that He also took on the form of a servant. Although He could have come as an Emperor or as a man of great wealth and riches living in palaces, He instead came as a humble carpenter, born in the small town of Nazareth to two peasants, Joseph and Mary. He CHOSE to be a SERVANT and to serve others rather than to be served.
However, the ultimate act of the humble God came when He became obedient to death—even death on a cross. Beloved, there is no greater act or demonstration of humility than when someone LAYS DOWN their life for others. That is the ultimate sacrifice! And our GOD, our CREATOR and REDEEMER did that for us. As the old hymn says:
Amazing love, how can it be, but that thou my God shouldst die for me.
The mystery all: the immortal dies; who can explore His strange design?
He left His Father’s throne above so free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love, and bled for Adam’s helpless race;
Tis mercy all, immense and free, for O my God, it found out me!
Tis mercy all, immense and free
For O my God, it found out me!
The Almighty God humbled Himself by becoming a man; by becoming a servant to men; and by ultimately dying on a cross to save men. Again, as I said last week, does this not stir something in the deepest part of your soul to be a follower of this amazing, humble God?
Beloved, this is Christmas. It is the humility of God in Christ Jesus. And it is this humility that we are called upon to follow after: “Let this attitude which was in Christ Jesus be also in you.”
This is part one of our message, “The Humility of Christ.” Today I will bring you part two of that message from verses 9-11.
The Humility of Christ, Part II, begins with the word “Therefore.” I have told you many times that whenever you see the word “therefore” in the scriptures, you should also see a finger pointing back to what has preceded it. The word “therefore,” means “for this reason.” Simply said, whatever follows “therefore,” is because of what has come before it. Because Christ humbled Himself and became a man; and because He also became a servant of men; and because He ultimately died on a cross to save man, “Therefore,” or “for this reason, God highly exalted Him to the highest place; and gave Him a name above every name—that at the Name of Jesus, every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
I will present to you three truths in this amazing revelation of the humility of God in Christ Jesus that I believe will help you to enter more fully into the reality of Christmas. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us receive the revelation of God’s Word to us today.
I. First of all, what is true humility? True humility is WHO God is and not just what He has done or will do. He is the humble God, forever.
A.) Doing acts of humility is not what makes God humble. Rather, the humble acts of God in Christ Jesus are a revelation of who God really is. Humility is part of His Divine nature.
As previously stated, that is why it is so easy to fall in love with God, and the more we know and love the humble God by revelation, the more like Him we progressively become. One of the great mysteries and beauties of Christianity is that the true followers of Christ Jesus become one with Him as they are transformed into His image. Beloved, this is a very powerful truth where more revelation is needed.
B.) There are some who would contend that God cannot be humble and Almighty at the same time. The question is this: how do you reconcile the baby in the manger and the humble servant who died on the cross with the conquering King of Revelation 19:11-16 whose eyes are like a blazing fire and from whose mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike the nations?
1.) As has been said, there is no greater illustration of what true humility is than when God became a man and voluntarily died on a cross to save men. The incarnation and crucifixion is the quintessential example of power under control. And that is humility! Beloved, humility is not weakness. Rather, humility is steel wrapped in velvet. Jesus said that He could have called twelve legions of angels to rescue Him from those who crucified Him. But instead He humbled Himself and restrained His power so that He could save those who would be saved.
2. Secondly, humility does not mean that God will not judge evil. On the contrary, true humility demands that evil be judged! True humility cannot rest until the perfect will of God has conquered all that is standing in the way of His perfect love. The God of perfect power and perfect humility will not rest until His perfect love conquers all.
So then, there is absolutely no contradiction between the babe in the manger and the humble servant who died on the cross with the conquering King of Revelation 19. Both are the perfect revelation of the humility of God in Christ Jesus.
Beloved, humility is power under control to always do the right thing—the Biblical thing.
II. The second truth about the humility of God in Christ Jesus is related to the above, and it is truly important. Humility is what we are becoming and not just what we do.
God is certainly interested in what we do, but I believe that He is much more interested in who we are becoming. Why? Because if who we are becoming is right, then what we do will be right.
There are people who “act” humble, but they are not really humble. Perhaps they act humble to impress others or because they are trying to manipulate others to get what they want. But this is obviously not true humility.
I’m not saying that true humility is easy, because it’s not. It doesn’t feel good to the flesh. However, when we act in true humility by obeying the Holy Spirit and denying the sinful flesh—our motives being pure—then we are following after the genuine humility of God in Christ Jesus. We are following after the humble God; we are becoming more and more like Him! As this happens, then humility will be more of who we are and not just what we do. Beloved, I believe this is where the abundant life is found. This is the power and glory of Christianity. This is the true Spirit of Christmas.
III. My final point in this message is that the true humility of God in Christ will always be rewarded by God.
This is what the Holy Spirit revealed to us in verses 9-11 in our text. “Therefore,” (because Christ Jesus humbled Himself by becoming a man and by becoming the servant of men, and then ultimately dying on a cross to save man), “God highly exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him a name 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 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
Beloved do you see it? The Son of God humbled Himself by laying aside His Divine glory to be incarnate in human flesh. He then made Himself to be a servant—a humble carpenter that chose twelve very ordinary men to be His disciples. At last, he completely emptied Himself by voluntarily laying down His life on a cross. This was Almighty power under perfect control to accomplish the will and plan of God—namely the salvation of the Church.
And because of the humility of Christ Jesus, we see the inevitable reward of God:
(1). He raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. That’s power friends!
(2). He then seated Him at His right hand—the highest place!
(3). And He gave Him the Name ABOVE all names!
What an amazing God we serve! At the first coming of Christ Jesus, God stunned the world with the greatest revelation that the world has ever seen. In the incarnation, in His becoming a servant and in His death on the cross, we saw the heart of the humble God revealed. We were allowed to see Who God really is!
Then at the resurrection, ascension, and Second Coming of Christ Jesus we have seen and will see the humility of God as He conquers all evil that is standing in the way of His perfect love.
Beloved, the greatest purpose and privilege in this life is to know and fall in love with the humble God who revealed Himself in the humility of Christ Jesus.
As we do this one thing, we are opening our hearts to be transformed more and more into His likeness. As that happens, we are becoming more like the Lord—allowing the attitude that was in Christ Jesus to be in us.
As we receive the humility of Christmas, God Himself will lift us up and bestow the reward of His favor upon us. He will trust us with more of His power to do His will.
Dear Church, the humility of Christmas is so much more than we know! And yet that is God’s open invitation to each of us this Christmas season. Those who seek Him, as did the wise men so long ago, they will find Him!
Let’s pray.

TEXT: Philippians 2:5-8

SUBJECT: The Humility of Christmas

INTRO:

 

Last Sunday morning my spirit was captured by the humility of God. As I was reflecting on the manger scenes that we have displayed in the Church, I couldn’t help but think about what it really means: the Almighty God who spoke the universe into a tangible existence became a man. The eternal God joined himself to temporal flesh in the miracle of the incarnation. As I once heard it so aptly illustrated, the incarnation was like putting the sun into a rain drop!

 

In the last six messages that I preached on the Rapture and Second Coming of Jesus, I emphasized that there will not have been anything like this since God created the heavens and the earth. This is certainly true because it will mean that God will have brought forth His New Creation, the Church, in all of its eternal glory. The glory of the later house (the New Creation in Christ Jesus) will greatly exceed the former glory of the first creation of Adam. This amazing revelation will come forth with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. The Rapture and Second Coming of Jesus will be nothing short of spectacular. We are most assuredly looking forward to “that day” with joyful anticipation!

 

Beloved, it is good to look forward to the “blessed hope” which is ours in Jesus and which God has eternally planned for His people at the end of the age. Truly, the very best is yet to come for those who are in Christ Jesus. But with that said, it is also good and right to look back at how all of this was made possible with the first coming of Jesus. Although not as outwardly spectacular as will be His second coming, it is still nonetheless stunning!

 

What I personally find to be so incredible about His first coming is the humility in which He came. In verse 5, the Apostle Paul says this, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” That is very important because the attitude of Christ Jesus is why we have Christmas! And if we can understand what this attitude is, then we will be able to more fully celebrate and enter into the beauty of Christmas.

 

 “The Humility of Christmas,” or also said, “The Humility of Christ.”  (Let’s pray)

 

1. The attitude of Christ Jesus is first of all seen in verse 6. “Who being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.”

Although the Son of God possessed the same eternal glory as the Father, He veiled that glory and did not appear with that glory when He became a man in the person of Christ Jesus.

Simply said, when God became a man in Christ Jesus, although remaining fully God, He laid His glory aside—the glory He had with the Father before the world began.[1]

As I said in my introduction, when God became a man the eternal joined Himself to the temporal. But in order for Him to do that He had to lay aside His glory that was His and which He had possessed from all eternity.

Beloved, it was an extreme act of humility for God to lay aside His glory to become a human being. But that is exactly what He did: “Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.” (or held onto)

Is it not stunning that the eternal God willfully and sacrificially became a baby, born in a manger to two peasants named Mary and Joseph? As the song says,

“Mary did you know that your baby boy was God of all creation?”

Okay pastor, but how can I possibly have the same attitude that God had when He became a man? Be willing to lay aside what is yours so that you can give to others. Humility is when we sacrifice what is ours so that others can be blessed. That is how God humbled Himself. That is having the attitude of Christ Jesus, and that is what the true spirit of Christmas really is. Beloved I want to follow the humble God. I want the kind of Spirit that He has. That is where blessing, peace and completeness can be found. It is the magic of Christmas!

2. Secondly, the attitude of Christ Jesus is also found in verse 7, “but made Himself nothing, taking the nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

Beloved, when God became a man He emptied Himself. That is the sense of this verse. Not only did He empty Himself of His glory when He became a man, He further emptied Himself when He took on the form of a servant! He didn’t come as a great and powerful man of the world, although He could have; He didn’t come as an emperor or a worldly man of wealth and riches even though everything belongs to Him; and He didn’t come to be served by others even though He was and is God. Rather He came as a servant to others. As Jesus Himself said in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

The point is this: Christmas is the revelation of the humility of God. It’s about what God was willing to give up for others—for you and me. This is the true spirit of Christmas.

So the question is this: are we willing follow the humble God? Are we willing to emulate His life? Are we willing to take the low position of the servant to serve and bless others?

Christmas is who God is and what He did in Christ Jesus for others. Beloved, God is a giver and in order to be a giver requires humility—not “grasping” or holding on to what we have so that others can be lifted higher. This is the attitude of Christ Jesus and should be our attitude also.

3. The third and final attitude of Christ Jesus revealed in this text is found in verse 8, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.”

Not only did God humble Himself when He laid aside His glory and became a man, and not only did He further empty or humble Himself when He took the lowest place and position as a servant, the scripture says that He also humbled Himself when He became obedient to death.

Nowhere is this humility of Jesus better found than when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before His death. It was here at the Mount of Olives that Jesus prayed this amazing prayer: “Not my will, but Your will be done.” This was a prayer of total surrender to the Father’s will. It was the ultimate act of sacrifice that others might be saved.

There is no greater act of humility than when someone is willing to give up their life for the benefit and blessing of others. And that is what Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Paul completes this stunning revelation of God’s humility when He adds, “even death on a cross.” Not only did the Son of God become obedient to death, but He also became obedient to death on a cross!

Being willing to die for others is in and of itself an amazing act of humility. But being willing to die on a cruel cross is beyond amazing! But that is exactly what Jesus did. And He did it so that you and I might have the gift and hope of eternal life.

Beloved, this is the true spirit of Christmas. It is the spirit that we are to pursue as we learn to die to ourselves so that others can be blessed.

CONCLUSION

Church, I sincerely hope that you have been able to receive at least a small taste of the humility of God revealed in this message—the humility that was manifested in the attitude of our beautiful God and Savior Christ Jesus.

Although He was in very nature God, He set aside the glory that was His from all eternity to become a man. This is truly a stunning revelation of the humility of God.

But that humility went even deeper when He took the nature of a servant. He served others instead of being served which is also a stunning.

Yet the ultimate act of God’s humility was when the Son of God became obedient to death—even death on a cross. He died that we might live.

This is the humility of Christmas, and it is truly the way of blessing and fullness of life.

 

Last Sunday as God was speaking this simple word to me, I was filled with such an amazing peace. I felt and feel so blessed to be saved and to have the opportunity of following the God who became a man through the incarnation—the humble carpenter who laid down His life on a cross that I might have the gift of eternal life. And I make no apologies for being one of His followers. I have nothing to prove to anyone. His very nature draws me to Him. He is the humble God.

This Beloved is the meaning of Christmas. It is the revelation of God manifested in the humility of Christ Jesus.

And the invitation of Christmas is for us to follow Him in humility so that those in our circle of love and influence may be blessed.

Let’s pray.

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[1] John 17:5