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