HYMN OF HUMILITY
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so 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.
Today's text is a hymn sung by the early church. A hymn that was a rock which they sunk their anchor of faith. As with any great song this hymn as a back story. This hymn was written to remind us "that the sin of pride could only be redeemed by the humility of a Savior."
You will never understand how great your pride is until you understand how great God is. Furthermore, you will never understand how great was Christ humility until you understand how great God is. Our sin and His sacrifice reveal His greatness. Let me repeat in a different way; 'the degree to which Jesus was humiliated reflects the depth of our sin."
LOOK AT HIS HEAVENLY ENTHRONEMENT
LOOK AT HIS HEAVENLY ENTHRONEMENT
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD,
or what man shows him his counsel?
Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.
Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
and because he is strong in power,
not one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
Our text tells us that the Sovereign God of the universe becomes like one of His subjects. The Creator condescends into the confinements of a woman's womb. The infinite God wraps himself in human flesh. The second Adam born as the first Adam without the seed of man.
Christmas is about God overcoming the first sin and therefore all sin because all sin has its roots in the first sin; pride. The sin of pride could only be redeemed by the humility of a Savior.
LEARN FROM HIS HUMAN EXISTENCE
LEARN FROM HIS HUMAN EXISTENCE
but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Christ obedience saves us from our pride and our obedience to Christ will enable us to live as prideful people pursuing humility. The second Adam succeeded where the first Adam fell so that His brothers and sisters might live as the second Adam and not the first.
Obedience put to death the temptation of pride.
LISTEN TO HIS HIGH EXALTATION
LISTEN TO HIS HIGH EXALTATION
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so 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.
Jesus exaltation was in exact proportion to His humiliation. Jesus saves us through His humiliation and we are saved as we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.
As we look at his heavenly enthronement, learn from his human existence, and listen to his high exaltation we will be enabled to pursue a life of humility.