Philippians 2 5-8

The speaker is talking about the true meaning of Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ. They mention that Jesus existed in eternity past with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. They explain that Jesus was in the form of God and willingly became a man to fulfill God's plan of salvation. They also discuss the character of Jesus, emphasizing his humility and selflessness. The speaker reflects on what it might have been like in heaven before Jesus came to Earth. It's good to be with you this morning, I hate to doubt he's not feeling well, but that's one of the things that happens when you are not fully pastoring, you let your name be known that you are available, it's not the first time I've been called in early morning and asking you to preach for me today, I appreciate the opportunity, glad to be back in Kentucky Church. If you have your Bibles, come with me to Philippians chapter 2, Philippians chapter 2, we're going to look at a side of Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ that often we don't look upon, but it is about the birth of Christ, it tells us what happened in Bethlehem when Jesus Christ came into this world, and that's in Philippians chapter 2, begin reading in verse 5. He says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and been found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. You know, as we look at Christmas today, there's so many traditions, there's so many different thoughts and ideas concerning Christmas that has been floated for generations, that sometimes we actually lose the true meaning of what Christmas is all about. We look at Christmas and Hallmark, and we think the glamour part of it, we think of all the, you know, the massage, the dress, the, you know, presentation of Christmas snow on the mountains, and all this kind of stuff, but that's not really the true story of Christmas. The true story of Christmas did not begin in Bethlehem, it began in the eternity past. And Paul, writing to the Philippians church, he sets before us, in the passages that I have read to you today, the theological and spiritual aspect of the truth of Christmas, and what Christmas is all about, and what it entails, and what it means. You could take a passage of scripture like this and teach and preach on it for hours after hours, because the truths that are there are so wonderful and so mighty that the human mind cannot shake, put his mind around everything that's being taught there. But I'm thankful that we can understand and recognize the fact that Jesus Christ in eternity past existed with the Lord God his Father in eternity past, and I want us to look at that this morning. First of all, I notice in this passage of scripture that there is an exit from heaven. In verse 5, he says, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. The Bible clearly teaches us that Christ has always existed, that Christ has always been a person, a personality, and he was not always known as Jesus, but in the eternity past, in John chapter 1 and verse 1, the Bible tells us that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So if we look back to this time before Christ came into the world, we find that he existed with God the Father, his beginning was not in Bethlehem, he had always existed, he had always been in existence, and he teaches us in this passage of scripture, first of all, the condition of his birth before Bethlehem. In verse 6, it says, we read that before he came to Bethlehem, he was in the form of God. In the form of God. When we hear that word form, we think about the shape of something. We think about, you know, I've used this illustration before. My grandmother had an old butter mold, and she would put that butter, cream and butter in there, and it would harden, and it would have the form or the shape of that mold. But that's not what he's talking about here. He's not talking about the form or the shape when he says that he was in the form of God. What he's talking about is his essence, in reality who he was, and who he was, had always been, and who he will always be, and that is God, and then in Bethlehem he was manifested in the flesh. What Paul tells us in verse 6 is that Jesus did not become God, but he became man. He had always existed as God. There's never a time when Christ did not exist as God, and was in the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. John chapter 1, again, it talks to us about the eternality of Jesus Christ. He has always been. Somebody asked me one time, well, when did Christ come into existence? And I said, He didn't. He always has been. He's never been a moment in time, even in eternity past, before time was beginning to be marked. There never was a time that He did not exist, and He existed equally, co-equal with God the Father. Now, that's what I say is beyond my mind. I can't explain it to you, I can't set it down and say, well, you know, this is God the Father, this is God the Son, and this is God the Holy Spirit, and, you know, explain it to you. I can simply tell you this morning that, by faith, we accept the fact that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are, in essence, in one, but they're manifested in three different individuals and three different personalities. Now, so when Paul talks about this, he's talking about the time before that Christ became flesh and dwelt in Bethlehem, and dwelt upon this earth. When we would find, if you would travel back in time and motion, and before history became a story, what you would find is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In Genesis chapter 1, in verse 1, it says, In the beginning, God, when was the beginning? There is marked off as the beginning of creation time, but in John chapter 1, when it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, that's back before God ever began to create, before there ever was anything brought into existence, or Colossians 1, 16 tells us that Christ created all things. So when we get to thinking about all these things, our minds can be, you know, trying to wrap our minds and our thoughts around it and trying to find a way to explain it. I've been trying to do that for 55 years in ministry, but I've never found a way to fully explain, you know, we say, well, I'm a father, I'm a son, and I'm a husband. I'm three different things, but I'm one person. Well, that doesn't explain it real well, because I'm not God. I'm not in essence God, neither a part of that is. But the simple fact is that when it talks about his existence before, and it said he thought it not robbery to be equal, who had been in the form of God, he's talking about the essence of God, he's talking about the being of God, he's talking about the very person of God itself. So in the beginning, before there was a beginning, Christ existed with God the Father, and we look at that and we understand that he became flesh in Bethlehem. He took upon himself the form of a servant and became a man and dwelled upon this earth. But now, talking about the condition, let's look at the character of Christ before his birth. Again, in verse 6, it tells us that who been in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. And notice the phrase that I want to focus upon is, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God. The word robbery there is a little confusing, because when we think about a robbery, we're thinking about somebody stealing something, or somebody taking something that doesn't belong to them, or somebody holding a bank up, or robbing a store or something like that. And certainly we'd say to ourselves, well, you know, Jesus would never do anything like that. He would never engage in any activity like that. So what does the word robbery mean? Well, think of it this way. What does a robber do when he takes something? He seizes it. He takes it and he seizes it. He takes control of it. Actually, he seizes it, and Jesus looked at being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He didn't seize it. He didn't cling to it. He didn't hold on to it. He was willing to let go of it. He was willing to release who he was in essence with God and become something that he never was before. I think about his willingness to do that, and I think about all the things that we lay hold to, the things that we seize, the things that we hold on to that prevent us from doing what God would have us to do. Amen? You know, Lord, I would serve you, but I need to do this. Or Lord, I would do your will, but I need to do this and that. But Jesus, Paul said in Philippians, he said Jesus thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. What did he do? And the word made, he made himself. He became, he was selfless. He became, was willing to offer himself, willing to sacrifice that which he had in order to become a man in order that he might die on the cross of Calvary for you and I. You know, I think sometimes, Brother Morris, I let my mind get to running, and I think about things, Warren Wisber said we need to use imagination in studying the Bible, and I do a lot of that sometimes. But what was it like in heaven before Jesus left? Before Jesus came to Bethlehem, what was it like in heaven? Well, we can only understand, you know, understand part of it. We can't understand everything because we don't have a record of what went on there. But we know, first of all, that Jesus was with God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit was together on the throne of God. And there they were worshipped, there they were united together, there they were not separated from one another, but yet they were one in essence, they were one in unit, and they were, you know, together with one another. That's why when we get to the cross of Calvary and we hear Jesus cry out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And we just pass over that sometimes, and we don't see the depth of the agony of being, what Jesus was talking about was being separated from God the Father. For the first time in all of eternity, God the Father, God the Son were separated from one another. Do you know why He was separated? Because your sin and my sin was upon Jesus Christ, and God cannot look upon sin. So the Bible says there was darkness upon the earth. That's symbolic of the fact that God turned His back. He did not look upon His Son. But yet before Christ came into the world, they had never been separated. They were united in essence and fullness of the Godhead. And I can just imagine the Word, I don't know whether the angels were aware of it or not, but I'm sure they were because they told the shepherds that He was coming, amen? So the angels had to be aware of it. What kind of ceremony, what kind of farewell ceremony, what took place in heaven before Jesus came? I don't know. I don't know. But I know that Jesus was not willing to hold on to that. He was not willing to seize it and cling to it. He was willing to make Himself of no reputation and become a man and walk among us. Think about, first of all, His exit from heaven. And then think about His entrance into humanity. He thought it not robbery, verse 5 says, Paul says, let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal to God, but made Himself of no reputation. He entered into humanity. In order to enter into humanity and be made in the likeness of men, He had to go through a birth, He had to go through an entrance, He had to go through the process of the birth. And Paul said, writing to the Philippians, he said Paul says that rather than clinging to his eternity and his equality with God, he made himself of no reputation and took upon himself the form of a servant. Obviously, it took a miracle for a virgin to conceive and bear a son. Amen? Mary said when the angel came and told her what was going to take place, she said, how can this be? He said, I know not a man. She didn't understand it. She was perplexed by the promise that was made to her. But yet the angel said that the Holy Spirit will overshadow you and that which is conceived in you shall be of the Holy One, of God. You see, Joseph was not the father of Jesus. You know, perhaps maybe 30 or 40 years ago, I never heard anybody say that. But I heard a guy on television the other night, and he was talking about Christmas and the time of the birth of Christ and so forth, and he talked about Joseph, his father. And he didn't use the word stepfather. He didn't use that word. He used the word father. And you know, I've learned a long time ago, you can scream and holler at your TV all you want to and they can't hear you. But I would have loved to sit down with that fellow for about five minutes and explain to him how Jesus Christ came into this world and how He made Himself of no reputation, how He took upon Himself the form of a servant, all through the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about those words for just a moment. He made Himself of no reputation. What does that mean, He made Himself of no reputation? Well, it means He, in some translations say this, He emptied Himself. He left that glory. He left that splendor. He left that essence and relationship that He had with God the Father in eternity past, that equality that He had with God the Father. And He came into this world. He emptied Himself and took upon Himself the form of a servant. You know, in eternity past, all Jesus had to do was speak the Word and all the angels was there to say, what do you want me to do? Did you call? Did you say? But now, He takes upon Himself the form of a servant. And who is He listening to as the Master? God the Father. You know, it's always amazed me when I study the Gospel concerning Jesus Christ, and I hear Jesus say, I never do anything without asking the Father first. He said, His will is my will. And when I pull that curtain back and I see that form of a servant, not only a servant to man, but also a servant to the will of God and to the purpose and plan of God, I have to ask myself the question, how committed am I to doing the will of God? How committed am I to doing what the Master asked me to do? Oh, we could search our hearts today, and Jesus teaches us by example that we're going to see in a few moments. But Paul said He made Himself of no reputation. He inked Himself, and He took upon Himself the form of a servant. Again, I confess to you this morning, that that's beyond my comprehension, my ability to see the truths and the depths of the truth that is taught there in that passage of Scripture. But I know one thing, that Jesus left His rule and His reign in heaven in order to come to earth. And again, I'll point the verse out to you in John chapter 5 and verse 30. He said, not to do my will, but to do His will. Seriously, we need to stop this morning and just ask ourselves the question, where am I in the will of God? Where am I? What am I willing to do in order that Christ might be honored and glorified? Notice the purpose of this death in verse 8. He goes on in verse 18 and says, and being found in fashion as a man, He did what? He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death. You know, there are approximately 33 years that separated Bethlehem's manger to God Gotha's cross. They're separated in time, but they're intricately linked together. You see, men are born to live. Christ was born to die. He knew... You know, I can't make the statement that He knew from the time He was born that He was destined to die for the sins of lost humanity, because that wouldn't be a true statement. You see, and He turned it to pass. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ stood as a Lamb slain when? Before the foundation of the world. Before God spoke in Genesis chapter 1, Christ already knew His purpose for coming into this world. He knew that He had come to die. He knew that He had come in order that through His death, He might give us eternal life. Let me say something to you this morning. The birth of Christ does not save anybody. The birth of Christ doesn't save anybody. The life of Christ doesn't save anybody. The Bible says very plainly that it's through the shedding of blood that there's remission of sin. As a matter of fact, it says it this way. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. You see, I'm thankful for the birth of Christ. I'm thankful for the life of Christ. But they did not save me. It was His death that gave me eternal life. You can't separate His birth and His life and His death. I understand that. But they're intricately related to one another. But it's His death, it's His shedding of blood that causes our remission of sins. What happened in Bethlehem? What happened in Bethlehem? The Lamb slain before the foundation of the world entered into the world. He began His journey toward His place of death. You know, oftentimes, oftentimes, Jesus made this remark to His disciples. He said, it's not my time. It's not my time. They tried to stone Him. What did He do? He just evaded the crowd. They tried to throw Him over a cliff. What did He do? He just evaded the crowd. Every time the disciples tried to force Him into kinship, He said, it's not my time. But then there came a day and an hour. They had been in Philippi of Caesarea. And Jesus had asked a question. He said, whom do men say that I am? And they said, some say you're Elijah. Some say you're Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And He asked them the pointed question. He said, who do you say that I am? And Peter spoke up and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. You read in that passage of Scripture there in Matthew chapter 16. And it tells us that Jesus began to teach them and share with them and expound to them about His death in Jerusalem and what would take place. What did Peter do? Peter said, Lord, would you step over here a minute? I need to talk to you. You've got this all wrong. You're not going to die. You're going to reign on the throne of David. You're going to be king of kings and Lord of lords. And what did Jesus tell him? He said, get thee behind Me, Satan. I'm telling you, I must need to go to Jerusalem and there I will be crucified. There I will die, dying for the sins of the world. But that's not all of the passage. There's one other thing that we need to look at. First of all, we see His exit from heaven. We see His entrance into humanity. But Paul in this whole passage of Scripture is sharing this with us and he's writing this to the church at Philippi to get a point across to them. And that point that he's trying to get across to them is found in verse 3. In verse 3, he says, Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem the other better than himself. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was in Christ. What's he teaching there? He says that as we look at the cross, as we look at the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we look at the cross and His death, we need to understand and recognize, yes, He left us an example. An example of humility. Humility. You know what humility is? Humility is what man's willing to do when he doesn't care who gets the credit. Amen? He's willing to sacrifice himself. The moment that a man thinks he's... Humility is having a selfless attitude. And the moment that a person thinks that they're humble, they just lost it. But Jesus was humble all through His life, and He demonstrated His selflessness. Look back at verse 4 again. He says, Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. What was it? What was it? What was it that motivated Jesus to come and to be separated from God the Father in eternity and come to this earth? What was it that motivated Him? What was it that He thought it not robbery to be equal to? What was it? Look in the mirror and you'll find the answer. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. And folks, that's every one of us. Amen? He came not for Himself, but He came for others. For others. He gave His whole ministry. It was not about Himself, but it was totally about others. Seeing, reaching out and touching and healing and bringing wholeness and completeness. You know, in this day and age today, it's always been that way. It's just more pronounced today. We cling to our own rights and our own sense of self. You know, that's what all this identity problem is about. It's not about a man becoming a woman or a woman becoming a man and all that. That's not what it's about. That's just an outward manifestation. You know what it's really about is, look at me. Look at me. I want your attention. I want you to bow before me. But not so with the Lord Jesus Christ. He came and He died that you and I might have eternal life. The selflessness. And that's totally demonstrated in His death at Calvary. He humbled Himself and became obedient even to the death of the cross. Now, we read that today. We've kind of passed by it. He mentioned even the death of the cross. You see, the Romans, they had gotten it from the Philicians and other nations. But the Romans was the one who perfected crucifixion. They had it down to a fine art. And the one thing that they sought to achieve through crucifixion was the most pain and agony that could be placed upon a human being without him dying. You know, the Romans, they crucified hundreds and thousands of people, not in a year, but sometimes in a day. The agony. Jesus knew that before He came. Well, He said, Cursed is he that hangeth on a tree. He knew that. But He was willing to come and He was willing to lay down His life that you and I might have eternal life. 1 John chapter 3 verse 16 says, Hereby perceive we the love of God because He laid down His life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for the brother. What is Paul teaching in Philippians chapter 2? He's teaching humility, how we ought to get along with one another, how we ought to not seek vain glory, how we ought to have a lowliness of mind that we esteem others better than ourselves. What's he really talking about? He's talking about how to be a servant. How to be a servant and magnify Christ in all that we do. How we are to humble ourselves that we might exalt Him as our Master. Amen? But think about it this morning. He never hesitated. He never stopped. He never thought of it for a moment. And eternity passed. He was willing to come and lay down His life that you and I might have eternal life. I stopped reading verse 8. Pick up and read verse 9, 10 and 11. He says, Wherefore, tearing us back to what we just studied, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To the glory of God. In all sincerity and honesty this morning, and I say this for myself as much as I say it to you. When we stop and consider what Christ has done for us, we ought to bow on our knees. And we ought to cry out to Him and say, Lord, I'm Yours. Thank You for saving my soul. I'm happy to be Yours. What do You have for me to do? How can I magnify Your name above every name? That's the question this morning. It's not so much what Jesus did, but what are we willing to do based upon what He did for us? That's the question. Let's stand. Our Heavenly Fathers, we come to Your form of grace. We thank You, dear God, for the love that You have for us. That You freely gave Your Son, and He freely gave Himself, that we might have eternal life. Lord, I don't know the hearts of the individuals here today, but I pray that if I be warned here today, this may be accepted Christ as their personal Savior. I hope and pray that they will not get entangled in the Christmas lights and the tinsel and all the things that glitter and the things that tradition put before us. But if we think about Christmas, we think about Christ leaving the glories and the riches of heaven. Thought it not robbery to the equal of God, but willing to make Himself of no reputation, that we might have eternal life, even the death of the cross. Father, I pray today that we might have a fresh look and an open mind to what Christ has done for us. And we give You the praise in Christ's name. Brother Phil, as we sing a hymn of invitation, I'm going to be standing down front. If there's anything that I can pray with you or talk with you about, you come this morning.