Our Old Covenant reading this evening comes from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 42 verses 1 through 9. Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice or make it heard in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands wait for his law. Thus says God, the Lord who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it. I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant. for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, that is my name. My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them. Our new covenant reading this evening comes from Paul's letter to the Philippians. Philippians chapter two, verses five to eight. But I'm gonna read through verse 11. Philippians chapter two, beginning in verse five. 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 upon 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. The grass withers and the flowers of the field, they fade and they fall. But this, the word of our God from Isaiah 42 and Philippians chapter two, it endures forever. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, as we come to your word, which you inspired, which you breathed out, your word which comes to us without error, Your word that comes to us as the very word of the God who created all things. Oh Lord, we ask that as your people, you would send forth your word among us by the power of your spirit working with it. Lord, to root that word deeply in our hearts and to cause it to produce fruit in our lives. We know, Lord, that apart from the work of Your Spirit, Your Word doesn't take root. Our hearts are not changed. Our lives are not changed. Our minds remain the same. Yet, Lord, You promise to come and to change Your people. And so, Lord, would You do that? Would You work powerfully and mightily among us, not for our sake, sake of your glory, we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. The passage before us this evening is one of those glorious texts in which we behold our Savior and marvel at the extent to which he gave of himself For us and for our salvation and obedience to His Father. Many scholars believe that this section beginning in verse 6 and going through to verse 11 could have been a hymn or a confession used by the church after the resurrection of Christ. And we don't know exactly its origin or the original use. But we do have it as the inscripturated Word of God. Whether it came first from Paul in this very letter, or if Paul in some way inserts it here, in these verses in poetic form, we are given one of the most beautiful, beautiful passages of God's Word in which we behold our glorious Savior in his sufferings and in his subsequent glories. for us this evening is rich Christology. But like the rest of this letter, this Christology comes within the context of pastoral concern. So that this rich theology of Christ has a particular practical impetus. But of course, all theology is practical theology. All right thinking about God is intended to change and shape us as we behold him. As Paul ended verses 1 to 4 that we looked at last week with a call to humility, he picks up where he left off in verse 4, but with an added Christological focus. Verse 5 says, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. So that the one-mindedness and the single-mindedness of verse 3 is for those who are in Christ Jesus. Toward a Christ-mindedness. As we've seen over the past number of weeks, Paul has been encouraging the Philippians to live lives worthy of the gospel. We saw that in chapter 1 verse 27. to live lives that are consistent with the work of God in bringing dead sinners to life, in forgiving them, in counting them righteous in Christ, and then working in them that they would resemble Jesus in their very lives. If you have received the grace of God in Christ, and the benefits that flow from it, and flow from Him, then this is how you So that unity and humility are qualities that befit those who are bound to Jesus. Now, we need to see that Paul is doing more in these verses than setting Jesus as an example for believers to follow. It's not that Jesus is just an example, a good example for his people to emulate. As Paul says, in Christ Jesus in Philippians 2.5, this is a reference to the Philippians relationship to Christ. So that as one commentator notes, this verse is best understood as be so disposed toward one another as is proper for those who are united in Christ Jesus. That understanding of verse five is much more consistent with verses one to four in the appeal to unity and humility in the church. It provides for us a framework to understand the Christian life in light of our union with Jesus. Our lives, as Paul notes here, are to be characterized by Christ-shaped humility. They're to be shaped into the pattern of Christ's humility as we are being shaped by the work of the Spirit of Christ as he sanctifies us. That's what's happening for the Christian. They're being shaped into the image of Jesus and shaped into that image by the sanctifying Spirit. Which is likewise, we'll see, consistent with the passage that follows, which highlights God's sanctifying work in us in Philippians 2. 12 to 13. See, Christ not only provides the example of humility, he also provides to us the resources to live in him in a manner that reflects his humility. The passage before us this evening most naturally breaks into two parts. Verses 6 to 8. being the humiliation of Christ, and then verses 9 to 11, the exaltation of Christ, which is what we'll look at next week. But for this evening, we'll break that first part of humiliation up into two sections. humiliation of the eternal Son of God, and the humiliation of the God-man. But though I'm breaking up this Christ hymn, we should recognize that there is an inherent unity in this passage from verses 6 to 11, which together speak of the pre-existence Then the humiliation and then the exaltation of our Lord. These verses are called by some the great parabola from glory down to humiliation and up to glory. But focusing this evening on the humiliation of Christ, we begin in verse 6. Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. And as we look at this passage this evening, we need to recognize that we are treading on holy ground here. Paul is offering to us in this inspired record, the mind of Christ Jesus. And that even before he took on flesh. This tells us something of how the Son of God thought about his glory and his mission as mediator. And the first thing that we see here is that Christ was in the form of God. Now we use this word form oftentimes in terms of visible shape. But that's not what this word means. Rather, what is in view when Paul speaks of Christ being in the form of God, is that Christ Jesus is, in his very essence, God. All the attributes of God, all the fullness of deity, belong properly to the Son, because He is God, very God. The Son was not less than God. He was not like God. He was and is and ever will be God. In glory with the Father and the Spirit from all eternity. This is pre-existence that Jesus spoke about in John 17 verse 5. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you. before the world existed. This language of form refers to the fullness of Christ's Godhood. So then being in the form of God and having equality with God, as Paul continues on in this verse, are parallel statements. Though they're not synonymous with one another, they speak to the same reality. Being in the form of God means that the Son is likewise equal with God and is God. This will, of course, be contrasted in verse 7 with the antithetical parallelism between the form of God and the form of a servant. There, Paul will distinguish and contrast what is distinctively divine with that which is distinctively human. form of God, sharing equality with God as the Son, being of one substance, one being as God. What we have here in verse 6 is one of the most profound expressions of the deity of Christ that we find in the New Testament. Here we behold his pre-existing glory. But the verse continues on. to show us what the infinite, eternal, and unchangeable Son of God did in His glory. For God so loved the world that He sent His only Son. But what was the mind of the one who was sent? What was our Lord's mind concerning His eternal glory? Paul tells us here that he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. Paul just said to the Philippians in verse 3, he said, count others more significant than yourselves. It's no accident here that Paul is using the same verb, to count or to reckon, to describe Jesus' own mindset. The eternal Son of God did not count his divine majesty as a thing to be grasped. It is not that Jesus would have been seeking to elevate himself as if to grab for something that wasn't his. Or to grab for some type of higher attainment of glory. That kind of thinking would imply both a conflict in the Godhead and would imply some type of hierarchy of being, both ideas of which are not proper to God in any orthodox understanding. Rather, Jesus did not regard his being equal with God, which is who he is in his essence. He did not regard it as a thing to be held on to. He did not regard it as a thing to be seized upon. In other words, Jesus refused to act in self-interest with regard to his divinity. He refused to act selfishly by clinging on to the status that actually was properly his. He is God. All glory, honor, and majesty belong properly to him at all times and in every moment. throughout all eternity. But he did not count it as something to be held on to. How so? Verse seven begins, but he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. God of God, light of light. very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of the same substance as the Father. Thou who was rich beyond all splendor, who dwelt in unapproachable light, whose glory was without bounds, who as God was self-existent and the creator and upholder of all that exists, That's what we're talking about here. That's who we're talking about. He emptied himself. He emptied himself. This passage here is often called the kenosis hymn, kenosis being the Greek word for emptying. Not just emptying though, look at the active verb with the reflexive pronoun. Jesus was not emptied by someone or something. Rather, He emptied Himself. Why did He empty Himself? Or rather, what did He empty Himself of, you may be thinking? Well, if we say that he lost something of his being, that would be heresy. So we're not going to say that. Because the rest of scripture would contradict that. See, if God loses something of himself, he ceases to be God. Then how do we understand what it means when Paul says he emptied himself? Well, we actually don't have to spend much time speculating because Paul tells us. Paul tells us what this self-emptying entails. He says he emptied himself by taking. He who is God took on the form of a servant. He had every claim in the universe and beyond to power and glory, every claim to dignity. But when the word became flesh, he took the form of the one who came not to be served, but to serve. He was in the form of God. took the form of a servant. Again, form here is not simply referring to how he looked, but the essence of what he took to himself in the incarnation. Being the fullness of God, he became the fullness of a slave. He made himself nothing. Just think about that. In his self-emptying humiliation of taking on the additional nature of a created being, he didn't even come in a position of created human prominence. He didn't even come as a mighty king. He didn't take a position of power and glory to be the pinnacle of man's glory, became as a lowly slave. the fullness of all that it means to be a servant. See, when Jesus emptied himself, he wasn't dressing up as a servant. He wasn't pretending for a time to be a servant. He was a servant of servants who came to serve and give his life a ransom for many. And that's where we move as we go into verse 8. Talking about the humiliation of the God-man. From glory, to the humiliation of the Incarnation, to even further humiliation. Look at verse 8. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Why? Why would that be? Why the humiliation? That question really leads us into the eternal purpose of God in what we call the pactum salutis. The pact of salvation, the inner Trinitarian purpose and plan of God before the foundation of the world. The Son in counsel with the Father and the Spirit in perfect communion together and oneness of mind determined that the Son would willingly come as the second Adam. Taking to himself a true human body and a reasonable soul that is a true human nature to redeem those for whom the love of the Father had been freely set upon in him. That the Son would stand as the mediator between God and man. That the Son would come and bear the curse of man's sin to the point of death. The Son willingly submitting himself to his Father. And in the fullness of time, at the right time, willingly allowing his glory to be veiled and endure suffering in order to save. His people. He was obedient to the Father. Obedient according to the plan for redeeming sinners. Obedient even up to the point of death. That statement up to the point of death is a statement of the extent of Christ's humility. His selflessness knew no limits. Even to the point of death. and being found in human form. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Now, let's remember something very, very important about death. Death had no power over the Son of God. Jesus declared that in John 10 18. No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my father. See, death had no claim on him, but was a mode of obedience. It was by his consent. He's the one who emptied himself. He's the one who gave himself up for us. A willing sacrifice that he was obedient even to the point of death. There's no analogy in all the universe to contrast the heights and the depths of Christ Jesus. There's nothing that we can compare him to. Son of God humbling himself to become man and not just man, but the servant of man. And he further humbles himself to make himself subject to death, which had no claim on him as the very source of life. And so what kind of death would befit the Son of God? Should the Son of God die? What kind of death should he die? No death, of course, right? That's the answer. Yet the death he died was Not even a dignified death, as if there could be such thing as a dignified death, but the humiliation of even death on a cross. Even death on a cross, a most cruel and torturous death reserved for the most heinous, the most vile, the most odious of criminals, the worst of the worst. Listen to how John Murray speaks about the humility of Jesus on the cross. We must remember that Paul in Using Christ's humiliation isn't calling us to humble ourselves so as to atone for our own sin. Dying to self is not the way to redemption. That's not what Paul is saying as he's using Christ in this way and speaking about him in this way. See, humiliation and humility is not the way of salvation. It is the way of those who have received all that Christ accomplished for them in his humiliation on that horrid cross. Where he died your death. So that in him you would have his very life. And though his sacrificial death through humility is unrepeatable because he alone is the God-man who is able to atone for sin and make atonement perfectly sufficient for all the elect, yet he is our pattern of life as we possess life in Christ Jesus. He being God of God, he being light of light, creator and sustainer of all things, who is to be worshiped and glorified. He had rights and privileges that were properly his, but he laid them aside for our sake, for those whom he loved. He took the form of a suffering servant who, in the words of Isaiah 53 12, he poured out his soul to death. From highest glory to lowest depths, this we see is the mind of Christ. This was the perspective of the Son of God, seeing his own glory seeing his beloved father, seeing his chosen people, all for love's sake, became poor. In loving obedience to his father, in loving mercy towards sinners, we find that Christ held nothing. He held nothing back. He claimed for himself nothing. He gave of himself unreservedly. This is the mind of Christ. This is the shape of Christ's humility by which we have been redeemed. And being redeemed by him and thus united to him, we as citizens of Christ's heavenly kingdom are called to his likeness. to behold our Lord and to likewise be disposed towards one another as is proper for those who are united in Christ Jesus. If you're wondering what Paul meant back up in verse three, to in humility count others more significant than yourselves. These verses here gush forth an answer almost too astonishing as we set our gaze upon Jesus and come to terms with the shape of his humility, the self-denial that saved us, and that same self-denial into which we are called and are being formed. Now, sometimes when we hear a call like that, A call to selflessness. And because it's so contrary to the pull of the self-centeredness that exists in our hearts, we wonder about the extent, don't we? We assume that there must be a limit. How far do I let this go? How much humility is enough? How much is too much? Is there a limit to how much I should deny myself? Is there a depth too far, too low for us to descend? Well, the answer to those questions is found here. The answer to those questions is found here in Jesus, where we see that whatever path of humility lies before us as the people of God, it could never ever begin to approach the depths to which Christ descended for us. So if you wonder if it's too low for whatever's before you, think about Jesus and recognize, no, it can't possibly be too low for you. See, our response should not be a question of how far down is enough, but rather our response should be a praise for how deeply Christ gave himself for us. Our response should be a prayer. Lord, forgive my selfish pride. Forgive my foolish illusions of thinking more highly of myself than I ought. should be a prayer, Lord, help me walk a path of humility that resembles the path that Jesus walked for me. For in him we find the pattern to which we've been called. A pattern to inform everything that we do. In our church, in our vocations, in our families, That the mind of Christ who willingly humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross, would be our mind. That that mind would be our mind among us. May we be a church. May we be a people who are characterized by the humility of our Savior. That we would be of one mind with one another. Doing nothing from selfish ambition, counting others as more important than ourselves, for that is what Jesus did for us. May that call lead us to gaze more intently upon Jesus. That's what Paul's doing. He's calling us to gaze upon Christ as we walk in Christ-shaped humility. Let's pray together. Our gracious Father. As we behold the depths to which Christ descended for us. We can't help but marvel. At our Savior. At his great love. and his selflessness. O Lord, we ask that you would fix our gaze upon him. And Lord, we ask that in him we would be formed as we are conformed more to his pattern. Lord, we praise you for your wisdom, your righteousness, Lord, your power on display as Christ gave himself up for us. And though we end our passage looking at it tonight in Christ's humiliation, we know that only because Christ has been raised and is exalted in glory, that everything that he purchased for us comes to us. that he has been vindicated so that we in him likewise would share in the inheritance that he has procured. Oh Lord, give us eyes to see Jesus, to behold him, and to savor him. We ask in his name. Amen.