Alright, Philippians chapter 2 this morning please while the young folks make their way out. Philippians chapter 2, last week we said that we were going to be looking at the birth of Christ, the incarnation of Christ for two or three messages and that we were going to be doing so trying to look at the incarnation perhaps from just a different perspective maybe than what we are accustomed to, what we are used to last week. We looked in Matthew chapter 1 at the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ and we noted how in the genealogy of Christ in that first part of Matthew 1 in the very beginning of the New Testament, We have a demonstration of the grace of God that there are four ladies mentioned before you get to Joseph and Mary. There are four ladies specifically mentioned in that passage. And through those four ladies we see a demonstration of the grace and the mercy of God, which is culminated later in the chapter when it is said of our Lord Jesus that He came to save His people from their sins. The reality that here were four sinful ladies that are included in the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the grace of God. Today we're continuing to look at the Incarnation, but again we're going to look at the Incarnation From perhaps a little different perspective, here in Philippians 2, verses 5-8, we have a passage, a few verses that are very Christological. Much of what we say and teach about the Christology, about the doctrine of Christ, we gain from this passage. This passage is very deep. passage teaches a lot. We don't have time to dig deeply into it, and that isn't my purpose here today. But I want us to look at the larger context, which includes verses 5 through 8, and I want us to recognize something in this passage that I hope and I believe is very practical and should be very practical for us. We're talking about the Incarnation, that's what verses 5 through 8 are referencing, but it is the context in which Paul is speaking about the Incarnation. It is the lesson that he is seeking to teach by referencing what is most likely a hymn. Verses 5-8 here in Philippians chapter 2 was likely a hymn that was sung in the early church. It would have been one of the earliest songs that the church would ever have sung. I think that is something that should perhaps be enlightening to us. I want to read verses 1-11 and then we will dig a little deeper into this. But here is what I'm driving at today. I want us to note the love that is expressed in Christmas, the love that is expressed in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. But it isn't just that I want us to recognize this demonstration of God's love to us, but it is to recognize that in the context Paul is referencing the Incarnation and the love that the Incarnation is expressing as a challenge for the Philippian church, as a challenge for you and me as believers today, that we are to reflect that same kind of love that is reflected in the Incarnation of Christ. So we want to say more about that. Follow with me as we begin reading here in Philippians 2, verse 1. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill you my joy, that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. 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 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 being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which 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 the Father." Let's pray together. I'm so very thankful that we have the opportunity to gather here this morning as the redeemed sons and daughters of God, as brothers and sisters in Christ. Father, we can come together, we can sing songs that hearken back to our youth, songs that we enjoy, songs that teach some good doctrine for us to consider. Lord, that we can, having raised up our voices in praise and seeking to bring glory through the fruit of our lips, that we have now this blessed opportunity to consider this passage, these verses, to consider the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to consider the application, to consider what it was that Paul was seeking to say to us, to the early church, but all Christians down through the centuries. Lord, help us to reflect the same love of Christ that is demonstrated in these verses to one another. Lord, may you be honored as we demonstrate that transformational work that you have accomplished within us and are continuing to accomplish as you mold us into the image of Christ. Father, I pray that you would give us a picture of this love demonstrated in Christmas and help us, Lord, to make the application in our lives to those around us. And Lord, we'll seek to give you the glory as we pray and ask this all in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. You may have heard the story of two friends who met for dinner in a restaurant and each requested a filet of sole. After a few minutes, the waiter came back with their order, two pieces of fish, a large and a small, were on the same platter. One of the men proceeded to serve his friend. Placing the small piece on a plate, he handed it across the table. Well, you certainly have nerve, exclaimed the friend. What's troubling you, asked the other. Well, look what you've done. You've given me the little piece and you've kept the big one for yourself. So the first man responded, how would you have done it? The man asked and his friend replied, if I were serving, I would have given you the big piece. Well, replied the man, I've got it, haven't I? This is how some people view life. They rationalize their self-centered choices. After all, the first man didn't want to rob the second man of the blessing, so he took the bigger piece. Is that how it works? Another expression of this self-centered view of life is demonstrated in an article entitled How to Be Miserable. Here's how to be miserable. Think about yourself. Talk about yourself. Use I as often as possible. Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others. Listen greedily to what people say about you. Expect to be appreciated. Be suspicious. Be jealous. Be envious. Be sensitive to slights. Never forget a criticism. Trust nobody but yourself. Insist on consideration and respect. Demand agreement with your own views on everything. Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favors shown to them. Never forget a service you have rendered. Shirk your duties if you can. Do as little as possible for others." That's how to be miserable. In a word, be self-centered. This was a tongue-in-cheek article, but it simply was trying to express here is the end result of a self-centered life. You're seeking for your own. I hearken back here to Philippians 2, verse 4. Look, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Well, obviously that article and that verse are diametrically opposed to each other, aren't they? Because we're either focused solely upon ourselves, and you're gonna be miserable, Or you take the challenge that Paul sets forth and you put others ahead of yourselves. You are thinking about what will benefit them ahead of what will benefit yourself. Perhaps a more realistic and scriptural statement about this self-centered mindset can be found in a sermon that was preached some time ago. When Roy De La Motte was chaplain at Payne College, I know that's a name you're not familiar with, but he was the chaplain of Payne College in Georgia. And he preached the shortest sermon in their college's history. But he had a rather large topic. His topic was, what does Christ answer when we ask, Lord, what's in religion for me? Let me say that again because that's a mouthful, isn't it? What does Christ answer when we ask, Lord, what's in religion for me? Now, here is his entire sermon, so you can see you've heard two sermons today when I share this with you. His entire sermon, what does Christ answer when we ask, Lord, what is in religion for me? Nothing. And he sat down. Now, maybe you're wishing for that kind of sermon today, I don't know. But you have to admit, it grabbed their attention, didn't it? It was unforgettable. I would have to say that as someone who has preached how many hundreds and probably thousands of messages over the course of my ministerial life, I would like to think some people remember something that I've said, right? But at the end of the day, I don't think I've ever said anything as memorable as that message. But here was his point. He spoke this because he was speaking to the gimme, gimme generation. These are his own words explaining what motivated it. And someone said, well how long did it take you to prepare this message? And he said, 20 years. And his point was he was making an observation of what he had been looking at in culture. And the culture that unfortunately had migrated into preaching a gospel that was not the true gospel because it was a gospel of what can I get? not what can I give. It was a very self-centered gospel and therefore, I give him credit for coming up with a very novel and I believe a very powerful and memorable way to drive his point home. This message is in contrast to the viewpoint of culture. What is it that our culture says? Well, broadly speaking, our culture is about self-promotion. A promotion in vocation, salary, clothes, accessories, climbing the social materialistic ladder, seeking always to impress others, seeking to gain respect through the outward show. To put it in another way, we live in a culture that says, I want to be cool. Now that idea, maybe the modern generation, maybe the younger generation today says, cool, that was back in the 50s and 60s. Well, whatever you call it today, the principle, the idea is still the same. Whatever the thing is, whatever the fad is, whatever is the prevailing thought pattern, we want to be a part of that. I think that the modern gender dysphoria circumstances that we're facing around our country today is this very idea. It's a fad. It is what the cool kids do, and therefore, if you are cool, then you have to entertain these kinds of thoughts and these kinds of ideas. So when I'm talking, what I'm trying to describe here in this introduction is, I believe, something very important. We live in a very self-centered world that caters to the very self-centeredness of our fallen nature, and it can lead us down some very self-destructive paths. And in contrast to that, we see the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. A self-centered motivation and mindset may permeate our culture. but it is what we see in the Lord Jesus. Let me put it another way. In our culture, we are oriented to move up rather than down. We're always seeking to move up. In our standing, in our reputation, and whatever it takes to make us look good, that's what drives us and drives our decisions. but we don't want to move down. Humility, here in Philippians chapter two, oftentimes you will hear the idea of humility. In fact, verses five through eight, talking about our Lord Jesus, this hymn, we believe, from the early church, we often call the humiliation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the idea of humiliation there is the idea of the humbling. He humbled himself. He lowered himself. He didn't seek to raise himself up. He lowered himself down. So let's consider this this morning. First of all I need to say I'm not I'm not trying to criticize God honoring achievement or progress, all right? So please don't, you know, say, well, I'm not gonna study this week for any tests before Christmas break because, you know, that's self-centered. No, that's not what I'm saying. You should seek to honor the Lord by doing your best and we all should seek to do our best in our vocations or whatever. It's a question of motivation. What is it that is moving us? What is it that we desire to do? So it's commendable to seek for achievement. It's commendable to seek for progress. But I want to say this, if Jesus had adopted the viewpoint of our culture, we would not have Christmas. There would be no Christmas. If Jesus was motivated by what I've tried to describe in our culture as a whole and in the human heart, In our fallen natures, if he was self-centered and was not willing to lower himself, then there would have been no incarnation. There would be no Christmas. In the incarnation, God does not move up. He moves down. And love is the motivating factor. It is the fact that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Herein is love, not that we love God, but that He first loved us. Love is the motivating factor and God the Son willingly chose to lower Himself. That's what is being described as we come into verses 5 and following. In fact, we could say that life-changing love requires self-demotion. Now let me say that again. I want you to think about it. Life-changing love requires self-demotion. It requires us to put the other person ahead of ourselves, to lift them up even as we are willing in humility to lower ourselves down. We are not looking at our relationship with others in terms of competition. My neighbor gets a new car, I've gotta get one that's faster and better and has more bells and whistles. It's not a competition. This is how we as believers can rejoice with those who were blessed by God with whatever. Because we're not jealously and enviously looking at them and saying, well, that's not fair. We are rejoicing because it's not about what we lack. It's about our joy and what they have been blessed with. That is what I think is pictured in this passage. We see here an expression of love. Some have referred to this as Christmas love. There is no other way to have Christmas. According to Philippians chapter 2, Christ demoted himself to come and be that child born on that first Christmas morning. To put it another way, when we look in the Gospel of John chapter 1, it talks about the fact that the light came into the world, that light lighteth every man. He was in the world. This is speaking of the birth, the incarnation of Christ. The world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not. The light came into the darkness of this world, into the gloominess of this world. He came to where sin had stung us the most severely. He came out of love and selflessness so that He might redeem us to Himself. That light transforms us and that transformation that we have as the redeemed children of God is expressed in our love for God and our love for others. So Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians, taking that bird's eye view. Paul is writing the book of Philippians to express his gratitude to the Philippian church for their partnership with him in the gospel. He had a very special relationship with the church in Philippi. You remember the beginning of the church, right? The church was birthed out of Paul and Silas being persecuted and thrown into the inner prison. That church was birthed literally out of Paul shedding his blood on the behalf of the people in that city who needed Christ. And the Lord used his ministry and the Lord drew men and women to himself and a church was planted. And here was a church that when Paul had need of help, they would send help. physically sending someone to come alongside him and hold up his arms. And when they knew that Paul needed financial aid, they would take up a love offering and they would send it to him. So that even when Paul was under house arrest in Rome, responsible to pay his own bills if he wanted to eat, They sent money so that Paul's life could be sustained in that circumstance. He had a special relationship with his church. He wanted to express his gratitude to them, but here in the middle of his letter, he launches into this hymn. It would be similar to a preacher standing in the pulpit preaching, and in the middle of his message, he begins to either sing or to quote a hymn. Now, without going down a rabbit trail, I think here we have a very important precedent that this hymn from the early church is very much doctrine. It is Christological. It is teaching something very important. It's interesting. God made us so that we can hear a lot of words and we might not always remember all the words, but you set them to music and suddenly we can remember words. How about you? Can you remember songs from 10 years ago? I mean you might not immediately but somebody starts humming it or they sing a few words and suddenly, you know it's funny how words can come back to us from songs, right? Set to tunes. Well the early church took advantage of that. And they wrote songs. They had songs. Here's an example of one. Very Christological. Very doctrinally centered. Very important, I think, for us to consider that much of what we sing should be the same. Not not something shallow, but something that is deep. Now, having said that, what we have here is a song that he is quoting to underscore the need to adopt a selfless lifestyle. Why did he say this? Well, let me drop back to the first part of the chapter again. He says, if there's any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, any fellowship of the Spirit, any vows and mercies, fulfill you my joy. Be like-minded. Have the same love. Be of one accord. Be of one mind. How do we do that? Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. In other words, don't get into Division among yourselves and vainglory means don't get into competition among yourselves trying to raise yourself above other people. But in lowliness of mind, humility, let each esteem others better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Here's what he is using, verses five and following, to illustrate. Here is a mindset that we ought to have, not a selfish mindset, but a selfless mindset, and he is telling the church of Philippi, whom he loves, and a church that loved him, hey, you have some problems in the church, you have some division in the church, and you need to overcome it. You need to put other people ahead of yourself. And if you need to understand what I'm talking about, think about the Lord Jesus Christ. And then He gives us this wonderful passage, 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, a fancy way of saying, He was God. But He lowered Himself. He is talking to men and women, brothers and sisters in Christ in the church who are having some kind of squabble. And his response is, guys, you can't live that way. That doesn't honor the Lord. This is how you ought to live, like Jesus. He is your example. He lowered himself. If anybody had a reason to be exalted, it would be the Son of God. But he willingly lowered himself in the incarnation. Love motivated him to be God in the flesh that he might ultimately die and pay the penalty for our sin. That's really what Christmas is all about. Paul places the incarnational example of Christ before the divided parties of the Philippian church and says to them, Treat each other with this kind of love. Now, there are a couple of things that when we come to a passage like this that might cause us to miss the point. One is our very familiarity with the passage. I mean, if I start quoting from verse 5 and following, we've all heard that, right? We've heard it many times. You've probably, some of you, many of you have probably had some kind of doctrines class and when you got to Christology, this was, if not the chief passage, it was one of the chief passages where you talked about the person of Christ. And so we come to a passage like this and we're tempted because we're so familiar with that aspect that we kind of disconnect it from the point that the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul was making to the church a real, fundamental, practical challenge that he was laying at the feet of brothers and sisters in Christ in Philippi. Doesn't take away from what it teaches us about Christ. But if we miss the practical point, the purpose for which the Holy Spirit moved Paul to write it, then we're missing the whole point of the passage. We're not going to profit from it in a practical way as the Lord would have us to profit. We get in a hurry when we talk about Christmas, right? I mean, this is literally talking about the incarnation of Christ, God in the flesh. But when we talk about Christmas, and I'm not criticizing this because we are looking in the Bible, when we look and think of Christmas from the human side, we talk about the shepherds, we talk about the stable, We talk about a newborn, right? We talk about that from the human aspect, from that perspective. Why? Because we can relate to that, right? We can relate in some way to being a person and suddenly there's a company of angels singing and praising God and wow, what must that have been like for them and the wise men, et cetera. This passage is talking about the Incarnation just like the passages we might see in the early Gospels, the early chapters of the Gospels. But here's the difference. It's looking at the Incarnation from Jesus' perspective. That's what I think makes it so powerful to think about God in the flesh from His perspective and what that meant for Him, as much as we could even begin to comprehend that, and how the application of that then tells us how to relate to other people. I mean, that's really the point. That's what Paul is trying to drive home here. Christ demoted himself. He came from heaven to earth. He became a man. He became a serving man. Have you ever thought he could have been born into affluence? I mean, he chose to be born into that family, if you will, to be born to marry. He chose that. He could have chosen to be born in Caesar's household. Position of power and authority, wouldn't that have been much more important? Not really. This was His choice. He became a sacrifice, submitting to death in order to become our Savior. Someone said this and I think this is one of those deep thoughts that we don't have time to really think about today, but I challenge you to think about it. The first step down from heaven was the greatest step. Just think about that. Those of us who've only known this earth have no idea the gap between heaven and earth. We really don't. Yesterday, I had an opportunity to spend a little bit of time with John Fenton. Yesterday was the graveside for Pat. And he was sharing with me that just a few weeks before his home going, there was a preacher, happened to be an acquaintance of mine from when I was away at the university. He and I were in school together. He has a ministry of preaching about heaven. He goes to churches and he preaches that. That's really the, his whole ministry is preaching about heaven. And over the course of that weekend, it was a Saturday and a Sunday, as Brad was there preaching, Pat, in being reminded of the glories of heaven, told John, I just want to go home. I just want to be there. She was ready to go. And of course, John was just emotional. But he was thankful that the Lord blessed her that way, that she had some picture of heaven and just wanted to go home. And she's in a far better place today, isn't she? And here's the point. We can't really comprehend what heaven is like. We can't really comprehend the glories of all that heaven is. We have no categories to even describe it. How did the writers of scripture describe it? Well, they described it in the only way they knew how and that was by comparing it to what they knew. So they said, well, it's gold and it's precious jewels and it's pure water and it's abundance of food. living in their world, how else could they describe it? They couldn't describe. Think about how someone from the first century would describe an airplane. What reference would they have? Well, it's flying like a bird, like a big bird, like a condor or, I mean, they would try to figure something that in some way would explain what they're looking at, would describe it, and that's where we fall short of trying to describe heaven. We don't have the reference to really describe something that is beyond our powers of comprehension. But we know this much. It is good. And it is great. And God has prepared a place for us beyond our imagination. And one day, we're going to be there. Now that's from the human perspective, looking and saying, oh, I can't wait to be home in heaven with the Lord and all of God's people. But now put yourself in His place, in the glories of heaven, choosing to leave that place and to come to this world. Is that a choice any of us would ever really make? Would we leave the glories and the joys of heaven to come to this world? How many of us would make that choice? I don't think any sane person would. Now I say that carefully because Jesus did. From the human perspective, we can't imagine what it was like, the environment, the sights, the sounds, the beauty, the legions of angels marveling. And contrast that existence with what we know about Christmas. When Jesus entered this world, the first thing he experienced was human birth. Just trying to paint a picture. the Lord of glory, the creator and sustainer of everything, incarnate in human flesh, and He is born. Now, we say that, we sing about the birth of Jesus. How can we explain the contrast between everything in eternity that He had known and experienced to that experience? Childbirth, and ladies forgive me because I really don't have the reference to talk about this, all right? So, give me a little bit of grace. Childbirth is exciting. It's also terrifying. Not only for mom, but for dad, how many dads have fainted at that point, right? Can I say it this way? Birth is messy. painful, uncomfortable, and Jesus was in it. Just trying to paint a picture of the choice that He made, lowering Himself. Not only did He know the stress of being born, but what were the first sights and smells and sounds that He experienced? I don't want to be crude, but have you ever been around a farm? Have you ever spent time around a farm? You know, in Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley, where Jan and I were before we came here with our kids, it was not uncommon at certain times of the year that we would walk out of the church to the parking lot to get in our cars and a farmer would have been preparing his field. Now, if you know, you know. Because there are certain smells because of what they would use to fertilize that field and everybody knew he was fertilizing his field. Do you kind of get the drift there? Have you ever been in a barn with animals? Jesus was born into that circumstance. So again, not being crude, but what were the first things he would smell? Cow manure, etc. His first sounds would have been the braying of a goat for another meal or something like that. His first bed is straw in a feeding trough. Brothers and sisters, we have no idea what Christmas cost him. We have no idea what it would have been like to have been God in heaven, the Son of God from eternity past, the creator and sustainer of everything, and then to be born into those circumstances, which you and I would not find pleasant. But this is His introduction as the God-man. into this world. If that wasn't enough, when he began his public ministry, while trying to teach people about the love of God, consider this is God the Son who came to seek and to save that which was lost. We can't even begin, as I've said, to describe how he lowered himself to that point. And now he is coming and he is speaking to those whom he is seeking. And how did the religious leaders respond to him? They crossed their arms, ridiculed him. They said bad things about his lineage. They endeavored to find holes in his theology. They wrote him off. They were totally oblivious to the incredible price that he had paid in becoming the God-man. Here's a question. How do you get from uninterrupted eternal fellowship from eternity past with the Godhead to a stable wearing diapers and being completely powerless? Have you ever thought about that? Jesus was a baby. He had to be, he had to have a diaper. He had to be carried about. He had to be fed. He wasn't born a fully grown man. He willingly subjected himself, lowered himself to that point. What prompts one to make such a drastic transition? That's the whole point that we're trying to drive at this morning. What prompted Him to do that? Love. That's what Christmas should represent for you and me, that God so loved the world, He gave. And here, let me say it again, because I said it at the beginning. Love requires demotion. Love knows no other way. The love that motivated Jesus to step downward cost Him. He willingly took that step. This love is still costly. In fact, the whole reason Paul even gave this passage was to motivate us to pay the price of love. Here is getting now into where you're going to start meddling, right? paying the price of love for us to set aside our selfish living. Paul understood that fact. He understood that instead of demotion, we often seek self-promotion. That's the culture we live in. We are told that's the way we should live. And again, I'm not saying don't seek to do better and to have promotions at your work, but what is your motivation? Is it all about me? Or is it about the glory of God? Our nature is self-centered. From the moment of birth, people urge others to meet their needs. Can I say it that way? The infant cries until mom comes to meet his or her need. The toddler misbehaves until dad stops playing with little sister and gives him fuller attention. Those of you who have more than one child, do you often face that kind of thing? At older ages, siblings often demand privileges in at least equal proportion to and preferably in greater amounts than their brothers and sisters, right? It's not fair. You let him. Yeah, but you're not asking for the same thing. Well, it doesn't matter because you should let me do it anyway. Where does that come from? In adulthood, the issues become Higher paying jobs, bigger houses, prestigious cars, more extravagance. It's still that same thing to prove that we're better than, to lift ourselves up above others, to promote self. Paul is suggesting here to the Philippians, if you're going to make it as a church, Philippi, if your relationships are going to be strong, if your families are going to be stable, then someone is going to have to break the cycle of self-centeredness and be willing to demote self. That's really the gist of what he's saying. Hey, you guys have some issues that can really wreak havoc upon your church, Philippi. It's time that you take a step back and stop promoting yourself and instead demote yourself, lower yourself. That's what he's saying. He's saying that Christ voluntarily said, I'll be demoted and that's the way love works. We want love to work another way, a less painful way, a less costly way, but that's not love. So here's the application. Some of you need to take a step down for someone this Christmas. Someone, you've heard it said, when you point a finger, there are four pointing back at you, right? It's a real consideration. We need to stop holding on to grievances and offenses from the past. We need to put aside our personal agendas. For the cause of Christ, for the sake of a relationship, we need to serve someone who doesn't deserve it. Isn't that the whole point of Christmas? Did we deserve Jesus coming and being incarnated in human flesh? What does Romans 5, 8 said? That God commended His love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Well, you just take it back about 30 plus years. While we were yet sinners, Jesus was born so that He would be able to die so that He would become the substitute for us. While we were yet sinners. We didn't deserve it then, we don't deserve it now. That's what love does. Love doesn't promote itself. Love is willing to take a person and serve the other person, even if they don't deserve it. We certainly never deserve the price he paid. Born as a baby, a poor baby, submitting to his parents, washing his disciples' feet, carrying a cross on his back, he served despite the inconvenience. And so we need to be willing to do the same. Heaven didn't keep Him from coming to fulfill His mission. He gave up some things. We continue to hold on to things as if life depended upon it that we need to let go. The pecking order is not nearly as important as we might sometimes think. We need to let it go. Christ did. He set His position and status aside. And so we need to have the same spirit. Let me close. by giving you a version of 1 Corinthians 13. What is 1 Corinthians 13? What do we sometimes call 1 Corinthians 13? It's the love chapter, right? Well, here's the Christmas version that I have no idea who came up with this, but I thought it was instructive. Here's the Christmas version of 1 Corinthians 13. If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny balls, but do not have love, I'm just another decorator. If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, who do not have love, I'm just another cook. If I work at a soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not focus on Christ, I've missed the point. Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love does not envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love does not yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love does not give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who cannot. Love bears all things, believe all things, hopes all things, endure all things. Love never fails. Toys will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure. You and I at Christmas are celebrating the love of God. Christmas morning when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child, it's not simply a story of a baby, it is the fact that this baby was a unique baby in all of human history because this baby was God in the flesh, the God-man. Never one like him before, never one like him after, the only one who having lived a sinless life was able to give his life willingly as a sacrifice, as a substitute for you and me. He lowered himself so that he could raise us up and call us his own. And the challenge of this passage in Philippians is, hey, remembering the love of Christmas, we should live every day loving our brothers and sisters in Christ with that same kind of selflessness. motivated to lift others up, to be a blessing to them, to encourage them, to offer our help to them, even when it's inconvenient, to seek to honor our Lord through a selfless love for others. That's really, I think, the message of Philippians 2, and that's how it fits in with Christmas. I said we were talking about the birth of Christ from a different perspective. It isn't ignoring all of those other stories, the shepherds and the like. It's understanding the challenge His life should represent to us, His birth should represent to us. We are the sons and daughters of God. And what was it Jesus said at the very end of His life? On the night, the hours before His crucifixion, a new commandment I give unto you. What was that new commandment? That you love one another. Love one another. That should be our takeaway from Christmas. We should love our families, love our children, our spouses, our parents, and we should love our brothers and sisters in Christ. And our lives, as we focus upon 2025, ending 2024, our prayer should be, Lord, help my life to reflect the love of God. May people see your love in me. Let's close in prayer. Father, I thank you for the opportunity that we've had on this Lord's Day morning, the last Lord's Day that we will gather this way before Christmas. I know, Lord, next Sunday, many who are here today will have already left for Christmas visits with family and friends. But Lord, I'm grateful that as a church, we could be here today and we could have this challenge, an important challenge, I believe. We need to look to the example of our Savior. We need to look to the point of motivation for why He left the glories of heaven that we cannot even begin to understand or describe, so that He could come to this earth, and so that He could die in our place, so that we could become the sons and daughters of God. He lowered Himself for us, and in doing so, in that expression of your love, He demonstrated for us the kind of love that we should have one for another. Help us, Lord. We know we're imperfect. We know we can only do this imperfectly, but I pray that it would be a goal, a purpose, a prayer in our hearts that by Your grace we would seek to love in this manner and to bring glory to You in the process. For we ask this in Jesus' name and for His sake.