Okay, well let's open our Bibles at the second chapter of Philippians and we will read again from verse 5 through to verse 11. And tonight, God willing, we're going to sort of bring the main part of this passage to a conclusion and while still As it were, in the room of study on the subject of the pre and then the incarnation of Christ, we're going to move to the window and we're going to look out and look up. And not tonight, but God willing, next study we'll be looking at God has highly exalted him and given him the name above every other name. So before we can move into that sphere, we want to just wrap up a few thoughts on the incarnation, the humanity of Jesus. So let's read from verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. Taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. to the glory of God the Father. Amen and we know that once again the Lord will encourage all our hearts in the reading of his word. Now we have previously noted as we have brought some of these verses together, that the Apostle Paul is rounding off, as it were, the theology surrounding the coming of Jesus as he goes into the pre-incarnate position of Jesus in heaven, seated on the throne of glory, coming into our world and becoming One who is identified with us in our weaknesses, in our humanity, and yet maintaining the dignity of his deity, laying aside the full energies of his sovereignty and his authority in order to become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And having noted that, we have kind of circled the concept, and we're just going to look at that briefly now. We have kind of circled around the concept that Jesus came in order to fulfill a purpose. There was a pre-arranged or pre-determined plan and purpose of God. And coming into the world in order to fulfill that purpose, Jesus already knew the obstacles, the contradictions of the world, the opposition, the persecution, all of those things. were already known to him, known to him as God. And with that knowledge, he then had to identify with us as the suffering Savior. So he was aware of what the limits of his humanity would mean. in terms of his deity. There's a little hymn, it's an old hymn, and one of the verses simply sets out the fact that he could have called ten thousand angels and destroyed the world and set him free. Well, he could have, but he didn't because he could not have. in the sense that he had already limited his sovereignty and focused on his humanity. Now Paul is a great user of that little phrase or term in association with pleasing man or pleasing God. And were we to expand that thought through scripture, We would note that here in these verses in Philippians chapter 2, 5 to 11, we have a prime example of how Jesus went against the norm and he became the example upon which Paul based his theology in relation to whether or not we compromise our word, our walk, our witness, in order to fit in with modern man. When Jesus came, he had one desire, and that was not only to do the Father's will, but to please the Father in the doing of it. And it's interesting that right at the very commencement of his ministry, remember when he was baptized by John the Baptist, it was the voice from heaven that said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And the thought there is, that commencing this public ministry being the first step in what was to be the plan and the purpose of God leading him eventually to Calvary and to the cross and to death and all of these things that are listed here in verse 5 to 11 of Philippians chapter 2. The commendation was that in coming to earth, Jesus pleased God. In reaching this point and now commencing his public ministry, Jesus pleased God. And the greatest testimony to this reality is, of course, the resurrection. If Jesus had gone to the cross with any flaw, with any limit, with any sin, he would not have been justified as our Redeemer. He would not have conquered death, death would have conquered him. But the fact that he was raised from the dead is the concrete evidence that now at the end of his earthly ministry, at this point, he has pleased God. And so that becomes the hallmark, and that becomes the motivation and the reason for all that we read here in verse 7 and 8. of Philippians 2, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant, coming in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, become obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Now we read, So the exalting of Jesus to the Father's right hand is the consequence of, the result of, his obedience to the Father's will. If you go through the Bible, you'll see, and I think we maybe had these in last week's study notes, which no doubt you've all kept and you've all read over and you've all memorized the verses as a few were discussing earlier tonight. I'm not going to ask you to repeat any of them just in case you might slip up. But we read of Pilate, Remember the comment that was made about Pilate's decision to crucify Jesus. It wasn't that he wanted to do it. He felt that there was no reason to take the matter any further. He was happy to dismiss the case on grounds that there was no evidence There was nothing that could be laid as firm evidence to condemn Jesus to execution. And Pilate was very thoroughly convinced of that. But, in order to please the people, he gave in to their request and he condemned Jesus to death. We went through, not long ago in the church, a little bit about Felix and Festus, the Roman governors, and the role that they played in the death of Jesus. And we read there that Felix, to please the people, left Paul bound. He imprisoned him for over two years. Not because Paul deserved to be, but simply because it was what the people wanted. But Paul had a mission, Paul had a purpose. Remember Aaron, when Moses went up the mountain to get the commandments from God, and because he was gone for some time, the people weren't prepared to accept the pattern that was given to them. God established a pattern with Moses on the mountain, but he had also already established a pattern for the people who were left behind. And the pattern for them was that they were not to come close to the mountain because they could be smitten by the awesome presence of God. So Moses is up the mountain with God and God is unfolding the commandments which were to govern the relationship between God and his people. But because the people felt left out of it, they felt that they weren't involved, they weren't being consulted. when it came to the revelations of God. So they went to Aaron. Remember how they pleaded with him to give them some visible evidence that God was still among them. And you know how they got all of the gold and they finished up making an image of a golden calf. And when Moses eventually came down the mountain and had it out with Aaron, remember how he asked Aaron how he could have possibly even thought of doing such a thing when God had essentially spared their lives by keeping them back from the mountain. and yet they had turned around and forsaken the true God and they'd created a God for themselves to worship. And remember what Aaron the high priest did? He blamed the people. As though it wasn't his fault, it had nothing to do with him, he simply did what the people wanted. See, that is the natural state of the heart of man. But when Jesus came, he did not come to please the people, he came to please the Father. And that was to be the differentiating condition that is exposed all throughout the New Testament in particular. He came to be with us, to identify with us, to represent us, and to go to the cross, to die for us. But He didn't come to please us. He came to please the Father, and therefore to do the Father's will. So it was in order to fulfill the purpose or the will of the Father that Jesus followed, a plan. The plan, as we know when reading through the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, would lead Jesus eventually to Calvary. There he would offer that once for all sacrifice for sin. But these verses 7 and 8 of Philippians chapter 2 clearly identify or set out that pattern or if you like that plan. Now here is what the gospel record demonstrates All the way through the life and the ministry of Jesus, there was opposition to the purpose of God. So in order to attack the purpose of God, there was an assault upon the plan of God. It's a military strategy, if you like. If you want to defeat the enemy, and to ensure that they're not able to fulfill their purpose, whatever that purpose may be, you attack their plan. You disrupt, disturb, and destroy. And if you can stop the plan from being accomplished, then you have defeated the purpose. And that is the whole story of redemption. Satan was on the offensive. But at no point and in no way was the plan and the purpose of God thwarted. It was fully accomplished. And in order for that to happen, then all of the contents of those two verses had to be employed. Just run your mind through some of the scriptures and identify that reality. When Jesus was born, what are we told? There was no room for him at the inn. didn't stop the plan or the purpose. Herod, remember when he heard about the birth of Jesus, he set out to destroy all of the children, the male children, in order to destroy the plan and defeat the purpose. But it wasn't accomplished. And of course, when we look to Calvary, we see the greatest example of all, where they felt that by putting Jesus to death, they would silence that voice, they would break that hold upon the disciples, and very soon it would all die out and be forgotten. But no matter what they did, The plan and the purpose of God was fulfilled. So now, coming into that plan of God, we have noted these two things. In verse 7 of Philippians chapter 2, we see the incarnation of Jesus. coming in the likeness of men. In verse 8 we have the identification with Jesus. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself. So here are the two thoughts. Verse 7, we have Christ ex carnate. That is, He is removed from us, He is outside our world, outside the domain, the realm in which we live and operate Christ is outside of that. He is ex carnate or pre-carnate. incarnate. And we pick up on that reality that he is seated on the throne of heaven. John 17 describes the glory that he had with the Father before the world began. And then into verse 8 we have Christ coming into our world, into our domain, into our realm. And verse 8 says he humbled himself. So he did not relinquish his divinity, that is the glory that he had with the Father before the world began remained his glory. That's why he took upon himself. Once he had completed the task, fulfilled the mission, accomplished the Father's will, he returned to resume his rightful position and place in heaven. But in the meantime, no one has looked upon God and lived So Christ could not come among us in the glory that he had with the Father before the world began. Read back through John chapter 1 verses 1 to 4 and you see there all about the Word was with God, the Word was God. And then verse 14 simply says, and we beheld his glory. See verses 1 to 4 is a revelation of what the angels saw. They beheld his glory in the heavens. But now in verse 14, we beheld his glory. Was it the same glory that the angel saw? No, it was a different glory. Verse 14 says, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. That's not a heavenly word, that's an earthly word that has to do with birth. it has to do with incarnation. So the glory that we saw in terms of the disciples, the apostles, and those who were living there at the time of Jesus, they saw His humanity that was veiled or had veiled the glory that He had with the Father. And so Paul sets this out, and he picks up in his little epistle. Just come over into 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3, and here is one of the great statements that Paul makes. And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. Great is the mystery of godliness. It's interesting, the word godliness here relates to believers. Those who are endeavoring to live their lives with a likeness or a conformity to Jesus. God was manifest in the flesh. God was manifest in the flesh. Now there are two thoughts here. You and I are in the flesh. But we are told that if we are in the flesh, we cannot please God. So that word flesh, it's a little bit like the word wine in the Bible. There are several words that are translated as flesh. And we have to make sure that we that we are able to differentiate between the flesh as in human flesh and the flesh as in the carnal mind or the carnal nature or the carnal heart. Here we have this thought. God was manifest in the flesh. That's the incarnation. Jesus came, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Now, it's not referencing the flesh in the sense of the carnal. God wasn't manifest in a carnal nature that would equate to a sinful nature. That's not what Paul is saying. He is simply telling us that Jesus came, God Emmanuel, God with us. was manifest to us in the flesh. Now the second thought that is in this here is that in terms of the believer, it is Christ in us, the hope of glory. Paul explains to us what that means. He tells us things like put off the old man with his deeds. Why? Because that's the flesh. He will tell us in Galatians chapter 5, for example, the works of the flesh are. And then he lists all of the works of the flesh before he gives us the list of the fruit of the Spirit. So, what we're reading here then is that because our bodies, that is our flesh, are the temple of the Holy Ghost, Christ dwells, lives in us. How does he live in us? He lives in us as the priest lives in the temple. And if you go through the Old Testament record of the temple and just follow the priest as he moves around in the temple or the tabernacle, all of his service and all of his ministry is on behalf of the people. and he represents God to the people. So he does two things. He brings God to them and them to God. And how is that all brought about? In the sanctity of the sanctuary. It is a holy place. So here is the mystery of godliness. And as I said earlier, that word godliness relates to believers living a godly life. So two things have happened. God was manifest in the flesh. Jesus came to identify with our humanity. But not only that, the way in which he identifies with us is by taking over, as it were, our lives. Coming to dwell not only with us, but in us. And what is the result? It is godliness. Changing us more and more into the likeness of Jesus. That's why Paul begins this little section in Philippians chapter 2 verse 5 by simply saying let this mind be in you. So if we're going to fully benefit from and identify with the coming of Jesus then we need to adopt and apply the same heart, as it were, of submission and surrender to the will of the Father. Let's just take another little look at one more key thought before we conclude tonight. In these verses, 7 and 8 in particular, There are two key words that are used to emphasize, on the one hand, and to explain, on the other, this process of fulfilling or completing or doing the Father's will. Let's look at verse 7. But made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant, and coming in the, and there's the first word, likeness of men. Now, we come into verse 8. And been found in appearance as a man. So just note the subtle change or the subtle difference. Likeness and appearance. Now, going back up into verse 6, there's another word there that links with these two, but in a sense help the two that we've just considered there. come to life. And it's that little word, form, made himself, sorry, verse six, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. And then in verse 7, made himself of no reputation, taking the, and there's the word again, form of a bond servant. The word that is translated form in those two verses is the word morphe, which gives us our English word metamorphosis, you know, a butterfly emerges from a cocoon and it has a change. That's what the word literally means. And in the context of those two verses, it's relating, this word form is relating to the inner essence. That's our being, what we are. But in verse seven and eight, the word likeness and the word appearance are not relative to the inward, that is the essence of our being, but they are relative to the outward. That's how we are seen by others. So on the one hand, we find that Jesus was in the form of God. That is, he was God as well as being with God. He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant. So the one who was as God in heaven, is now as man upon the earth. He is the God-man. So how does he appear? How does he reveal himself to us? Well, in these two words, the likeness and the appearance. That is, as we look upon him, we identify with them. There are two thoughts involved in this and one is identity and the other is similarity. Now the context of its use is determined by how the word appears and just By way of example, we'll go over into Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, that very well-known and well-loved passage of scripture. Look at the theology of the Apostle Paul. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. So see what is happening, we've got two opposites. We have Jesus coming in the likeness of sinful flesh. But the reason for his coming was not to identify with sinful flesh by becoming like sinful flesh or taking the form of sinful flesh, but rather He came to condemn it. And the last part of the verse says, on account of sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. So just as Jesus fulfilled the Father's will, the purpose of His coming was to enable us to likewise fulfill the Father's will for our lives. That the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. You see, we're in the flesh, but the flesh is not in us. We are living now as surrendered, as those temples the dwelling place of God. So in Philippians chapter 2, we have here this thought, this concept of identification and the identity and similarity. And we could run our thoughts again through the Bible and you'll pick up on all the things that indicate that Jesus was in a manner, in a sense, as we are. Tempted in all points, just as we are, yet without sin. We read in Matthew 4 verse 2 and you'll find these on your study notes tonight. He showed, he displayed, he lived by the rules and the principles of humanity. He was hungry. He went to sleep. He was in agony of mind and heart, wearied by his journey. When the news reached him of the death of Lazarus, he wept. In the garden of Gethsemane, he prayed, my soul is troubled or exceeding sorrowful. So in coming in the likeness of man, Jesus had all the limitations of human emotion and frailty. The distinguishing difference was that he was without sin. So here is the final thought on this little passage, verse 7 and 8. But he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant and coming in the likeness of man, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. And having fulfilled the Father's will, therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every other name. and God willing we'll pick this up on our next study and we will look at the name which is above every other name. Let's have a little prayer. Our loving Heavenly Father we are humbled again this evening as we remember through your word what it meant and what it cost for Jesus to come from heaven, to dwell among us, to go to Calvary, to die for us, and in so doing, purchase our salvation. We pray that this mind which was in Christ Jesus will also be in us. so that we will be prepared to submit to the plan and the purpose of God. For we will yield to you our will, our motivation, our desires, so that in all things we may walk worthy of our high and holy calling. This we pray in our Savior's name and for His sake. Amen.