Philippians 2:5-8 – The Nexus

“Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death – even to death on a cross.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

In our increasingly pagan culture, one of the gods we worship most supremely is the god Autonomy. Autonomy seems like a wonderful god at first glance. There is a reason our culture has become so taken in by him. He assures us that we should be able to be and do whatever and whoever we want. Whatever whim we have should be fulfilled. Whatever identity we want to embrace should be recognized and even celebrated. Autonomy insists that he only wants for us to be in charge of ourselves. The only thing Autonomy really opposes is someone else’s telling us what to do. In the face of this new-old god and his demands on our life, one of the gifts the God of the Bible offers us and which we can celebrate at this time of year is the gift of submission to someone else, namely Him. This sounds like a rather strange gift. Let’s talk today about why it is so good.

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“Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death–even to death on a cross.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Yesterday, we talked about something that could completely changed the world if we put it into practice: Putting others first and ourselves second. If we just took that one idea and ignored the rest of the Scriptures, our world would never be the same and infinitely better than it is now. But doing that kind of thing seems extreme beyond the pale. I mean, who really has done that kind of thing in a way that mattered? And besides, as we finished up asking, what if the interests of the people around us are contrary to our own? Paul realizes these instructions were pretty big to try and follow and so he goes on to offer an example. It’s a pretty good example. Let’s look at it.

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Tag: Philippians 2:5-8

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