I had the privilege of preaching at my home church on Sunday evening. The text for my sermon was Philippians 2:5 - 11, very likely the most beautiful and theologically rich Christmas text in all the Scriptures.
This text begins by urging the church to have the same attitude - to think - in the same way as her Savior. What sort of attitude did Jesus have - humility, others first.
Paul shows this in a beautiful piece of poetry. He begins by affirming the absolute Deity of Jesus, and he ends by showing Jesus is the super-exalted Lord of all. In the middle of all this, however, is the fact that God became a man!
Get your mind around that fact! God, whose name is Holy, became a man. He emptied himself by what he took on - humanity. But, He did not stop there. He came as a slave! God made himself a slave in that He willingly went to the cross to take the sins of the world upon Himself and to redeem for Himself all those who trust in Him for the salvation that only He could make possible.
Right in the middle of Paul's hymn to Christ, he shows us the cross. The Son humbled himself to the point of death - even death on a cross. Because of this great demonstration of God's grace and holiness, the Son is exalted, given the name above every name - LORD.
The church is to now demonstrate (bow the knee) and declare (confess) the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We do this by living in humble service to others by the power of the resurrected Lord living within us and the church.
The church will most effectively and accurately represent her Savior when she humbles herself. The Son is best seen as the exalted Lord when we are humble. This flies in the face of a "name it and claim it" or "health and wealth gospel." The church who most exalts Christ is not likely the one with a glorious physical plant but the one who continually lowers herself for the sake of the glorious gospel.
