The Mindset That Changes Everything

Introduction

Who controls the TV Remote in your house?  With just that question, I’ve likely thrown gasoline on a battle that has been raging since its invention.  I’m not old but I’m old enough to remember when I was the remote.  I am not going to attempt to resolve the age-old debate as to whether it is the husband or the wife who should control the remote but to be sure, with much power comes much responsibility. What I’d draw your attention to today is what it looks like when you give up that power. I’m not talking about losing the race to the couch. I’m talking about having the supreme power of the remote, and choosing to give it to someone else.

Hymn or Poem / Paul or Not

What we have today, preserved for us, is a true gem. One of the most beautiful and impactful passages in perhaps all of scripture. On the surface, it seems to be an inset of sorts. Paul has either penned himself or co-opted in an early hymn or poem of the church.  The debate on hymn vs. poem or Paul vs. someone else has filled library shelves. Whether Paul wrote it or merely included it, Paul must have been so moved by the Spirit as to have included the entire thing and we are gifted to have it.

After all the reading, I share the conclusion of Walter Hansen. He writes,

“No one can prove that Paul was incapable of writing beautiful poetry such as this. But the way that this hymn is set in this letter like a perfectly cut, absolutely clear diamond in a gold ring suggests that Paul acquired this precious jewel from the Christ-centered worship of the church rather than from the creative work of his own mind.”

 

Let’s read now this precious jewel of scripture and mine together its riches.

Passage (Philippians 2:5-11)

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

6 who, though he was in the form of God,

did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself,

by taking the form of a servant,

being born in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form,

he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

 

Lead In

The big idea I want to leave you with today is that having the Mindset of Christ changes everything. And we’re going to do that this morning in three points.

 

I. The Mindset We’re Called To Pattern (v. 5)

Verse 5 begins with, have this mind among yourselves. This is a helpful transitional phrase because it calls us to harken back to what Paul has already written and also points us forward to what he is going to say.

This section is a part of the broader section we started several weeks ago. In verses 12 to 18, Paul was rejoicing in his circumstances because the Gospel was advancing in spite of opposition.  He notes specifically about a boldness the believers had to proclaim Christ. Those believers were divided into a group that did so out of love for Paul and love for Christ and the other group still preached Christ but was doing so from selfish motives.  So, Paul is celebrating that regardless of the motive, the gospel was advancing. But he does make the point that clearly there is a mindset that is appropriate (one of love) and one that is inappropriate, one of selfish ambition.

Then in verses 18-26, he wonders out loud as to whether it would better for him to stay to serve them or to die and be with Christ. Setting the Glory of Christ as the highest ideal, he landed that it would be better for him to temporarily forego the joy of Heaven to stay here and serve the Philippians. This shows the mindset of Paul was looking not primarily to his own interest, but more to the interest of the Philippians.

And that echoes in verse 27 through Chapter 2 verse 4. He turns from his example of humility to an admonition to the Philippians that they too should have this mindset of putting others first. And while this was certainly a call to individuals to act in this way, his larger thought was the need for the church to act this way towards each other; Unity through Humility.

Unity has been a theme Paul has tapped several times already and will revisit it again in the weeks to come. He’s been building up to this point which is the peak or the pinnacle of his argument.

 

And now the command of verse 5 is to “have this mind or mindset among yourselves”

This verse is the hinge between what Paul has said already and what he will say next.

He previously called us toward humility and away from selfish ambition.

He called us to be of the same mind. Not group-think but each of us working this out together in community.

So the command here to have this mind among yourselves reinforces everything he has been saying to them at this point. There is a mindset that we are to have; both individually and corporately.

But he goes on to say “which is yours in Christ Jesus”

And this is a gate that swings 2 ways.

Some have translated this as you see in our ESV. Which is yours in Christ Jesus. In this sense, this new mindset, the kind of humility Paul is calling us to, is activated as a result of our being new creations in Christ. We’ve talked about this before, Paul is all about the being in Christ. And we’ve seen how our position, being adopted children of the King and blessed with the presence of the Holy Spirit, activates this kind of humility that we would otherwise not have.

Now, and you may have a footnote in your ESV, that renders this as “which was also in Christ Jesus”. In this sense, Paul has called us to radical humility and the best model of what this looks like is Jesus Christ. His actions are the best and highest possible example of the kind of selflessness that Paul is calling us to. We are to express this to build unity in the church.

So it’s not sufficient to say that Jesus is just our good or even best example. If we stopped there, I’d have to give you a pat on the back, and tell you to get out there and try harder. No, our union with Christ is also the very means of accomplishing the thing that which Paul is calling us to and that Jesus modeled at the highest order.

So Paul has reinforced their need here for not just individual humility but for a shared mindset. A mindset that is contra to the selfish ambition we saw in verse 3 but instead has a family resemblance of Christ because we are now a part of his family.  There is a particular mindset we are to imitate or to pattern and we’ll now see that in two sections.

 

The first is

II. The Pattern of Christ’s Humility (vv. 6–8)

We now get to dive into this incredibly rich and majestic hymn.

If we imagine that these next 6 verses are a V-shape, verses 6 through 8 represent the downward stroke and verses 9 through 11 rise sharply. Jesus is God down to Jesus is Dead and up to Jesus is Lord, glorifying the Father.

 

He did not cling to His rights (v. 6)

The first element of this pattern of humility is that he didn’t cling to his rights.

In verse 6, we’re told that though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.

 

Though he was in the form of God.  In the very nature of God. Existing in God’s form. This will become a contrast because in verse 7 he will take the form of a servant and in verse 8 be found in human form.

Now we tend to think of form in terms of physical being. But “Form” here speaks to the essence, not the outward appearance. For example, water can be ice or vapor, but it’s still H₂O—its essence hasn’t changed. In Jesus’ case, His essence is fully God.

Other translations just come right out and say he was God which is supported in saying that he did not count equality with God.  Jesus was equal to God because he was God and so his form, his essence, his being, was God from eternity past.

 

Paul is ensuring here, as in many other places of his writings, that we are crystal clear that Jesus is God.  But he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.

Grasped? not reach out and taken. No, he already was God so that doesn’t fit.

Grasped in the sense of clung to. To hang on to or clutch.

This is where the contrast begins to be more evident to us.

Adam, in the garden, chose to take what he thought would make him like God.

Jesus, who is God, responded in not taking.

Back in verse 3, Paul has told us to count others more than ourselves and so you quickly get the sense here that Adam thought only about the glory he would receive, and in contrast, Jesus only thought about the glory God would receive.

His divinity was not a privilege he needed to hang onto at all costs. He did not need to exploit it for his advantage.

He could put his own rights aside to see the good of others.

 

He took the lowest place (v. 7)

Now the second element of this pattern of humility is that he took the lowest place. Verse 7 says he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant; being born in the likeness of men.

In the first century, there wasn’t much lower than a servant so the contrast here is striking.  It would be an enormous stretch for Jesus to even come into human form, but in doing so took the lowest station, the most self-debasing role. God is the most somebody of somebodies and servants are the nobodies of nobodies.

 

Now, there is an enormous amount of print on what this concept of “emptying” means and we’re going to stay above that today. What it is not is Jesus being any less than God. Jesus has always been God. Jesus was fully God while on Earth and is now fully God in his resurrected and glorified state.

What it does seem to be is that while being fully God, he became a servant, not by replacement or subtraction but by addition. He added humanity.  He did not exchange one form for another but accepted physical constraints. We cannot do this even if we wanted to but he chose to take on humanity and the lowest form of it at that.  He entered into human weakness, limitation, and vulnerability and identified with the lowly.

 

One thinks of 2nd Corinthians 8:9

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

 

One author said, “it is a poetic, humanlike way of saying that Christ poured out himself, putting himself totally at the disposal of people”

 

So Jesus, being fully God, also became fully man, and chose to forego the rights, privileges, and worship that he rightly deserved.

 

The closest I can get to an illustration is that TV Show Undercover Boss. In this show, the CEO of some huge company secretly steps into the role of a line-employee unbeknownst to anyone but the cameras, of course.

The CEO has the office, the title, the experience, and the paycheck of a CEO. She did not quit her job or give up her authority in doing this. She merely set them aside for the purpose of relating to the people.

It’s weak, it’s imprecise, but I hope it’s not heresy and you get the picture.

 

He obeyed to the point of death (v. 8).

And we see the 3^rd element of this pattern of humility in verse 8. He obeyed to the point of death.

 

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

 

As if taking on human form wasn’t humbling enough, Jesus takes on a lower form of servant, and then takes on an even lower form yet, a convicted criminal who died on a cross.

 

Just being recognized as human was already humiliating for God. We think pretty highly of ourselves but for him to be clearly recognized as one of us, is already pretty low.

 

The picture here is that Jesus’s obedience was costly and it was complete. Jesus descends the ladder from God to human to servant to convicted criminal to crucified.

 

It’s worth noting that crucifixion was so horrific that it wasn’t even discussed in polite circles. This is supposed to be shocking. This is supposed to leave you aghast. We wear them on necklaces and put them on the wall but it was the most shameful, painful, and public form of execution that perhaps the world has ever seen.

What’s more, Deuteronomy 21 says that a hanged man is cursed by God.

 

We tend to say that actions speak louder than words. The obedience of Jesus to place himself on the cross for the sins of humanity is so outrageous, so scandalous, so unbelievable, that only God himself could do it.

 

Application: What would change in our church if…

So that’s what the text says, what does it mean to us?

These are lofty and high things, Brad. Why did Paul put this here?

 

He is writing to a church to appeal for unity.

There is a pattern in Christ’s thinking that Paull is commending to us.

Our mindset shapes our actions so having this mindset of Christ should be a call to action.

What if, in our church, no one chose to cling to their personal rights?

What if, in our church, everyone chose the lowest place and looked first to the needs of others?

What if, in our church, we resolved conflict not by demanding fairness but choosing humility?

 

Application:

So more personally then.

- Where in my life am I clinging to my rights?
- What would it mean for me to “descend the ladder” (to place myself lower) for the express purpose of lifting up others?
- In our relationships, do we avoid serving if it costs us, or do we embrace the cost as Christ did?

 

Christ’s pattern of humility is indeed an example to us because it is also empowered for us by the Spirit that lives in us.  These are hard things. Looking out for the interest of others. Putting aside self-interest and selfish ambition. Apart from the Spirit, these are impossible things.  As you evaluate these questions this week, please pray first for the Spirit to both help you see where change is needed but also provide the power and the will to change.

 

The mindset of Christ changes everything.

 

Point #3 and the second pattern;

III. The Pattern of Christ’s Exaltation (vv. 9–11)

God lifts the humble (v. 9).

Now in verses 9 through 11, the subject changes. Jesus was the actor of verses 6 though 8 but now the author changes view and God the father is the subject. He is going to act in response to Christ’s obedience and humility.

The clue of the turning point is at the start of verse 9, Therefore. Because of what has preceded. Because Jesus did not cling to his rights. Because he took the lowest place. Because he obeyed to the point of death. Now God the father is responding and he will act in two ways.  

It says God has highly exalted him and God has bestowed on him the name that is above every name.  We see now God’s response to Christ’s humility.

God has highly exalted him. Super-elevated. If Jesus stooped down and men despised him than this is as far in the other direction as possible. God raised him to the loftiest heights, the highest position imaginable thus completing the full redemptive arch from humiliation to deprecation to glorification.

And God gives (literally “graced him”) “the name that is above every name.”  Well what name is that? Great question! We’ll try to make it as simple as possible.  The commentator Moule suggest the following:

“Because of the incarnation, the human name, ‘Jesus,’ is acclaimed as the highest name; and the Man Jesus thus comes to be acclaimed as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

In John 17:5, Jesus is offering up his high priestly prayer and in verse 5 he says, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” Jesus was already God before coming to earth. He was already recognized by the name of Jesus while on earth. But now as the God-Man, God the Father is elevating Jesus to the status of Yahweh God.  This is a clear throw back to Isaiah 42:8 where the prophet writes, “I am the Lord [Yahweh]; that is my name; my glory I give to no other”

In bestowing this title on Jesus, God the Father is proclaiming Christ’s deity no longer as merely God but now also as the triumphant, resurrected God-man who was once crucified but now is seated at God’s right hand, ruling and reigning in glory.  Jesus has subjugated himself, stooping to the level of human, to servant, and further even to crucified. Jesus descended to the uttermost and in response God elevated him to the uppermost.

 

Every knee will bow (vv. 10–11).

That was God’s response, what will mankind’s response be?

Universal acknowledgement. Everyone, everywhere, for all time, will eventually recognize that Jesus was a good teacher, yes. Jesus was a moral example, yes. Jesus was a prophet, yes. But more importantly that Jesus is God, co-equal ruler of the universe, and rightful ruler of every single life.

This is not to say that everyone will accept him as their Lord, sadly this isn’t the case but everyone will bend the knee; either to their glorification or to their destruction.

The hymn harkens back to Isaiah 45:23-24

By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’ “Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.

So every knee will bow and vs 11 every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, God, Yahweh.

Every person will stand before God. Every person will acknowledge that Jesus is the right and just ruler of the universe. Some will have accepted his rulership and be granted into his kingdom. Some will have rejected it or even raged against it, and will be rejected.

To the glory of God the father. Jesus’s full obedience in humility returns full circle to supremely glorify God the Father who authored the plan of redemption to restore us to him through Jesus.

 

Application:

What are our takeaways then?

Well, if you are hearing this and you have not chosen to make Jesus the Lord of your life, I have news for you. You will! The question before you today is will you humble yourself and choose to do it now? To be raised up with Christ, you must first submit yourself to him. You can keep on rejecting his lordship but that will only go so far. Our passage today is clear that there will be a day of reconning when it will be too late to humble yourself.  I appeal to you today to recognize Jesus not just as Lord (because he is) but as YOUR Lord and savior.

 

For those who have submitted to Jesus, future glory should empower your present humility. Jesus knew the end of the story before he came to earth. He knew what his mission was, that it would lead to a brutal death, and that he would be raised up again.  Dear ones, do not grow weary in humility. God will lift you up. It may not happen in this life, but it will happen.  If you are serving faithfully in ways big and small, maybe completely unrecognized by us, but God sees and a future reward is being prepared for you. The encouragement here is to have a long game perspective.  Life is short. Eternity is LONG. Know that God sees, God hears, and God will respond in ways vastly beyond our comprehension. Stay faithful friends.

 

IV. Living Out This Mindset Together

And where does all this fit into what Paul has been saying to the Philippians and to us about unity?  Despite all of the deep theological truths and potential pitfalls, this passage is here to reinforce Paul’s point.

Unity is fueled by humility (2:1–4).

In verse 1-4, Paul pounded the nail of humility not for personal advancement but for the purpose of unifying the church.

One author said that, “This passage is the theological “engine” pulling the train of Christian unity.” Without humility, unity is impossible.

If you and I have this attitude toward our brothers and sisters in Jesus, there will be Christian unity.”

Unity if fueled by humility and

Humility is fueled by the Gospel (2:5–11)

Christ’s example is more than inspiration; it’s the very power source for our humility.

We live this out not by sheer willpower but by living “in Christ.”

 

Hansen writes, “By placing the proclamation of Christ in the hymn after his moral exhortation, Paul is pointing to the power for moral transformation. Christian behavior is motivated and empowered by salvation in Christ, not [merely] by the example of Christ.”

 

Carson writes, “The way appointed by the Father was giving not getting, sacrifice and humiliation not taking the advantage of one’s position. This is the way Jesus went and the way we are called to follow him.”

 

Bridge to next section (2:12–18)

And next week. because Christ’s humility and exaltation are true, we can “work out our salvation” in His strength.

This hymn does a superb job of fixing our attention not on our own agendas but on the agenda of God. God is about redeeming people to himself through the cross suffered by Jesus Christ. He made himself lower so that we could be lifted up. And in light of this, we could follow his example, in his power, to live similarly in community with each other.

 

In the shadow of the cross, clinging to rights and self-promotion fall away, and all that is laid bare is the relationship each of has with Christ and with each other. The mindset of Christ changes everything.

 

Communion

I can’t think of a better transition to our time of Communion today.

 

Our text today has most clearly told us what Christ has done and God’s glorious response.

 

Communion is a time of refection.

For those who have recognized Jesus as Lord and humbled themselves before him, it is a time to remember how he chose to humble himself that we might be lifted up to right standing with God.

 

And if you have not submitted to him, our text today was clear that one day you will. But it will not be as friend but as enemy. During this time, I’d ask you to abstain from the elements and reflect on these very great truths. If you have questions about this, we’d be happy to meet with you.

 

Let’s have a quiet moment now for reflection.

Just a time to reflect; to examine yourself.

Open yourself to the promptings of the Lord.

 

If there are sins or matters you’d have with him,

I pray you would appeal to God

and know that he both hears you and forgives you.

 

Let’s pause now.

 

Ok, brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s come to receive the bread and the juice.

We’ll start over here and work our way across.

 

Please hold the elements

and we’ll partake together once everyone has theirs.

 

The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,

and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

 

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying,

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

 

Close-out

This week, choose one concrete “right” to lay down for someone else’s good.

Benediction