Sermons

What Did It Mean for Jesus to Become a Man?

Philippians 2:5-7

 

The Bible tells us that the universe is not random, meaningless, and purposeless. Quite the contrary. God has created everything that exists, and everyone that exists, for a purpose. And that purpose is to display the glory of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

 

What that means is that there is nothing more important for you than to learn about Jesus Christ, trust Jesus Christ, love Jesus Christ, and worship Jesus Christ.

 

And the reason I mention that is because our next passage in Philippians is one of the most important passages in the entire Bible to help us understand and trust and worship Jesus Christ.

 

So let’s turn to Philippians 2:5-11. If you need a Bible, please raise your hand and we will bring one to you. Philippians 2 is on page 980 in the Bibles we are passing out.

 

Let’s put this passage in its broader context. In chapter 2 verse 1 Paul tells us what we can experience in knowing Christ. He says that in knowing Christ we can be filled with encouragement, we can be comforted in his love, we can experience the Spirit satisfying us with Christ’s presence, and we can know God’s affection and sympathy.

 

And Paul’s point is that when we experience Christ in this way we will be so filled and humbled and satisfied that we will be able to humble ourselves, put each other first, and love each other – and those are the commands given in verses 2-4.

 

So that’s verses 1-4. Then, in verses 5-11 Paul tells us how Jesus humbled himself, put us first, and loved us. So Paul gives us Jesus as an example of how we are supposed to live. So let’s look at what Paul says, starting in verse 5 –

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 made himself nothing, 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.

 

To help us see how deeply Jesus humbled himself, Paul starts by explaining what was true of Jesus before he was born. So what was true of Jesus before he was born? The answer is in verses 5-6. Let’s read those again –

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 …

 

In verse 6 Paul says that before Jesus was born he “was in the form of God.” So what does that word “form” mean? In the English language the word form has to do with what something looks like. So we would say that a pile of sand at the beach is in the form of a mountain.

 

But the Greek word “form” does not mean what something looks like. It means what something actually is. One scholar says that the Greek word “form” means “the inner substance or very nature of something” (Bruce Ware, The Man Christ Jesus, p. 17).

 

So when Paul says Jesus was in the form of God, what he means is that Jesus was God; that Jesus’ very substance and nature was that of God. Which means that Jesus was fully God.

 

And to see this even more clearly, look at what Paul says in the rest of verse 6 --

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped …

 

Notice that phrase “equality with God.” Jesus had equality with God, but he did not count that equality with God a thing to be grasped, which means he did not hold to that privilege and position so tightly that he refused to become a man. But what this means Jesus did have equality with God.

 

Think about what that means. To say that something is equal to something else means that it has the same essential attributes as that that other thing has. So the number one has equality with the number one. The number 1 million has equality with the number 1 million. So for Jesus to have equality with God means that Jesus has the same essential attributes as God. Which means that Jesus himself is fully God.

 

Let me show you two other Scriptures to confirm this. Turn to John 5:18 (p.890 in the Bibles we passed out). Look at what John writes about Jesus –

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

So the way that Jesus described God as his Father, showed that Jesus was saying he was equal with God, as a son is equal to the father in that both of them are human beings.

 

You can also see this in Romans 9:5 (p.945). In this passage Paul is describing the Jewish people. And look at what he says about them in verse 5 –

To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

So Paul uses the word “God” to describe Jesus Christ.

 

So before Jesus was born he was equal with God the Father. That’s why we say that he is God the Son. Because he is GOD the Son. So everything that is true of the substance and nature of God is true of Jesus. Let’s get specific --

 

God has always been from eternity past. God has no beginning. No one made God. God has always been. And because Jesus is equal to God, that means Jesus has always been from eternity past. Jesus has no beginning. God the Father didn’t make Jesus. Because just like God the Father, Jesus has always been.

 

And, God is sovereign over everything. His authority rules everything. Nothing happens outside his ultimate control. And so, because Jesus is equal with God, that means that he shared with God the Father in having sovereign authority over everything.

 

And, God has perfect knowledge. God knows everything past, present, and future consciously all the time. And because Jesus is equal with God, that means Jesus also has perfect knowledge. He also knows everything past, present, and future consciously all the time.

 

And God has infinite power. From eternity past all there was, was God. But then God spoke a word and out of nothing the universe was created – a universe with over 50 million 100,000 light-years-wide galaxies. That’s infinite power. And because Jesus is equal with God, that means Jesus also has infinite power. Which is why the New Testament says that all things were created also by Jesus (Colossians 1).

 

And God had perfect love and joy in the fellowship of the Trinity. Which means that Jesus had perfect love and joy in the fellowship of the Trinity. All Jesus had ever known was joy and delight and love in fellowship with the Father, and the Spirit.

 

So in Philippians 2, Paul wants us to understand who Jesus was before he was born. Think of what Jesus was like from eternity past –

• he has always been from eternity past,

• he was sovereign over everything,

• he had perfect knowledge,

• he had infinite power,

• he had perfect love and joy in the fellowship of the Trinity.

 

And Paul wants us to understand this so we will be shocked at what Jesus did in becoming a man. Now why did Jesus have to become a man to save us? It’s because we have sinned against an infinitely glorious God. Which means that our sins deserve infinite punishment.

 

So the only way we can be saved, is if someone receives infinite punishment in our place. And that’s why Jesus had to become a man, so he could suffer and physically die in our place. But this person suffering and dying had to be God, or the punishment would not be infinite.

 

And Jesus loved us enough to become a man so he could save us. So what did it mean for Jesus to become a man? Paul tells us in verses 6-7. Let’s read those verses –

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

 

So Jesus did not count his equality with God as a thing to be grasped. That means he did not let the powers and privileges he had as God keep him from becoming a man.

 

And so, as we read in verse 7, he “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” This means he took on human nature, without sin, and human flesh. And human nature and human flesh is so far below God that it meant making himself nothing.

 

He never stopped being God. But to become a man he had to lay aside the powers and privileges he had as God.

 

Here’s an illustration I heard from Bruce Ware, who teaches at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

 

Imagine a king who rules over a great kingdom. He has infinite wealth and vast authority. He lives in a palace which gives him every comfort and entertainment imaginable. He eats incredible meals prepared by the best chefs. He wears the most warm and comfortable and kingly clothes. He’s kept healthy by the best doctors. He can buy whatever he wants, go wherever he wants, do whatever he wants.

 

But he knows that there are homeless beggars in his kingdom. And he cares about them. So he decides to learn what their lives are like by living like they do.

 

So he puts off his kingly clothes, and puts on the tattered, smelly clothes of a beggar. He moves out of his palace, taking no money with him, and living on the streets.

 

Pretty soon he becomes hungry. He was still king, and could order his chefs to bring food, or buy food with his money. But he had laid those privileges aside. So he picked through the trash behind restaurants to find thrown-out food.

 

And when he was mistreated by people around him, he could have called for his soldiers. But he had laid aside that privilege, and allowed himself to get beaten up.

 

And when he got tired and wanted to sleep, he could’ve gone back to his palace, or paid for any hotel in the city. But he had laid aside that privilege, and so laid down in an alley to sleep.

 

He never stopped being King. But he laid aside his kingly privileges to become a homeless beggar. And Jesus loved us so much, that’s like what he did to save us.

 

And so, as the gospel writers tell us, Jesus was born as a baby. A baby!

 

Then Luke tells us that as a young boy Jesus increase in wisdom (Luke 2:40, 52). Why did he need to increase and wisdom? Because he had laid aside the use of his perfect wisdom.

 

And John tells us that after walking all morning Jesus got tired (John 4:6). How could he get tired? It’s because he had laid aside his infinite power.

 

Matthew tells us he became hungry (Matthew 21:18). How could he become hungry, it’s because he had taken on human flesh with all its frailties.

 

And as we will look at in more detail next week, the gospel writers tell us that Jesus suffered terrible physical pain, and died (John 19:30). And the reason he could do that, was because he had taken on a human body, which can suffer physical pain, and die.

 

So taking all that together, that’s what Paul means in verse 7 when he says that Jesus “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

 

Picture Jesus on top of a ladder as fully God. To save us from our sins he needs to become fully man, which is way down at the bottom of the ladder. And so, because he loves us, he takes a step down the ladder, putting on human flesh. He takes another step down, laying aside infinite power. And another, laying aside perfect wisdom. And another, laying aside his sovereignty. And another, laying aside his authority. And another, and another, and another, step by step by step, lower and lower and lower -- until he was fully man.

 

Because he loved us so much, he who was fully God made himself nothing so he could save us.

 

Imagine deciding to live 3 1/2 years as an ant – with ant power, an ant brain, and ant abilities. To us humans, that would feel like making yourself nothing. But the lowering from us to an ant is nothing compared to the lowering from God to a man.

 

And Jesus loved you so much that he was willing to do that to save you.

 

Questions?

 

So what does this mean for us? Ask yourself this question – what’s most important to you? What do you live for? I hope you see that there is nothing in the universe more important, more glorious, more beautiful – than Jesus Christ.

 

Look at who Jesus is. Look at the love of a God who would make himself nothing to save his rebellious creatures. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who could conceive of such a thing?

 

Nothing is more beautiful than Christ’s glory, more valuable than Christ’s glory, more worthy than Christ’s glory. So love him. Trust him. Live for him.