Philippians 2:5-11
Philippians 2:5-11
New King James Version (NKJV)
The Humbled and Exalted Christ
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 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. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
My Thoughts:
- Let’s start with (v. 7) we read “but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”
- From the beginning God knew of the apostasy of Satan and that man would fall because of him. God did not ordain evil but through His foreknowledge He knew it would exist. So He created made provisions to counter this evil.
- He sent His only son to defeat Satan and allow a path for salvation for every person that would accept it.
- In (v. 8) we read “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.”
- Christ came to this earth as man and by taking our nature. Contrast Christ with Adam and Eve who, being created in God’s image wanted His power, Robbery (v. 6) Christ gave up equality, setting aside His divinity to save us.
- He not only allowed Himself to be humiliated, He allowed Himself to die on the cross, so we may live.
- Let’s finish with (v. 9) “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,”
- Because of His resurrection God exalted His name above all other names.
Thought of the Day
“Christ showed His love by dying for us; we show our love by living for Him.”
God’s Paradoxes
Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. –Matthew 16:25
The Bible tells us there is a wisdom that is foolish and a foolishness that is wise (1 Cor. 1:20-25). There is a gain that is loss and a loss that is gain (Phil. 3:7-9). And there is an exalted way that leads downward and a humble way that leads to exaltation (Phil. 2:5-11).
Statements like these seem to be contradictions, but they are actually paradoxes. A paradox is a statement that contains two truths, which at first glance seem to be incompatible.
A psychiatrist once unknowingly referred to one of God’s paradoxes, remarking, “The greatest secret of mental health comes down to us in the words, ‘Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will save it.'” He added, “I forget who said that, but it is a great truth.”
Who said that? Our Lord Jesus Christ! He gave us that principle in Matthew 16:25. And the apostle Paul lived it out as he endured countless hardships for the benefit of others (2 Cor. 4:8-12). Yet Paul knew that even as his physical body was dying, his spirit was being renewed (v.16).
You cannot find your richest personal fulfillment until you sacrifice your time, strength, and resources to God’s will. “Lose your life” for Christ. Start really living!
Take up thy cross and follow on,
Nor think till death to lay it down,
For only he who bears the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown.
Personal Reflection and Discussion
- I was going to comment on (v. 11), but I wanted your thoughts?
- How do you see (vv. 7, 8)?
- What other things do you see in the text?
Prayer Activities
- Call your Partner and discuss this devotional.
- Continue to have a prayer list and continue to praying for them.
- Pray with them and ask for the following;
- For God to help live the life Christ asks of us.
- For God to strengthen your prayer life.
- For the individuals on your pray list.
- Let’s use (Psalms 14:1) for today’s prayer verse.
About bobh6
Bob
You stated “From the beginning God new of the apostasy of Satan and that man would fall because of him”
I think you meant “knew”, and it might be good to consider that this statement is a belief, not a statement from the scriptures. It seems you are referring to the disputed supralapsarianism/infralapsarianism.debate.
Supralapsarianism
Elect some, reprobate rest
Create
Permit Fall
Provide salvation for elect
Call elect to salvation
Infralapsarianism
Create
Permit Fall
Elect some, pass over the rest
Provide salvation for elect
Call elect to salvation
Amyraldism
Create
Permit Fall
Provide salvation sufficient for all
Elect some, pass over rest
Call elect to salvation
Arminianism
Create
Permit Fall
Provide salvation for all
Call all to salvation
Elect those who believe
Carl,
Thank you for the spelling correction.
As for your question, I would ask you first; If you believe that God Knew Satan would fall from grace before creation? Or do you believe that God only found out about Satan’s heart after he was created? Or even yet; after Satan had started to show signs of his true character?
If someone is looking through a Calvinistic or maybe a Lutheran view point of creation, then yes supralapsarianism, infralapsarianism, understanding may apply. But if God has perfect foreknowledge as He does, and we see this in (Joshua 22:22) “22 “The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the LORD, do not spare us this day”, (1 Sam. 2:3) “Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LORD is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed”, and (Isa. 40:28) “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.” then all of these understanding are wrong. And because God has perfect foreknowledge, He elected to allow this fall from grace, even though He knew that it would happen (beforehand).
Now under the examples you provided, God chooses some to be saved and some not to be saved. Now we are back to predestination which if God is the God of all nations as we see in (Isaiah 56:7) “these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Then how can these be a true?
Because of God’s omniscience and foreknowledge no man can truly understand the way God knows. But we can try to build a framework for this understanding of things such as predestination (Romans 8:29) “29 for those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”, Election (Romans 11:28) “28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs”, and the cross (Acts 2:23) 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
So it comes down to this at least for me; If God is a God of love, then even knowing that Satan would fall and take man with him, He would have had to allow it. If He would have not made Satan and anyone that may have turned against Him, then how could He be a God of love and what would this say about His character? We have a God of love and free will. If He would have taken that away form even one person, then he would have been a god of puppets or at best a god of “I love you as long as you do as I say”. So this can only mean that “The plan of redemption was not an afterthought”.
Verses 7 and 8 are a little difficult to grasp. Jesus humbled himself and came to earth as a human being. He left heaven, His glory, His Godness to be a mere human. While on this earth, Jesus was all man. He was also all God. How can this be you ask? I don’t know but That is where faith comes in for me. I just have to have faith that God knows what it is all about and leave it in His hands. Verse 11, Paul is saying that everyone will unanimously agree that God the Father has already stated that Jesus Christ is Lord.
The only thing I would add to (v. 11) is that even the demons would have to confess this point. Paul’s statement was about His whole life; Christ lived for the glory of God, that all creation may give the Father the honor due His name. (John 12:28; 13:31; 17:1; 1 Cor. 15:24, 28). Knowing this His followers should do the same.
It seems people are so preoccupied with claiming their rights to equality, but interesting Jesus knew he was equal and actually humbled himself. We should all be aware of our oneness with God, Jesus living in us, through the power of the Holy Spirit and humble ourselves serving one another as Jesus did and wants us to do also.
Having predestined us to the adoption of God, he made known to us the mystery of His will, that He may gather together all things on earth and heaven, being predestined according to his purpose that we be his workmanship created to do good works, which God hath ordained that we should walk in them. Eph. 1:4,-5,9-10&2:10.
We were created for the very purpose of service. To serve for the love of God and for his love (which has become our love as well) mankind. Through the service of Christ, moved to service by his love for the Father, we and others were and are redeemed to the Father and source of everlasting life. Through Jesus in us, we too can serve humbly knowing it’s not of us; but by His will; it is really through Him, for Him and by Him that we’re even brought to salvation; let alone led to serve in leading others to Christ.
I always enjoy reading your comments, they are always well thought out, the only thing I would caution you about is using the word “predestined”
I quoted a mixer of verses in the above and that’s the word it uses in my NKJ version.