Drops of Hope
Small Truths, Big Impact
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11 (ESV) There is a thousand ways you can go with this subject. Jesus throughout the Bible, Jesus’s Lordship, Jesus place within the Trinity, just to name a few things. I want to focus on who Jesus was while he was here on earth and what that means for us! The fact that God (Jesus) came down to this earth as one of us, lived a life as one of us, and died like one of us. Also, there are some things that are obvious that He was not like us, but we will get to those in a second. Most of us know the back story of Jesus, because we celebrate it every Christmas, the fact that He was born to a virgin, in a manger, and His crib was a bunch of hay, so that part I will skip. I want to talk about the fact that God Himself came to this earth as a human. Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son (JESUS), and God the Holy Spirit. Three separate persons within one being, just like you are Mind, Body, and Soul, and these three things make up the whole you. God is much bigger than you or me and His persons are much, much, bigger than the parts that makes us, us. Jesus (God) came down from heaven to be born into humanness, and into the struggle that we face daily. Jesus was subject to every human emotion that we face in our lives. Also, He felt Temptation just like we do in our lives, but chose not to act upon them, unlike us who are battling our sin nature and “for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV). Like the Philippians passage said, He “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself”. Jesus could have shown Himself as fully God and it would have all been over, but he chose to “empty” Himself and “humble” Himself. Jesus came to this earth to serve us and to show us the ultimate example of humility and service, because He knows that this is not a natural thing for us in our sin nature and pride. Jesus chose to go to the cross in the greatest showing of obedience, die, take our shame upon Himself, take our sin upon Himself, even though He was and is God! He chose to live, feel, and struggle the same way that we do in our lives. Even though “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” and they don’t, Jesus still chose to come. Even though there are many who deny Him, forgo Him, and fail to recognize Him as Lord or God, He still came! Jesus love for us and the fact that we understand that He is God and chose the rejection, shame, and pain for us, should spark devotion, worship, and praise in our lives. But, I don’t think we fully understand the gravity of the sacrifice that Jesus made, the sacrifice that God the Father made, and the witness of the Holy Spirit gives us every day! Although, we can never live a perfect life, we are called to be Holy, “since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy”” (1 Peter 1:16 ESV), we have a great example from the best teacher anyone could hope for, Jesus, God Himself who came in the flesh! It’s with His example that we go out and try in live in His likeness, or at least we should! Be Blessed |
AuthorPhil Fox founder of Drops of Hope Ministries desire is to help people grow, strengthen, and deepen their relationship with God. Archives
July 2019
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