Philippians Schedule

February 26 Philippians 2:1-11 Selfless Affection

March 4 Philippians 2:12-30 You Got Served

March 11 Philippians 3:1-11 Reason to Live

March 18 Philippians 3:12-4:1 Looking Ahead SERIES: PHILIPPIANS, A WHOLE LOT OF LOVE WGBC & CITY CHRUCH

Philippians 2:1-11 Think of Others First Like

Overview This passage continues Paul’s imperatives on “living a manner of life worthy of the Lord” (1:27). Here he instructs the Philippians to have the same “mindset” as Jesus did, who selflessly sacrificed himself for the sake of others to the glory of God. This is a profoundly rich statement on the deity and humanity of Jesus . The means by which Jesus gained our salvation is unlike any other god or human ever. Because this is our God, so we too should walk in his steps of humility.

Present Context The modern relationship to God has been tenuous at best. Recent depictions in movies of the Greek gods shows them as corrupt despots who need to be overthrown by a human with supernatural abilities. This runs deep for the modern world considers the concept of God as something that inhibits human progress and development. The modern world is right to critique this view of God as a tyrant. But this is not the God of the . The God of Bible is completely and utterly selfless. The God of Bible gives and sacrifices for the sakes of the ones he loves. The God of Bible entered into human history, became a servant of all, and died a horrible and humiliating death at the hands of those he came to rescue. This is what makes Jesus Christ, fully man and fully God, glorious. That he humiliated himself for our sakes. The early church as no record anywhere of using the cross as decoration because it was the most grotesque picture in the entire ancient world. It would not be until Constantine in the mid-300s that the cross became an accepted symbol of . This is the amazing part of the . God came down to us, not to punish us, but to take our punishment on himself, and we killed him. Hence Christ’s resurrection and ascension into eternal glory proves worthiness. But his way is not the way of power, but the way of service. For this reason, he is glorious.

Cultural Context 2:1-11 Honor & Humility - It is a historical fact that the reason western countries value humility is because of the of Jesus Christ. The Roman world value honor above all else and many cultures throughout the world continue to be based on honor & shame within the community. Honor is tantamount to being well respected by everyone. It is difficult to understand for North Americans who stress individual self-expression at the expense of community. The point being, Christ did not consider his honor of being God something to be held for his own advantage, but to be sacrificed for the sake of others, thus he “shamed” the proud, the honor seeking, the wise, the wealthy, and the powerful.

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Bible Context 2:5-11 The Suffering Servant - Much of Paul’s language is unique in this passage. However, the Suffering Servant songs of Isaiah 42-53 are likely a backdrop for this passage. Specifically, Isaiah 45:23 is clearly being cited in 2:10-11. It God promises to bring a servant who will deliver Israel but this servant will suffer the sins of God’s people and then will rule over all nations. The struggle for Israel is that this will be the means not only for their salvation but also the salvation of the gentiles. Additionally, this servant will be the Son of God in human flesh giving up his eternal honor in heaven for the sake of his people. Adam and Christ? - Some argue that Genesis 1-3 is a possible backdrop for this passage. They see a connection with Adam created in the image of God and Christ being in the “form of God, being born in human likeness.” The problem is that the words behind “form” and “likeness” here are unique in the NT and were not used as the Greek equivalents in the Greek translation of the OT words image and likeness. Regardless, the logic is more theological than exegetical. The idea is that Adam sought deity through his humanity and thus sinned. Christ, even though being God, gave up this honor to take on humanness as a servant. Christ thus reversed what Adam did. In a sense that is true but it is a stretch to support the idea from this passage.

Passage Context 2:1-4 Be unified with Christian humility - These four verses form a single complex sentence in the Greek. Hidden by many translations is the “therefore” of v.1 pointing back to previous verse about suffering for the sake of Christ.1 Theses verses are trinitarian in nature, making reference to Christ, the Spirit, and the love of the Father (see 1:8). The word behind “participation” or “sharing” is koinonia the same word referring to partnership in the gospel (1:5). The fellowship Christian’s have together is unity to the mission of Jesus Christ which the Spirit empowers them to do and thus be “in Christ.” It is the mission of Jesus that ought to bring us together. We are to express the Father’s love to us through the Son and in the Spirit to one another. Humility is uniquely a Christian virtue having no correlation in the ancient world. But it is not a false modesty but rather a proper estimation of oneself before God. Hence, considering others needs in the church more important than our own ought to characterize us. This highlights the biblical tension between the individual and the community. God’s purposes are accomplished through the community but the entrance to that community is one at a time as each individual is challenged with obedience to Christ alone.2 2:5-11 The incarnation of Christ as the ultimate reason - Paul now illustrates why Christian’s should be characterized by humility. It begins with a imperative that we are to have the same “mindset” as Christ. Some consider this to be a early church hymn do to its somewhat poetic structure but that is probably reading into things too much, not to mention it would be quite early for the formation of hymns, especially one that would fit Paul’s concerns to the Philippians

1 Gordon Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, NICNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995), 177. 2 Ibid., 190.

PAGE 2 OF 5 BY CHRIS TENNY, DISCIPLESHIP PASTOR SERIES: PHILIPPIANS, A WHOLE LOT OF LOVE WGBC & CITY CHRUCH precisely. Paul’s calls to mind how Christ obtained our salvation and as result, we are all called to follow his ultimate example of humility. As Fee rightly says, “no genuine life in Christ that is not at the same time by the power of the Holy Spirit, being regularly transformed into the likeness of Christ.”3 It falls into two basic parts, vv. 6-8 & vv.9-11. It tells us how Christ existed, what he did, and how he carried it out. Christ’s selflessness and subsequent glory is in contrast to human pursuits of “selfish ambition” and “empty glory” (v.3).4 There are numerous words that confuse people and a lot of ink has been spilled on this passage. Paul’s primary purpose to illustrate what Christian humility is from the incarnation serves to guide the rich theology we can draw from it. The first point is that God completely and unequivocally acted unselfishly. It clearly states Christ has always been divine even pre-existent to his incarnation. The word for “form” morphe (ESV, “very nature” NIV), has no english equivalent. It does not refer to external features but to essential qualities. Thus, Christ was always and completely God. The second difficult word is harpagmon which is rendered as “grasped.” It has the verbal idea of seizing or grasping for one’s own advantage (hence the KJV’s “robbery”). Christ emphatically (original language includes the emphatic negative ouk) did not consider his status as God something to be used for his own advantage like the so-called gods and lords of this world. This brings us to the idea behind v.7 as “made himself nothing” and the corresponding word . It does not mean Christ emptied himself of his divinity. It doesn’t mean he ceased being divine or gave up part of his deity in the incarnation. Christ remained fully God and fully man at the same time without the blending, confusing, or mixing of the two natures. The incarnation is a divine mystery equal to the Trinity but this does not mean it is irrational. It essentially means Christ gave up his rightful honor of being God in order to take the form of a slave (literally the word for servant). Here is a truly selfless God with no parallel whatsoever in all of human history. As NT Wright says, “The real humiliation of the incarnation and the cross is that one who was himself God, and who never during the whole process stopped being God, could embrace such a vocation.”5 Christ entered into our history not as Lord (kurios) but as slave (doulos). The stress is on the quality of his incarnation and his full humanity and deity. Christ was completely human but different from us in that he was also fully divine and without sin. He appeared in a way that was totally recognizable as human (v.8). His appearance was not as a ghost only seeming like he was human. He was truly and fully human. He was obedient to the Father and empowered by the Spirit for this task all the way to the point of death on the cross. God expressed his love in self- sacrifice, in a cruel, humiliating death, in love for our sakes. Christ’s resurrection and ascension is clearly assumed by Paul in vv. 9-11. The subsequent glory and honor bestowed on Christ is not a reward for his humiliation. There is no “because” in these verses. It is God affirming his expression of self-sacrificing love. Christ did not obtain a higher

3 Ibid., 227. 4 Ibid., 195-196. 5 Ibid., 211.

PAGE 3 OF 5 BY CHRIS TENNY, DISCIPLESHIP PASTOR SERIES: PHILIPPIANS, A WHOLE LOT OF LOVE WGBC & CITY CHRUCH status than he previously had, but merely furthered magnified his status as God. Bestowing the name on Jesus as Lord is equal to calling him Yahweh. This is a fact at Christ’s return everyone will recognize that Jesus is truly Lord over everything. This does not mean all will accept his salvation but all will recognize his sovereignty.6 It is the humiliation of Christ that gives us reason to exalt him. He is glorious because he is so selfless. A fact that is untrue of all other so-called lords and gods. He alone was fully God and fully man and fully atoned for human sinfulness and alone is worthy of all glory and power and honor and imitation forever and ever.

6 Ibid., 217-224.

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Questions Explanation 1. What is the connection between verses 2:1-4 & 2:5-11? 2. What does this passage say about Christ’s divinity? 3. What does this passage say about Christ’s humanity? 4. What was the result of Christ’s obedience?

Discussion 5. How should God’s glory be understood in relationship to the humiliation of Christ? 6. Was Jesus truly and completely selfless if he ultimately was exalted? While you can have some fun with discussing this for awhile, there is no hint in the text whatsoever of an ulterior motive on Jesus’ part. The answer is ultimately yes, which we cannot comprehend because we never operate in a truly selfless matter. Hence, God’s love is truly unfathomable. 7. Does v. 11 teach that everyone will be saved? Why not?

Application 8. Is Jesus Christ the Lord over your whole life? 9. How has Jesus challenged you to look to the interest of others above yourself? 10. How do you know you are being humble and sacrificial or being prideful and a codependent enabler? 11. How does Jesus call us to be sacrificial without overlooking sin?

Resources Philippians, Gordon Fee, NICNT Philippians, Thielman, NIVAC

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