Incarnation | P1a

If anybody ever walked through some stuff that you really didn't think you could do much about, and somebody looked at you and said, how you put up with that? Well, what else can I do? What else am I going to do? It's just life. Jesus could have done something about it. My point is, His incarnation magnifies His humiliation. We read before the prayer in Philippians chapter 2, I want to turn our attention to verse number 5. We get some verses here that pivot from a direction the Lord's called us to live, to the reality of how Christ lived. I'm going to get down here on the floor, because I think it's a little cooler than it is up there. Heat rises. So I'm coming down here to cool off a little bit. All right? Plus, I can get in your face and see whether or not you're telling me the truth. All right? In Philippians chapter 2, we're picking up a brand new study based on a theme that is in this letter that, by God's Spirit, the Apostle Paul writes to the church of Philippi. In verses 3 and 4, he's telling us how to live as believers, how to model Christ, which is what Christianity is supposed to be about. You and I representing Jesus in the world, and I cannot represent what was never presented. I'm going to say that again. I cannot represent, because that's what representing means, I'm representing. I cannot represent what was never presented to me. What the Word of God does, by God's Spirit, is that it presents Jesus to us so I can see who He is, so that I can represent that revelation, so that I can represent who Christ is. And that's what we're seeing in these verses. So we'll back up a little bit to verse number 3, where it says,

Let nothing be done through strife or competition or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Now, that's not the culture that we live in. We don't live in a culture that would put anybody else above ourselves. But that's what he's saying we should do. Don't do anything out of competition, don't do anything for vainglory, but to operate in a lowliness of mind and esteem others better than ourselves. When you see that word strife, it's literally speaking of being competitive, and I feel like the body of Christ is too competitive. You know, you can't even share with somebody a word that touched you that you might have been encouraged by, because you share that word with somebody, and they got to come back talking about, oh yeah, you didn't know that already? Oh, I've been doing that. My pastor preached on that three months ago. And you're like, man, I can't even share nothing with you, because everything I share, you already knew. None of y'all in here, but somebody out there in the world is not going to let you think you knew something before they did, and there's no way your pastor brought forth a word before their pastor already brought it forth. You know, it's like, my pastor checks heaven's mail before your pastor. And so we get so competitive in the body of Christ, and it misrepresents who Jesus is. He said, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves. Give other people preference. You know, watch this in verse four, look not every man on his own things. Let's read that out loud. Look not every man on his own things. This word things is translated interests, interests. What serves my interests? What serves my world?

What serves my agenda? What serves my objective? What's serving me? He says, don't look on every man, look not every man on his own things. In other words, I'm not called to live my life based on my own interests. And so I run into coach and I say, coach, man, let me tell you about my week, A, B, C, D. Yep, that's the way it was this week, man. It was A, B, C, D. All right, man, good talking to you, check you later, man. See if I only share my interests and I show no interest in someone else, I misrepresent Christ. And so he says, look not every man on his own interests, but every man also on the, and that word things is literally translated interests, but every man also on the interests of others. In other words, I'm supposed to inquire of your interests, what is going on in your life and not be all about my life in a narcissistic society like ours that's counterculture wouldn't you agree so then he says in verse 5 read it with me let this mind be in you which also what was also in Christ Jesus so he's saying hey instead of having that competitive mindset instead of making everything a competition instead of vainglory instead of making everything about you let this mind be in you read it again emphasize the words this ready let this mind be in you so he's going to share with us the mind of Christ so in verse number 6 we get this insight into who Jesus is look at it with me verse 6 who being in the form of God who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God that word form in verse 6 is taken from the Greek word morphe and it speaks to the inner core of a person the part of an individual that does not change it speaks of your spirit it speaks of who you are at the core the inner part that does not change who came in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God so that's his incarnation if you're taking notes write that down you can even write it in that verse right there but beside that verse that's the incarnation of Christ what does it mean when we say incarnation we're saying we believe that God became man that God became man what a heavy statement that God wrapped himself in flesh and came into this earth Isaiah chapter 7 prophesied

of it Isaiah chapter 9 prophesied of it that that that a virgin would conceive and bring forth a son Isaiah prophesied and he declared his name shall be called Emmanuel and the Emmanuel literally means in man L L being God in man God that God became a man hallelujah he prophesied further in Isaiah 9 and he said his name shall be called everlasting father hallelujah his name shall be called mighty God so Isaiah prophesied of the day that Jesus would come into the earth and in Matthew chapter 1 we get the record of Jesus coming into the earth where where his name was called Emmanuel God with man check this out church as much God as though he were never man but as much man as though he were never God come on somebody enough and I appreciate that about our Savior because he wrapped himself in flesh and became incarnate because you don't go to space without a space suit and God didn't come to the earth without an earth suit no he didn't borrow the body of a serpent like Satan did to advance his will no he said I will come as they are and a lowly virgin was conceived received conception by way of the Holy Spirit and for nine months God was in the womb of a lowly virgin waiting for his earth suit to be tailored so that he could step into this world and be in direct contact with humanity and we get this glorious picture of God manifested in the earth John put it so well when by the Spirit he spoke in verse one of chapter one in the beginning was the word the word was with God the word was God verse 14 and the word became flesh and we beheld his glory the glory as the only begotten of the Father Jesus is the manifest word of God the manifest presence of God he is the capital s son of God he is God wrapped up in human flesh and because he came in the flesh he relates to what you're going through and because he came in the flesh he relates to what it means to have sorrow he was man enough to cry outside of Lazarus's tomb but God enough to raise him from the dead he's man enough to relate to what I'm going through and God enough to do something about it are you here what I'm saying to you he was man enough in Mark chapter five that he would lay on a pillow and take a nap man enough to need sleep but God enough when a storm hit that boat to get up and rebuke the wind and it be still he's man enough to relate and God enough to demonstrate his power of healing and salvation and deliverance he is God wrapped in human flesh are y'all here what I'm saying to you let that set in for a minute he's not untouchable Hebrews said we don't have a priest that's not touched with the infirmities of man but in all manners

was tempted like you and me knowing what it was like to suffer hunger knowing what it Knowing what it was like to feel pain, knowing what it was like to dread as he prays in the garden of Gethsemane and says, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, but not my will, your will be done. Man enough to understand our world and to have empathy and compassion, God enough to do something about it. Man enough to die, God enough to get up from the dead. Are you hearing what I'm saying to you? He is the incarnation of God. That is the foundation of the Christian faith, that it wasn't just a man that died on that cross. No, it was God embodied as a man that died on that cross. He's as much God as though he were not man and as much man as though he were not God. Until you see his incarnation, you cannot appreciate his humiliation. And something we're gonna be seeing here in Philippians 2 and talking about is humiliation, but you only really appreciate the humiliation of Jesus when you see the incarnation of Jesus. It's one thing for them to take him away on a cross and him to be nailed to the cross. It's another thing when you know they couldn't take him unless he gave himself. And it's another thing when you know them nails ain't what held him on that cross.

Hey, are you hearing what I'm saying to you? He was man enough to be nailed to a cross, God enough that he could have got off of it. Come on now. I think sometimes we only look at humiliation when it's not an option. Because like, have you ever been broke? I've been broke. You ever been broke? And somebody said, man, you're broke. And you say, no, I'm just being humble. You ain't being humble, you're broke. You ain't got no choice. Humility is not the same when it's not a choice. But it's the choice that God has called us to walk in even when we don't have to. So when the children of Israel were in Egypt, God brought them out with a mighty outstretched hand. Miraculously brings them out of Egypt. Knowing he was gonna put them in the promised land. And he shows Israel while in Egypt. He shows Israel and Egypt that he's God. He didn't just bring them out, he brought them out. They didn't just come out, they came out. When the sea is opening up for you to come out of bondage, man, it was some kind of glorious coming out. And he knew all along when he brought them out of bondage that he was gonna put them in the land of promise. But Deuteronomy 8 says in the in-between he had to let them walk through the wilderness.

And the wilderness was to humble them. The wilderness was to humble them because they came from humble beginnings. But God knew where he was taking them might make them proud. And so he didn't want them glorying or boasting or becoming arrogant or proud by the promised land. So the wilderness was meant to bring about a humiliation that would cause them to walk in humility once they got to where they were going. It's easy to walk in humility when you don't have no choice, but how will you act when God brings you through this? How will you act when you receive the promotion? How will you act when you get the neighborhood? How will you act when God takes you to that other place? And God knew where he was taking them that that place should bring him glory. And so he led them to up through a place that Deuteronomy 8 says was meant to humble them. It's not humility through it till it's a choice. But I appreciate the humiliation of Jesus because I see the incarnation of Jesus. When you look and read of the gospels of the crucifixion and you look at all that he went through and he's being challenged as a prophet when they blindfold him and they hit him in the face and they say, okay, prophet, if you really are God, if you really are a prophet, tell us who it is that hit you while you're blindfolded. And he could have told them what they had for breakfast

three weeks ago. He could have told them why they got that scar on their knee when they were eight and falling off a rock. He could have told them every detail about their life with the blindfold still on. He could have told them their mama's name, their mama's mama's name and their mama's mama's mama's name. Are you hearing what I'm saying to you? There was nothing about the one that hit him that he didn't know, but yet he doesn't say a word. That humiliation is not really appreciated until you recognize who it was they were humiliating. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's the incarnation that leaves me in awe of the humiliation. Are y'all with me? Yes. And we walk in, we walk in blessings from the Lord. We walk in just portions that the Lord bestows on us. We walk in gifts He gives us, and He's the giver. And we walk in gifts He gives us, and we get proud and arrogant and act like we somebody. And He's God. He's not the one that received a gift.

He is the gift and the giver. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? Let this man be in you. And it starts off with who this Jesus is. He's God. He came in the form of God. But notice this in verse number seven, made himself of no reputation. He didn't go around boasting and bragging. He didn't walk around in an arrogance, but He took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. So in verse six and verse seven, we see the incarnation of Jesus. But starting in verse eight, we see the humiliation of Jesus, how He humbled Himself all the way to death. And not just any death, the death of the cross. But so we see incarnation. Then we see humiliation. But the story's not over. Look at verse nine. Wherefore God also hath highly, what? Exalted Him and given Him a name, which is above every name. So now in verse nine, we see the exaltation of Christ. Incarnation, humiliation, exaltation,

to the point in verse 10, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess. That's our response, that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Guess what that is? That's adoration. That means when I look at His incarnation, when I read the account of His humiliation and have God lifted Him up and I see His exaltation, I don't just sit there and see Him exalted. His exaltation is worthy of a response. And what is that response? My adoration. I give you praise. I give you glory. I give you thanksgiving. I acknowledge you're the giver of all that's good and perfect in my life. I adore you. I begin my day with you. I end my day with you. I give you adoration in my car, driving down the road. I give you adoration on the porch swing in my back as I look at the sunrise on the back patio. Lord, you made that sun come up, and as sure as that sun came up, mercies came up today.

For your mercies are brand new every morning. This is the day that you have made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. I'm in adoration, you know, by myself, in my car, in an assembly like this. I gotta participate when we sing songs of adoration because he is worthy to be praised after what he has done for my life. Philippians 2 has given us the picture of Jesus from incarnation through humiliation to exaltation and now adoration. Let this mind be in you. Let this mind be in you. Incarnation, God-filled man. Imagine a glove, a glove, like you go out in the yard and work and you put a glove on. I want you to imagine a glove. Better get a leather glove because it's skin. And you got this leather glove, and then you imagine that hand going in that glove. Jesus's flesh was that glove. His core was the hand of God in that glove, working in him, working through him. God in man, and yet he makes himself of no reputation and walks in humility and puts the interests of others above his own. And we just receive things of God and get proud and get arrogant. And won't talk to people that look like we once did. Oh, come on now.

We're like, oh, I've arrived now. I've got the title, I've got the degree, I've got the income, I've got the reputation, I've got the car, I've got the clothes, I've got the jewelry, I've got the name, I've got it now. You are beneath me and forget where we came from. And even if we haven't been there before, that's somebody that Jesus died for. You've never met somebody Jesus didn't die for. There's a humility that we're supposed to walk in toward other people that reflects the heart of Christ. Because if I cannot. Step into my humanity. I'm not gonna be able to relate to people that are there Jesus became humanity why because he's reaching humans Jesus stepped into a coat of flesh why to reach people born of the flesh Now go with me if you would to the gospel of Luke I want to go to the 14th chapter Oh, this is gonna be good right here go with me to Luke chapter number 14 You appreciate the humility of Jesus when you see the incarnation of Jesus Incarnation Humiliation Exaltation Confederation which is honor Applause Celebrating Now I don't want you thinking that Well, I know what God has brought into my life incarnation I Know I've been through some humiliation now I'm a season of exaltation and That in this place you don't need humiliation Humiliation

Let me say it another way because he's well Jefferson I can say humiliation and we actually was talking to somebody about this recently I can say humiliation and you'd be like Don't nobody want to be humiliated but all humiliation is is the process of humility There are times that we feel humiliated and guess what it does it reminds us to be humble You don't need humility In humility you need humility when you're exalted When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and walked them through the wilderness to humble them The humility was not for Egypt. The humility was for the promised land He wanted them to get to where he was taking them and not be proud and not be self-glorying He wanted them to get to that place of promotion and blessing and elevation He wanted them to get there and give him all the praise for it There are things that God cannot exalt us in and areas that he cannot exalt us in if we still want the glory if we Still want the praise if we still want the credit Do you realize God is unlimited in your life as long as you give him all the praise? There is nothing he can't do in your life. He exalts the humble when we walk in humility. He exalts us That's the pattern of Christ Let this mind be in you if you feel like right now you're seizing your life is really humiliating if you feel like right now You're really being humble You got a supervisor that knows less about this job than you do But yet you got to sit there and be honorable and you saw just feel humiliated in this you better know that Humiliation is always followed by exaltation as long as you can represent Christ right where you are. Don't mess it up Are Y'all in Luke 4 14 yet So look in verse 1 with me And it came to pass as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees To eat bread on the Sabbath day That they watched him There they did what See the whole breaking of bread was a setup

They didn't just invite you out to lunch They brought you out to lunch to watch They didn't just engage in the conversation they were watching you You ever feel like you've been set up Say that now this is a setup But what they didn't know is Jesus was watching them You can get in a word to find your scripture to put on somebody that's beneath it Only to find a scripture that convicts you You can go to church to see what it's all about Only to get convicted when you got there I Came to be a Critic I came to investigate I came to watch how they handled this that and other but left convicted I went there to be a critic and I felt like the Lord was looking at me Have you ever went you know into a situation and? Especially relates to the Lord and you think you are the spectator and come to find out you are the Participator that that God was bigger than you and something happened that spoke to your heart You're like man. I don't have my time be putting my eyes on other people obviously the Lord has his eyes on me listen They brought Jesus in with a setup so they could trap him But literally they know he knew their heart, and he's watching them, and they think they're watching him Believe it or not this man with a dropsy is a physical picture of the spiritual side of the Pharisee They were spiritually swollen Healer deliverer way maker peacemaker provider salvation everything in one name He is the capital s son of God He's man enough to relate and God enough to demonstrate his power in the beginning was the word the word was with God The word was God verse 14 and the word became flesh, and we beheld his glory