The Mind of Christ. How did Christ esteem others better than Himself? He laid aside His rights. Morphe. !being in the form of God"

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Randolf Bishop
6 years ago
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1 The Mind of Christ Philippians 2:5%8 This!mind" #nds its de#nition in verses 2%4 and its illustration in verses 5 %8 How did Christ esteem others better than Himself? He laid aside His rights. As our God, Christ deserved to be seen as God. By laying aside His rights!being in the form of God"!The word!god" is without the de#nite article in the Greek text, and therefore refers to the divine essence." $ Kenneth Wuest Morphe!'form( is not identical with the essence itself, but is identi!ed with it, as its natural and appropriate expression...it is the perfect expression of a perfect essence. It is not something imposed from without, but something which proceeds from the very depth of the perfect being...to say, then, that Christ was in the form of God, is to say that He existed as essentially one with God...As the form of God was identi#ed with the being of God, so Christ, being in the form of God, was identi#ed with the being, nature, and personality of God." $ Vincent!being in the form of God" Morphe is the outward expression of the essence. Paul&s use of this term proves two things: 1. Christ is God 2. The pre%incarnate Christ had an outward expression of God&s essence.

2 He laid aside His rights.!robbery" As our God, Christ deserved to be seen as God. As our Example, Christ veiled His glory.!!consider" = to weigh the facts.!)equal with God" = refers to the morphe of God. Two possible meanings: 1. Something seized unlawfully 2. A treasure to be clutched and retained at all hazards. So, after weighing the facts, Christ did not think of the outward manifestation of His Divine essence as something to be clutched or held onto at all cost... why? because He esteemed others better than Himself. He was willing to forfeit His rights. Psalm 103:10 $!He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities." How did Christ esteem others better than Himself? By laying aside His rights By living as a servant Living as a servant As our God, Christ deserves to be served. % Dueteronomy 6:13 %!you shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name." % Revelation 7:15 %!Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple." As our Example, Christ became a servant. % Matthew 20:28 %!just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

3 Living as a Servant!made Himself of no reputation"!literally %!emptied Himself"!To fully understand His!emptying" we need to understand the rest of the verse. Verse 7!Taking the form of a bondservant" &!coming in the likeness of men" are both aorist participles.!a rule in Greek grammar says that the action of an aorist participle precedes the action of the leading verb" % Wuest The taking and the coming precedes the emptying. A good translation could be:!by taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men, Christ emptied Himself of His external glory." Emptying!He set aside the outward expression of his deity when expressing Himself as a bondslave. It was the outward expression of the essence of His deity which our Lord emptied Himself of during the time when He was giving outward expression of Himself as a bondslave." $ Wuest % John 17:5 %!And now, O Father; glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." This was the single greatest act of setting self aside. bondservant!form" % same as in verse 6. He really was a bondservant, not just putting on a show. John 13:1%17 Slaves owned nothing % II Corinthians 8:9 doulos % Lowest form of slave. One whose will is wrapped up in the will of another. For whom did Christ come to serve? Christ came to serve the Father. % John 4:34 %!Jesus said to them, )My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to #nish His work.&" % John 5:30 %!I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent me." % John 6:65 %!And He said, )Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted by My Father."& How did Christ esteem others better than Himself? By laying aside His rights By living as a servant By loving through sacri#ce % John 7:16 %!Jesus answered them and said, )My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.&"

4 Loving through sacri#ce What did Christ sacri#ce? As our God, Christ deserves our sacri#ce. % Exodus 20:24 %!An alter of earth you shall make for Me and sacri#ce on it..." % Romans 12:1 %!...present your bodies a living sacri#ce..." As our Example, Christ sacri#ced for others. His appearance He was seen as only a man.!he has no form or comliness; and when we see Him, there is not beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men..." $ Isaiah 53:2,3 What did Christ sacri#ce? His life For man death is an act of destiny, for Christ it was an act of obedience. His obedience knew no bounds %!even the death of the cross"!in that death He, functioning both as High Priest and Guilt%o+ering, gave Himself as an expiatory sacri#ce for sin." $ Hendriksen The cross: no ordinary death This was a painful death This was a shameful death %!looking unto Jesus, the author and #nisher or our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." % Hebrews 12:2 This was a death of a cursed man %!Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us *for it is written, )Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree&," % Galatians 3:13 Christ esteemed others as better than Himself It Was For ME Dave Bolen arranged by Faye Lopez

5 Why leave a heavenly mansion? Why choose a simple stall? Why wonder poor and homeless, The king and lord of all? Why heal a lonely beggar? Why cause the blind to see? The light of all creation shining there for me! It was for me he cried, for me he died, for me he shed his blood upon a tree. It was for me he came, for me his shame; for me, oh praise his name it was for me! Why stay in Olive s garden? Why spend the night in prayer? Why suffer such betrayal in anguish kneeling there? Why leave his mother crying? Why set Barabbas free? The spotless lamb of heaven given there for me! Why climb that dreadful mountain? Why su+er agony?, Why give his blood a fountain, spilled and broken -owing free?,when he walked the rode to calv&ry, gave his life so willingly, broken there the rose of Sharon died for me! It was for me he cried, for me he died, for me he shed his blood upon a tree. It was for me he came, for me his shame, for me, oh praise his name it was for me! The king who came from heaven, to the cry,!there is no room", Now must lay his weary body in a cold and borrowed tomb. But the grave it would not hold Him; death lost its victory. The risen Lord of glory is living now for me!

6 It was for me he cried, for me he died, for me he shed his blood upon a tree. It was for me he came, for me his shame, for me, oh praise his name it was for me!!tell them, that as I was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, so, if they will be gathered, I will be their shepherd still. Though they despised my tears which I shed over them, and imprecated my blood to be upon them, tell them )twas for their sakes I shed both; that by my tears I might soften their hearts towards God, and by my blood I might reconcile God to them... Tell them, you have seen the prints of the nails upon my hands and feet, and the wounds of the spear in my side; and that those marks of their cruelty are so far from giving me vindictive thoughts, that, if they will but repent, every wound they have given me speaks in their behalf, pleads with the Father for the remission of their sins, and enables me to bestow it... Nay, if you meet the poor wretch that thrust the spear into my side, tell him there is another way, a better way, of coming at my heart. If he will repent, and look upon him whom he has pierced, and will mourn, I will cherish him in that very bosom he has wounded; he shall #nd the blood he shed an ample atonement for the sin of shedding it. And tell him from me, he will put me to more pain and displeasure by refusing this o+er of my blood, than when he #rst drew it forth." $ Benjamin Grosvenor % The Temper of Chris"

Examining Three Crosses Pt I. Matthew 27:38

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