~The Mission Foundation~

The Gathering of Men
“The Humility of God the Son in the Incarnation, the Crucifixion,and His Enthronement in Heaven"
December 16, 2010


Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:5-11 – The following outline does not represent an exposition of this passage, but after writing this topically, I realized that we might well have focused ourselves entirely upon Paul’s words in Philippians 2. Hopefully, this outline will be a worthy guide for our meditation on this great virtue of our Heavenly King – humility!

I. The Humility of God the Son in the Incarnation: He was “sent” into His own world to become one of His own creatures and live in the spiritual squalor of human society.

Many times Jesus speaks of being sent. See for example John 7:29; John 17:3; and John 17:18 where He says “You sent me into the world.” The Son was sent by His Father.

A. From what was He sent? He was sent from the glory of His heavenly throne. (John 6:38; John 17:5) What was this glorious existence about?

 LOVE – John 17:24 “You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
 A MUTUAL BEHOLDING – Though this is logically understood of the Godhead, we can happily listen to the Son speak of His beholding the Father in John 6:46 – “Not that any man has seen the Father, except the One Who is from God; He has seen the Father.”
 THE GREATEST RELATIONAL INTIMACY – John 14:11 “I am in the Father and the Father in Me.” John 17:21 “You, Father, are in Me, and I in Thee.”
 A SHARED HOLINESS – Isaiah 6 – “Holy, Holy, Holy”

B. Into what new identity, what new state of being, was He sent? God the Son became a real human – truly Mary’s son.

“He too shared in their humanity” (Hebrews 2:14). “He had to be made like His brothers in every way” (Heb. 2:17). “For we do not have a great high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). “He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since He Himself is subject to weakness” (Heb. 5:2).

See Matthew 4 – His 40 days in the Wilderness – Vs. 2 says, “He became hungry.” vs. 3 says, “The tempter came to Him.” Where did this temptation take place? vs. 1 says it was in the wilderness. In the Bible, the wilderness is the place where our confidence in God, our faith, is tested. Psalm 78:19 says that the people of Israel spoke against God, saying, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?” Vs. vs. 11 says, “Angels came and began to minister to Him.” God the Son was being ministered to as a weary man. And by the way, how did Jesus get to this place of temptation? this wilderness? Vs 1 says He was “led up by the Spirit.” He humbly submitted to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

C. Into what new environment was He sent? Paul describes the human society into which God the Son came.

Romans 1:21 “they did not honor . . . God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” vs. 25, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie.” Romans 3:10 says, “There is none righteous; not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.” And in Romans 5, Paul continues with his description with these words: “helpless,” “sinners,” “enemies” of God! God the Son came into this spiritual squalor!

D. Why was He sent? God the Son came to serve us and to die for us!

In Mark 10:45, Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

In Peter’s Pentecostal sermon, Peter says that Christ was “delivered up” for execution by “the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). In eternity God willed that His Son should die!

II. The Humility of God the Son in the Crucifixion: He said, “Not my will but Thine be done.”

Did Jesus want to go to the cross for you? What was He thinking on the night before He died? What was He feeling about His impending execution?

The Scripture says that when he arrived in the darkness of the Garden of Gethsemane, He “withdrew about a stone’s throw (from the disciples), and He knelt down and began to pray.” It says He was “in agony”, that He was “distressed to the point of death,” that “He was praying very fervently,” and that “His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.” Three times He asked God the Father to deliver Him from this great suffering. Listen to His prayer: “Abba! Father! All things are possible for Thee; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”

The Son of God was being sent to the place of cursing – the cross! “For it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Galatians 3:13 where Paul quotes Deuteronomy 21:23). Jesus was being sent by His Father to the place where He would come under all of His Father’s infinite wrath – in my place and in yours. In “agony” He humbly submitted to His Father’s will and endured what you and I deserved.

III. The Humility God the Son in His Enthronement in Heaven: He will be “made subject” to God . . . “that God (the Father) may be all in all.”

1 Corinthians 15:24-28

24 Then the end will come, when He (Christ) hands over the kingdom to God and the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, power, and authority (that is, all earthly powers that oppose God).
25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
27 For He has “put everything under His feet” (quote of Psalm 8). Now when He says that “everything” has been put under Him, it is clear that this does not include God Himself, who put everything under Christ.
28 When He has done this, then the Son Himself also will be made subject to the One who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all.

We must remember that God the Son is in every equal to God the Father and God the Spirit. “In Him all the fullness of deity dwells . . . .” (Colossians 2:9) He is God!

But Paul says here in verse 28 of 1 Corinthians 15 that “the Son Himself also will be made subject” to the Father “that God may be all in all.”

Various interpretations of this verse have been offered. But it seems clear that God the Son will forever exhibit the beauty of the most extraordinary humility within the Godhead! This will be a marvelous facet of His eternal glory before all of the holy angels and before you and me as throughout eternity we will reign over the universe with Him in our own grace-given humility!

In closing, let us behold our gloriously humble King! And may the Holy Spirit help us to become more like Him today!