Philippians 2:1-4 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
If the Spirit of God has transformed you in any way, if He has encouraged you in any way, if you have been given the privilege of communicating with him, if you have found his nature of tenderness and compassion as part of your life, if you have experienced a deeper love for others because of him, then be like-minded as you function in this world. Encourage, help, and love others as the image of God in this world. We are to prefer others above ourselves, looking after the needs of others, not just our own. As Paul told the church in Rome, Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. (Romans 12:10-17) This is how God wants us to move through the world. In today's passage, Paul expresses the essence or purpose of a Christian life. Our goal is not to be all we can be for ourselves, but to be all that we can be for others. Our greatest example of this is Jesus Christ himself who was the epitome of one poured out for others. His actions revealed a God that the world did not know or understand. To the world, their gods were gods of power and authority, not gods of servanthood. They would have thought the Christian God would be weak while their gods were gods of strength and deliverance. They believed their powerful gods could deliver whole nations from their adversaries; make them wealthy; provide them with many children; could do a sundry of things: bringing security, abundance, and prestige to all that served them. But one must serve them with total allegiance, even to the sacrificing of their own children, for they are the gods of this world, the gods of the devil.
When Jesus came to Earth, He came as a baby, from a poor family, without the trappings of authority or position. He was a carpenter, working anonymously for the necessities of this world: food and shelter. His rise to recognition did not come through the usual ways of the world. We do not see him as a young boy being stronger than all the other children around him. As a young man we don't see him as a natural leader with a gang of followers. We just see him as a young man, a carpenter, maybe a loner until the time appointed. He was not from a place of distinction. In fact, when Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph,” Nathanael says, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (John 1:45-46) Then at the river of Jordan, we see a man called John the Baptist, baptizing people who are repenting of their worldly ways. There, Jesus asks John to baptize him also. John knew by the Spirit's revelation that this man Jesus did not need to be baptized for his sins, for he was without sin; but John baptized him anyway, even though John knew he was the sinner in this situation, not Jesus. But on that day Jesus, literally made a show of pushing off the ways of the world and taking on the way of the Spirit. The Spirit came and rested on him. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17) From that day, Jesus was full of power and authority, never more to live just according to the ways of the world. From that day, he had no home: he depended on others to help him survive with the food and shelter He needed. Hence forth, Jesus was bonded to the voice of God, to do the will of God. We see him praying to God in a sustained manner for many hours. We also know He followed the Spirit of God within him in everything He did.
This man, Jesus Christ, is our Lord, the Son of God. He alone is our God; his nature is to be our nature. The Spirit that fell upon him is the same Spirit that resides in us after we accept Christ as our Savior. Jesus went away that we might have the Comforter, our Teacher and our Guide. The Spirit helps us to do the will of God. Jesus lived his whole life for others, and He told us: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39) How are we living our lives for the benefit of others? If we do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, we will shine for Jesus in a world that is contaminated by selfishness and vanity. Oftentimes we are driven exclusively by our desire to please ourselves or to get ahead, to be the winner in every situation. This is the spirit of the age, but it is not the spirit of the family of God. How often are we discouraged when people will not follow our lead or listen to our wisdom? How often do we desire to control the environment around us? Maybe too often. But Paul says that you should in humility consider others better than yourselves. This does not sound like a God that humans want to follow. Outside of Christ, this is the question one would naturally ask: What is in it for me? This Christian thing does not seem to pay off very well. For the secular "me first" world, Paul really drives his point home with a hammer by saying Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. He expands our world beyond just ourselves: a Christian will look out for the needs and welfare of others. This is what Jesus did as He walked this earth. He served and loved the world so much that He gave his life for all: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) Paul asks us to live as Jesus lived in a sinful world. We should be like-minded with Christ, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. We should be as only true God, a lover of his creation, of those who need his love. We are to display his love that He lavished so abundantly upon the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment