Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, (6) who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, (7) but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  (8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  (9) Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, (10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, (11) and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The letter to the Philippians was written by the apostle Paul. The ostensible reason for the letter was to thank them for a gift in his time of need; a gift of money symbolizing their love and support for Paul who was in prison and facing capital punishment for preaching the gospel.

In our verses today Paul writes of humility as an intellectual approach to Christian living.  There is nothing in the Bible about self esteem and the heart of relationship problems is the self.

Christ Jesus went from the highest (the divine) to the lowest (in the nature and form of man)  voluntarily,  to rescue man from God’s judgment. Christ was in the form of God – He was equal to God, and it was not false or illegal to claim this. He emptied himself and veiled His divine nature and added to His divine nature a human nature but without sin.  He did not cease to be God.  It the Son of God can go from extremes who is man to be filled with pride.  We must imitate Christ – to help grow in humility we must let Christ’s actions and death be our guide.  To pursue humility we need to know what it looks like, which is our attitude toward the self and others.  The antithesis of humility is pride and c.s.lewis writes in mere Christianity “But pride always means enmity….it is enmity.  And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity with God.

Who, in the days of his flesh, when He has offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, (8) though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. (9) And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. 

The author of the letter to the Hebrew is unknown but the letter is clearly addressed to a community of Jews – a warning to Christian Jews or wavering Jews in the face of persecution.

After the fall, God was unapproachable by man except through the priest and  that avenue was strictly regulated.  Throughout the Old Testament the entire Jewish sacrificial system showed the problem of human sinfulness in the presence of God.  Without appropriate sacrifice there was no reconciliation with God and the priest only could act on behalf of the people who were alienated from God. The priestly line of Aaron were appointed by God but this  line was limited and indeed ended. But the cross changed that and Jesus Christ was designated by God as the eternal unchanging High priest for man. The necessity by God of the death of His perfect Son was the only solution for sin. In light of this WHY would we imagine our works could earn salvation?  Our efforts are futile and add nothing to the efficacy of the sacrifice of Jesus. It is pride to even think this would be so. Man is saved by faith alone.

Our verses today tell us that Christ sought a remedy that He might be delivered from the evil to come – showing the human side of Jesus.  Jesus endured such mental and physical agony in the garden during  His passion that man must see that Christ didn’t suffer and die because He disregarded what was ahead.  His anguish and intensity of grief was so extreme Christ even sweated drops of blood.  All this was because He knew that as sin itself He would be separated from God.

The ultimate end was Jesus Christ was consecrated as the perfect and acceptable sin sacrifice. It is beyond our comprehension the mercy and love of God. Christ is not just an example but the cause of our salvation. In obedience we must imitate Christ or we will not benefit.  No one is denied salvation who is teachable.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  (5) even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (6) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (7) that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  (8) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.  (10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 

The letter to the Ephesians was written by the apostle Paul. Our verses today concern the unfathomable riches made available to the faithful through faith in Christ Jesus. We were born as sinners – all of us – and subject to the wrath of  God. Our verses speak of God’s love for us but behind these words is the doctrine of God’s wrath. God is holy and just – we were dead in sin and alienated from God. If it weren’t true that we were subject to His wrath and judgment God would not have offered His Son to be such a terrible sacrifice to save us from our sin.  And by the acceptable and perfect sacrifice of Jesus we have been made right with God.  All men, without exception, are born and pronounced guilty until they are redeemed by Christ – if there is no redeemer there is no righteousness with God, no light, no life, no joy;  all of which come only through being right with God;  we are born children of the wrath of God by our nature which means subject to the judgment of God

Paul tells us in verse 4 that the real reason for God’s merciful consideration was the great love with which He loved us even while we were in sin.  In this state man is neither capable or inclined to reach God.  The undeserved gift of salvation is a gift of love – not that we loved God but that He loves us.  Paul writes that man obtains salvation by faith in Christ alone and this is entirely the work of God who owes man nothing – salvation is not an award or recompense but the gift of pure grace.  Salvation does not come from us; is not of ourselves.  It is offered to us by faith in Christ without any merit of good works by man.

We deserve God’s wrath but not His grace.  The union of our souls with God is the only true life and it is only found through Christ Jesus – man was spiritually dead, living in darkness; helpless and hopeless and didn’t even know it

We are born spiritaully dead

For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; (23) but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, (24) but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  (25) Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger then men

The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul.  Paul is writing to the faithful reminding them that they have been called by God – that they should let go of their division and pride; the seeking of status by belonging to certain factions of personalities.    The gospel is shameful to unbellevers while to the faithful the gospel is the power of God for salvation.  There is a huge unbridgeable chasm between divine wisdom and how the secular view these matters.

The right order of things was for men to see God in light of His works.  The understanding God gave men in their nature has been reversed  by sin.  Only through the eyes of faith do we see God – we lack not only the ability to discern the wisdom of God on our own, we also lack the inclination to do so. The Jews despise the gospel and want evidence of divine power and the Greeks want to know God through the power of human intelligence.  But the faithful preach Christ crucified which seems weakness and folly and so a stumbling block to the Jews.  To the Greeks it seems like a fable:  nothing will convince them, as faith has to come from the Lord and once the blinders  are removed we will go from darkness into the light.  To be aware of having been called by God removes all merit from human wisdom.  God works in ways contrary to human wisdom – the entirety of salvation history is to glorify God and what is important is not what man thinks of God but what God thinks of man

God chooses the “weak and foolish” to shame the “wise and strong” ,not because we are any better but He uses the disdained so that all glory might belong to Him and not men.  Salvation is of the Lord from first to last.