Monday, April 13, 2009

Jesus - My Humility Part 2

So, admittedly as I have aged, Jesus has brought into my life little (or not so little) events which have caused me to realize the necessity of humility. There is a common thread in all events in my life concerning humility: it happens to be a choice. Jesus did not find himself on the cross as accidental act of obedience to the Father. That fact of humility, CHOICE, being duly noted - let me just ask you to examine your own heart as you read on. The tendency, I know (because we are not so different you and I), is to think, "man, so and so could totally use this information, or my husband is so arrogant - maybe I can get him to read this, etc, etc etc; but I implore you - be reconciled to God first. Horizontal relationships will follow.
Last post we talked about the humility of Christ - this one deals in specifics. In regards to humility and Philippians 1:27-2:11:
  1. Recognize your need & your position in Christ (1:27): a life worthy of the Gospel should be taken positionally in Christ - the behavior will follow the position.
  2. Reorient your life (2:6): Practically, for us this is the use of gifts, talents, money, time, etc it is all subject to the purpose and plan of God. Do you have money - its God's, do you have time available - its Gods, etc etc etc.
  3. Render your service (2:7-8): One cannot serve another person when they believe themselves to be innately better. Ask yourself this question when serving someone – how does what I am doing right now evidence the death of Christ in me and promote it whom I’m serving?
Finally, as I said in the previous post - I preached on this very topic in my church recently. CLICK HERE to listen to either of those sermons (they came in two parts like the blog).

Please add your thoughts by clicking on the "comment" link at the bottom. Be patient with the audio files, they are large and will take a while to load.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Jesus - My Humility Part 1

I'll tell you what's difficult - being young, being someone who is easily termed a "recovering pride-a-holic," then preaching on humility. I know of no one less qualified than I to even touch that with a ten foot pole. However, the irony of God knows no bounds so I endeavored to teach on this very topic recently. This post then will be in two parts, one today and part two to follow soon. This post will cover Christ's humility displayed - really a close look at Phil. 2:1-11.
The three 'E's of Christ's humility:
1. Exercise (Phil.2: 6-7)– where Jesus was in the form (or essence) of God but did not see it as a source of entitlement BUT made Himself subject to God. The term exercise was carefully chosen to illustrate the active and continual nature of Jesus' humility.
2. Extent (Phil. 2:8)- He chose to do everything that humans do (eat, sleep, go to the restroom, etc) to the point of death on a cross. The significance of that cannot be overstated as execution on a cross was indicative of the curse of God. Galatians 3:13 says that he (Jesus) bore the curse for our sin. So the extent of His humility...was sufficient to save.
3. Exaltation (Phil. 2:9-11)- the result then of Jesus humility was being exalted and all confessing the Lordship of Jesus – But as v. 11 states, He was humble “…to the Glory of God the Father.” Ultimately, us being humble is not for us, but for the glory of God.
Well, I leave you to consider Jesus and His humility along with the implications for your life as you wake tomorrow. Stay tuned more is coming on humility and feel free to add your comments below.