Living By Christ's Example

“Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (Philippians 2:2). The first thing we must understand from this statement Paul gives us is the completing of Paul’s joy by the Philippians is not a request or a plea. From the original language we know that Paul is commanding them to complete his joy. Paul is commanding the Philippians (and us) to have the same mind, love and corporate unity, same as what? The remainder of the passage tells us about Christ and His example. Paul is commanding us to have the same mindset and servant humility that Christ had.

What was that servant humility Christ had? “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). Christ servant humility was obedience to the Father’s plan despite the “unpleasantness” of the plan. However, if we stopped here with our understanding of Christ’s servant humility we quite miss the point.

Christ was obedient to death even though he was God and had all the rights, privileges and authority that go with His divinity. Yet Jesus willingly laid all those rights and privileges aside to take on human flesh and become fully human, (while still remaining fully God). All through the gospels we see a Jesus that never demanded nor asserted the rights and privileges he was due as the Son of God in Human flesh for His own needs but only for others. He humbly served humanity as the Lamb of God that took away the sins of the world (Matt 20:28; John 1:29).

So what Paul is commanding you and I is to humbly accept our role in the Kingdom of God following Christ’s example. Not demanding our rights and privileges as children of God (John 1:12), but humbly being obedient to God’s plan and call in our lives, even to the point of death if God so wills it. Or being obedient in the more difficult task, to live a faithful and godly life, being “doers of the word, and not hearers only,” (James 1:22). Nothing but living under and in the power of the Holy Spirit makes such a life possible.

The Ruler of the Universe

“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known” (John 1:18). Was Jesus at the Father’s side before he came to earth or after he came? Why can’t it mean both? The context of John’s passage is pointing to the eternity of Christ in the opening verses, then John moves to talking about Christ physical presence on the earth. The paragraph ending with vs. 18 is focusing on God the Son being revealed to us. It would seem to suggest that John is referring to Christ position before he came to earth. However, later in John’s gospel he recounts Jesus saying he was about to return to the Father (John 16). It is not beyond the realm of reasonableness to conclude John is also making a statement of where Jesus is now during his introduction.

So many places in the NT speak of Jesus being at the right hand of the Father, Mark 16:19; Acts 2:33-4, Acts 7:55-56; Rom 8:34; Col 3:1; Heb 1:13, 10:12; 1 Pet 3:22. Then we have Jesus himself describing this scene in Matthew (22:44), Mark (12:36) and Luke (20:42).

Because several of these are quotations or references to Psalm 110:1 we must see that while John may have only been referring to where Jesus was before he came to earth, it is clear both are true. Jesus was at the right hand of God before he came to earth and he is at the right of God even now. Recognizing the right hand is the hand of power and authority, these claims of Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father carry huge implications. Namely Jesus is the one in authority over the entire universe, second only to God the Father (John 14:28).