Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
So what attitude did Christ demonstrate when He came in the form of a babe in order to rescue us from sin? It was an attitude of love and humility. Love for the Father motivated Him to empty Himself…it wasn’t about Him it was about His Father and doing His Father’s will. It was love for us that motivated Him to spend 9 months in the womb of a teenager and then go through the birth process. It boggles my mind to think of the Creator of the Universe confining Himself to two cells in Mary’s womb and then growing into a baby that needed constant care. He submitted to all of this because of love.
He also made Himself dependent on the Father through the Holy Spirit to live an ordinary life for 30 years. At some point as a young man, Jesus loses His earthly father, Joseph, which means that it became His responsibility as the eldest son to provide for His mother and siblings. Think about it; Jesus was not allowed to heal Joseph. He had to let him die in order to be obedient to His Heavenly Father. I wonder if Mary asked Him to heal Joseph.
Jesus was also completely submitted to carrying out His Father’s plan to redeem mankind. He knew a painful death on the cross awaited Him. He knew that His closest friends would bail out on Him. He knew no one would really understand Him and accept His words. The author of Hebrews tells us that it was the joy that was set before Him that enabled Him to endure the cross. What provoked His joy? Us! He saw us! Redeemed and Reconciled to the Father by faith in what His blood accomplished on our behalf. Beloved, it is not our works that earn us entrance into heaven; it is our faith in the shed blood of Jesus and it’s sufficiency to pay the penalty for our sins that leads God to declare us righteous in Christ. What a marvel God’s grace is to those who simply, humbly believe that when Jesus said, “It is finished” on the cross, He really did all that was needed for us to be reconciled to the Father. Oh, that I would love the Father the way that Jesus does; that I would obey Him out of love the way that Jesus does; that I would depend on Jesus to do all things through me for His glory!