There are certain things that demand a life change. For example, understanding that there is a Creator (our God) behind this world demands that we look at sunsets not simply wondering how the light reflects to create these shades of colors but admiring the creativity of the one who is designing them.
Yet by saying the word “demand,” I do not mean that if you do not think of God when you see the sunset that he will quit making sunsets and you will no longer get to enjoy them. I mean “demand” in the sense that when you realize this you are so overcome with the truth of what you now know that you cannot help but admire the creator when admiring his creation.
The same is true when we realize what Christ did in taking our sins upon himself, dying on a cross, and raising himself from the dead. This realization “demands” that we live a certain way. And in this example as well, it “demands” not in the sense that unless we do certain things we cannot merit the gift of salvation that Christ gave on the cross. We could never merit that. Rather, when we as believers truly realize the miracle of Christ’s work on the cross, we should not be able to help but live a certain way in light of it.
That is what Paul wants to communicate to the Philippian believers. He writes in 1:27, “Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” In his mind, the gospel demands that we live in a certain manner. And that is what we want to uncover today.
But before we get into what that entails, let’s realize what exactly happened that demands that we live a certain way. Paul describes it in 2:5-11.
The first thing he establishes in this passage is that Jesus Christ is equal to God. He is God. If you miss this, the miracle of the gospel is lost. Jesus is truly God. He is the Creator of which we have spoken.
And yet, Paul writes, he did not consider his equality with God “something to be grasped” (2:6). What does he mean by this phrase? What he means is that Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be exploited.
He could have said, “I’m God, you all are sinners; everyone can suffer due punishment in hell.” He could have done anything he wanted to do. He could have used his state as God to get whatever he wanted. After all, he is God!
But what did he do? He did not consider equality with God something to be exploited, but he made himself nothing. “He emptied himself.” That is to say, he gave up his rights. And instead of exploiting his equality with God, he gave up his rights, and made himself a servant.
When he could have gotten anything, he gave everything. And he came and served us. Jesus came and served his creation. But he not only served us, he even died a death on a cross.
Now, this hardly communicates to us the way it should. I wish I could startle you the way this would have startled anyone hearing the story for the first time. Crucifixion was a horrible way to go. No matter what, Roman citizens were protected from crucifixion. It was a horrible, degrading way to die. So Christ not only didn’t exploit his equality with God and not only did he become a servant, but he died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Why? Why did Christ die? He died because God’s wrath was burning against man because of his sin. It is not as if God cannot control his temper or cannot restrain his irritability. Rather, God’s wrath is a function of his holiness. Because he is holy, he hates sin. Therefore, if he is going to look over such evil, there must be a price paid to appease his burning wrath.
So Christ died to appease the wrath of God.
But don’t misunderstand that statement. For the picture is not one of a son who wants to love humanity while his father wants to crush them. No, rather it was God himself who loved the world (the objects of his wrath) so much that he gave his Son to die and pay their penalty. Nor is the picture, however, that the Son was reluctant to give his life. Instead, Paul writes that he became “obedient to death—even death on a cross” (2:8). God wanted to save mankind, and Jesus volunteered his life for us. That is unbelievable.
And because of this, Paul writes that God gave Jesus a name that identifies him for us as exactly who he is. He says, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow … and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (2:9-11). Therefore, it is not as if God made this man equal with him. Rather, God showed who he is and always has been in telling us who he was and is.
He is God himself. This is clear when we understand the background of this statement in Isaiah. First, consider Isaiah 42:8. God says, “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or praise to idols.” God is not about to give anyone but himself the glory that comes in being the Lord. So to confess that Jesus is Lord is to say that he is the God who spoke in Isaiah 42.
Also, God tells us in Isaiah 45:22-25, “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn. My mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.’ All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. But in the LORD all the descendants of Israel will be found righteousness and will exult.” In saying this, God is making clear that there is only one before whom every knee will bow and confess as Lord. Therefore, from his statement of Jesus—the God-man—he is shedding light on the fact that Jesus is God himself.
Therefore, God himself shed himself of his rights, became man, and died so that we could be forgiven and live eternally with him. That is the unbelievable beauty of the gospel that demands that we live a certain way.
We should live a certain way because we recognize that that is what the gospel has saved us for. And we are to live this way consistently. That is what Paul is getting at in 1:27, as he says, “Whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence.” We should live the same way whether another believer is looking over our shoulder or not.
And then Paul tells us what this worthy conduct is. It is that we “stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel” (1:27). Or to put it very simply, live in such a way that your life promotes the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is how we should live at all times out of sheer recognition for what Christ has done for us.
But what will this entail?
For one, it will require some degree of suffering. Paul writes in 1:29, “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”
One way we will live, promoting the gospel is living with a willingness to suffer for the sake of Christ. We see that our salvation has been secured by his suffering on our behalf, and we promote his glory by suffering on his behalf. In fact, Jesus told his disciples in Luke 9:23, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
To be a follower of Christ means that you have chosen to die with Christ and therefore have forfeited your right to pursue your desires. You let all your desires die, and you take up his. That is the main idea of suffering that we need to hold.
We do not need to think, “Well, here in America there is no suffering, so I guess I will just wait for persecution to come.” No, choose suffering. And by that, I do not mean go ask someone to hit you or curse at you. I mean, choose to die to yourself daily. When your flesh tells you that you are entitled to anything you desire, remind your flesh that you have died and that your only rights are to obey Christ. For don’t think that just because we are not threatened to be martyred that the cost of being a Christian for any of us is any less than our lives. Die daily.
And as you do this, you are allowing Christ to shape in you the kind of character that it takes for someone to give his life. Strengthen your faith by choosing to die daily. Remind your flesh through fasting, prayer, meditation, and service that you are ruled by someone other than yourself. He is your Lord. He is the Lord.
Living in light of the gospel of Christ also demands that you bless others. We do not simply deny ourselves in taking up our crosses daily; we also bless others through the blessings that we have received.
Paul tells the Philippians, “If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose” (2:1-2). In other words, he is saying, if you have received any of these blessings through being a Christian, then make my joy complete by adopting the same intent as those who have ministered to you, maintaining the same kind of love that was shown to you, and doing it all together so that the whole church reflects this attitude.
For if these things have been a part of your Christian life, then you need to recognize that they are because of the ministry of other people. Therefore, be of the same mind. Bless others, recognizing that you have been blessed.
This idea reminds me of a story Lili told me about an incident that happened when she was in the fourth grade. They had just moved to Jackson, and her older brother and younger sister had many friends. Therefore, she decided (as any young girl with an older brother) to hang around her brother’s friends. However, one day her brother was going to play football with his friends. He had been nice on almost every occasion in letting Lili hang around, but this was the limit. He told her she couldn’t play football with the guys.
This sent Lili home crying. When she got home, she cried and told her mom that she didn’t have friends like her brother and sister did. Finally, after reasoning from her mom did not help Lili stop crying and Lili decided she just wanted to sit at home, feel bad for herself, and cry; her mom said, “Well, I wonder why you don’t have any friends!?”
Her mom communicated to Lili that day that life is not about people all the time coming to you and seeing how they can be your friend. It is about going to people and seeing how you can befriend them. As you make this your focus, you will make friends. For what Lili probably didn’t recognize in all her time of feeling sorry for herself is how many people were around her, loving her, and trying to help her.
I think we need to learn the same lesson about the Christian life. It is not simply about getting. It is about giving. And we need to open our eyes to realize how blessed we are because of the ministry of others.
I often think my life is just too hard and feel sorry for myself, and at those times, if I sit and think, I have several people come to my mind who pray for me, encourage me, and even give to me. And Paul says to people like me in times like those, “Stop thinking of yourself for a little while, and be of the same mind toward others as these people have been toward you.”
That is the idea of 2:1-2. And if the Philippians have missed his point, he spells it out a little more clearly in 2:3-4, writing, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”
And then he reminds us, in verse 5, that it is all about an attitude. We need to be like Christ in these matters. For remember that he—even being God—did not consider who he was something to be exploited, but shed his rights and died for us, even death on a cross. Living with the gospel in mind means being willing to bless others with the blessings that you have received. Can you imagine how exiting it would be to be in a community who had this focus?
And a final thing Paul mentions that we should do in light of the work of Christ is that we should continue to “work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling.” But this time, the motivating work of Christ is not only what he has done in the past in humbling himself in dying for them but in what he is doing for them now and will do for them in the future. The incentive for working out our salvation throughout all of life is that God is at work within us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Press on, brothers and sisters, for God will work through you. Strive to be used of God to impact this world because God will work through you. Isn’t this motivating? That is what it is meant to do.
For many of us, however, we get caught in our internal argument of divine sovereignty versus human responsibility. Don’t pit those two things against one another, for they are friends. Instead, let one motivate the other.
If I told you that I could give you the strength to run a two-minute mile, would you sit on the couch or would you get up and run to see what it is like to run a two-minute mile? I am sure that you would do the latter. Therefore, let this be the same. God will work in you so that your salvation may be worked out throughout your life. God will work in you so that you will have the strength to do what he is willing in you right now. So get up and act. Work out your own salvation.
And lest you are wondering what this means practically, Paul makes it clear with two final exhortations as to what it means to live like this.
1. Do all things without complaining that you may appear as lights in a dark world (2:14-16).
Isn’t this interesting? Complaining throughout life and discontentment is so common that Christian contentment will stand out in this world. Strive to do this.
2. Persevere in the truth (v.16).
Commit yourself your entire life to live by faith and (consequently) live in a manner pleasing to God. Paul wanted to know so badly that these people whom he poured his life into would hold fast to the faith. As men pour their lives into you, be determined to be the fruit of their lives. Be the fruit of those who died to get the gospel into your hands.
For Paul, if he could just be a drink offering upon the sacrifice to God that was their life, he was pleased. I say the same. God has been dealing with me lately so much on this (and he probably will for the rest of my life), but what I as your pastor long for is to simply to pastor a group of people who take up their crosses daily, pour into others what they have received, and hold fast to the truth, striving for holiness their entire lives. And if that happens, I don’t care if I am simply the drink offering to go along with the sacrifices of your lives; it will be my joy. For you are my joy, and my hope, and my crown of exultation at the coming of our Lord.
Let us humble ourselves as Christ, take up our cross, and pour ourselves into living like him on this earth. And as we do this, we will not need to be concerned about anything else. For what else will matter except that our Lord is pleased? If we delight in him above all else, that will be enough.
His grace is our strength. Amen.