Philippians 2:5-11—Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore 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, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 1:15-17 that Jesus, "is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." The word "firstborn" in the Greek language in which Colossians was written, does not mean first-created. Rather, it means that Jesus is preeminent. Cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses have wrongly used the word firstborn to teach that Jesus was like us, a created being. Such could not be further from the truth. The Bible emphatically supports the deity of Christ, teaches us that He is the Creator and proclaims He exists with no beginning or end.
If we contrast the two passages of Scripture noted above, how can we not be astounded! The omnipotent Son of God willingly chose to become the suffering Son of Man. Imagine if you as a brilliant human were able to create a whole new species we’ll call the Dorkins. You the creator, the clever designer, became painfully bruised by the aberrant behavior of these Dorkins who with the freedom you gave them rejected your guidance, to go their own way. You could easily have eliminated these misfits and started over but you loved them so deeply you willingly humbled yourself and through a complex operation became a Dorkin to save them from their hopeless rebellion. You did all this knowing in advance these creatures’ temperament and nature would lead most of them to reject and ultimately murder you. Would you set aside your absolute power, abandon your unequaled prestige to stoop so low as to become a Dorkin?
Could it be that the hardest concept to grasp for humanity is the place of humility? The harder we push to have our own way, to become great, to achieve what our egos insist we deserve, the further we push ourselves away from the Messiah who did just the opposite.
Those who are humble do not draw attention to their humility for that would be false-pride. Those who are humble identify with Christ and seek to be like Him. "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you . . . Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:6,7,10). Something to think about . . . in
Inspiration
