“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phillipians 2:5-11)
My ministry theme matches my personal story of having grown up with faith in Christ, falling away from that faith for decades to pursue my humanist, selfish ambitions…and then being restored to faith in Christ that is now more crystal clear than ever.
The hardest but most rewarding part of following Christ is that we lose our “self” as ruler over our lives, and submit to God and HIS plan for our lives. Those who are truly in faith have taken on the mind of Christ and have turned from their past and wicked ways. The Holy Spirit has come in and taken control of our lives and we are no longer slaves to sin. That is the core power of the Gospel of Christ.
The above passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippians is a powerful admonition of what the Christian walk is all about. We are to follow the example of Christ Jesus who while knowing what it’s like to be God, he humbled himself to come down to our human level and experience life as we know it and show us the way to live in this world. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He didn’t wait for us to “come around” or “qualify” to believe in him. He took the first step towards forgiving and loving us…in all our ugliness and false self-pride.
The Christian life is to be one of humility and sacrifice. We do this not out of legalistic “obedience to the rules/laws”, but out of love for our Savior and each other. When our lives are ruled by sacrificial love and serving God and our fellow man, there is no time or place for false pride or a sense of superiority. Our egos are forever checked in place to where we recognize the power and privilege of being “children of God”, yet we know it had nothing to do with us or our abilities that put us in that place of privilege. Yes, it is a PRIVILEGE to serve the almighty God. Our sacrifices and submission to Christ are nothing compared to the exaltation and hope we have in sharing in his glory after this temporary physical body no longer has breath. The cares of this life are already over for we who are redeemed.
“Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” is a tremendous and doable challenge. He doesn’t expect us to be able to do anything good of our own free will. Yes, he has given us free will to choose, but he also knew we would need his Holy Spirit indwelling us in order to be obedient and faithful to his righteousness.
The Gospel of John chapters 14-16 contains a majority of what Jesus promised his disciples regarding his Holy Spirit abiding with us. The main comforting passage is John 14:16-18:
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
When the “Spirit of truth” abides in us, we have a special sense of and relationship with God. We are no longer cognizant of or living in our past sinful lives, but living constantly in the moment of God’s presence and direction by the Holy Spirit. As Paul pointed out in 1 Corinthians 12:3, “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”
When we are born again to salvation by accepting God’s gift of Christ’s sacrifice and redemption of our sins, his spirit enters and begins changing us. That is the magical transformation that true faith brings in our lives. The world thinks we are “nuts” to proclaim Jesus is Lord above all other gods and religions…but when the Holy Spirit inhabits us, our proclamations and claims based on his word the Bible are powerful and “exalted” by his spirit. It really has little to do with us except as servants and vassals of speaking the truth and doing his will. Life truly becomes very simple. We no longer sweat the “things of this world” because to “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” simultaneously humbles and exalts us. We are humbled in this world’s understanding of the meaning of life, but we are exalted by our hope and confidence in the eternal life we are promised. We may suffer and have to sacrifice our bodies for the cause of Christ, but our spirits are eternal with and through him which makes all the difference in our perspectives and priorities in this life. As Philippians 1:21 states, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.“.
The challenge of the Christian life is to sacrifice and humble ourselves in this life, but this sacrifice is nothing compared to the peace, hope, joy, and love we experience by knowing God through his Holy Spirit. Through faith, we have no doubt and exalt in his coming kingdom when “every knee shall bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord”.