seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Philippians 1:27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
Philippians 2:1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Well, I got these rich statements from the commentary.Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others: Here the thought is completed. As we put away our selfish ambitions, our conceit, and our tendencies to be high-minded and self-absorbed, we will naturally have a greater concern for the interests and needs of others.
Paul doesn't tell us that it is wrong to look out for our own interests, but that we should not only look out for our own interests.
To be equal with God: It wasn't that Jesus was trying to achieve equality with the Father. He had it, and chose not to cling to it. Jesus' divine nature was not something He had to seek for or acquire, but it was His already.
Lightfoot wrote that it was not "a prize which must not slip from His grasp, a treasure to be clutched and retained at all hazards." Jesus was willing to let go of some of the prerogatives of deity to become a man.
What would have happened if Jesus had decided He had enough and He called down His Angels to wipe out the Romans and the Sanhedrin and the others who would have sent Him to the Cross? What would have happened if Jesus had just jumped off the Cross and flexing, He said "I've had quite enough of this... you will do what I say... I'm God!"?What would Paul have had to preach on? Oh, Paul had a Roman father and Paul was part of the Sanhedrin. Paul would have been taken out with the rest. There were no witnesses that can testify that Jesus knocked Paul down, but if Jesus had jumped off the Cross, there would have been a multitude of witnesses.
If Jesus had jumped off that Cross, would He have taken the other two off their crosses too?
If Jesus had shown up as "God" rather than a human, would He have known what temptation is like as a human?
Nope?!?
Do you think God gave Jesus that alternative to choose? Or, since God knows the future, and knew what Jesus was going to go through, did God and Jesus just skip that alternative in order to spend more time on what they would do about Peter and Paul?
Jesus agreed to be human!
Do you think Paul was jealous of Jesus? I do. I feel sorry for Peter and Paul... They both missed the point.
There is no denying that Jesus became human and felt every blow... even the heartbreak of being denied.
Peter denied Jesus. Paul voted to put Him on the Cross and went after anyone who believed in Jesus.
In spite of knowing what Peter and Paul would do... Jesus still agreed to be human!
Jesus chose to be human!
