What Child Is This? He Is The One Who Humbled Himself To Save Us

Now I want you to imagine with me a cold, dirty animal stable six miles outside of Jerusalem.

Nowhere in the Gospels are we told what kind of labor Mary had.

So we don't know if it was a long labor or a short labor.

We don't know if it was a one-push birth or multiple pushes over multiple hours.

We're not told.

We're not told if Jesus was a breech baby or He was a head-first baby.

We don't know.

But we are told that Mary gave birth to a firstborn son and they named Him Jesus.

We also know that secretly Mary and Joseph knew that this baby boy was not conceived by Joseph.

But this baby was conceived miraculously by the Holy Spirit.

There was some controversy stirring around this lady's pregnancy.

Now, surely the conception of Jesus was a miracle.

But nine months later, His birth was oh so mundane.

There was pain.

There was sweat.

Blood.

Exhaustion.

After birth for sure.

In a mess.

The baby may have been miraculously conceived, but this baby was delivered in the most mundane of ways.

He wasn't born with a halo around His head.

He certainly didn't deliver Himself from Mary's womb.

He didn't start feeding Himself.

He didn't clothe Himself in swaddling clothes.

He didn't start changing His own diapers.

This little baby was completely dependent on His mother.

Now, if you were in that stable and you witnessed this delivery and you were looking at this baby lying in the manger,

would you have any sense of who this baby truly was?

His true nature?

His true identity?

Why did the Magi come and worship Him?

What child is this?

If you would open up your Bibles to Philippians 2, we're going to look at a classic passage in the Apostle Paul.

We're going to kind of jump in kind of midstream of Paulian thought.

And if you would turn to Philippians 2, verses 5 through 11.

Philippians 2:5–11

I'm going to read this to you.

And then I just want to kind of bathe your mind in the truth of this passage on this Christmas Day.

So you'd be amazed of who this baby is.

What child is this?

Listen.

Verse 5.

Have this mind among yourselves.

Paul's writing to Christians in the town of Philippi.

And he's saying to them,

Have this humble mind among yourselves.

The humility that Jesus demonstrated.

And so he says,

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

who, speaking of Christ Jesus,

though he was in the form of God,

did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

but made himself nothing,

taking the form of a servant,

being born in the likeness of men.

Merry Christmas.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

Therefore, God has highly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

so 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.

Father, what child is this?

This baby lying in the manger,

kids the one that you're drawing right now,

hopefully not sleeping.

This is the second person of the Trinity

who humbled himself for you.

And so this morning,

I just want to point out three truths from this passage,

and I'll be moving at a quick clip.

First truth is,

this baby, he is God.

Second truth, he humbled himself.

And third truth,

he was exalted.

So first truth of this little baby in the manger,

he is God.

He was alive before he was born.

When you read verse 6,

we read,

who though he was in the form of God.

Now when you hear that word form,

I'm not sure what goes through your mind.

What goes through my mind is,

I'm lying in my bed in my house.

It's dark.

Some of our kids have come home.

They light up the hall,

and they're standing in my bedroom doorway,

and I can't see them,

but I see their form.

I know who they are.

I see their shape.

I know who it is.

Now if you look around the room,

we are a people of a variety of shapes and forms,

aren't we?

But when Paul talks about

who is in the form of God,

he's not just talking about

the form,

the shape of God.

That word in the original language

actually means to take on

its full and true essence.

So what Paul is saying there is,

Jesus, who was very God,

that phrase,

the form of God,

has a lot of similarities

to Colossians 1.15

where Jesus is described

as the image of God,

the icon of God.

Or in Hebrews 1.3

where Jesus is said to be

the exact imprint of God's nature.

Or of course in John 1

where Jesus is described

as the Word of God.

The Word was with God.

The Word was God.

And we learn in John 1.18

that it's this Word of God,

Jesus,

who makes known the unseen God.

So it would be possible for you to read

who though he was in the form of God

and think that Jesus isn't quite fully God.

But that's not what Paul's saying.

He's saying that Christ,

the second person of the Trinity,

has always been the true display

of the full essence of God

for eternity.

He is equal in essence

to God the Father

and God the Son.

He is fully God,

eternally existent with God

in a relationship

that experienced love forever.

The Trinity.

The Word was with God

and the Word was God.

Understanding that phrase that way,

it really helps you understand the next phrase.

And so when you read

who did not count equality with God

a thing to be grasped,

you're kind of like,

huh?

If you look back at Philippians 2,

1-5,

Paul is calling the Philippian Christians

to live with each other in humility.

Look at verse 3.

He says,

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit,

but in humility count others

more significant than yourselves.

But in humility count others

more significant than yourselves.

And verse 4,

Let each of you look not only

to his own interests,

but also to the interests of others.

This was all about living their lives

in a manner worthy of the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

And so for them to live in unity together,

they need to be humble with one another.

In order to be humble with one another,

the Apostle Paul says,

Look at Jesus,

who is fully God

and did not consider using His divinity

to advance His personal purposes.

That's what Paul's saying here.

He did not consider equality.

He did not consider using His equality

with God for His own advantage.

That's what the Apostle Paul's saying.

Jesus, before He became a man,

exercised humility.

In His pre-incarnate state,

the second person of the Trinity

did not consider using His divinity

for His own personal advantage,

and so He became a man.

Pretty cool, huh?

So what child is this?

He's the second person of the Trinity.

He was fully God in essence

who existed before He took on human likeness.

That's who this little child is.

He's God.

Second point,

He humbled Himself.

In verses 7 and 8,

we read about Jesus

making Himself nothing.

Emptying Himself.

That phrase,

making Himself nothing,

you might be reading a version

that says He emptied Himself.

And when you think about

making Himself nothing

or emptying Himself,

you start thinking in terms of subtraction,

don't you?

You start thinking in terms of

taking something away.

And so some Bible-believing Christians,

when they read this verse,

they'll say that

when the second person of the Trinity

took on human flesh,

Jesus emptied Himself

in such a way that

He emptied Himself

of some of His divine attributes,

at least for a little bit.

but there's no reason

to draw that conclusion

from this passage.

When the second person of the Trinity

took on human flesh,

He did not in any way

cease to be fully God

in all that He is.

If He subtracted something,

it would have been this,

the glory that was His

before He took on human flesh,

and we read that in John 17, 5.

But nothing about His essence,

who He is,

any of His attributes.

So when we read

He made Himself nothing

or He emptied Himself,

you might start thinking

about subtraction,

but you shouldn't think subtraction.

You need to think

in terms of addition.

Jesus emptied Himself.

He poured Himself out.

He made Himself nothing

by taking on some things.

And the next three phrases

in v. 7 and 8 show that.

And so we read,

but made Himself nothing

by taking the form of a servant.

Do you read that?

That word form is the same word

used in v. 6.

And so the One who is

fully and truly God

became a servant.

A slave.

Fully and truly.

In all essence.

A slave.

And if you're familiar with anything

with the first century world,

a slave was the lowliest

of all human beings

on the status ladder

of the time.

No rights.

So this emptying

is actually a humbling,

a humble pouring out

of the second person

of the Trinity for others.

So the shock of Christmas

is that the One

who is fully and truly God

became fully and truly a slave.

Mark 10.45,

I came not to be served,

but to serve

and to give my life

as a ransom for many.

So He emptied Himself

by taking on the form

of a servant.

And then we read,

He emptied Himself

by being born

in the likeness of men,

of human beings.

He poured Himself out.

He emptied Himself.

He made Himself nothing

by adding to Himself

the fullness

of human experience.

experience.

He experienced everything

that we have experienced.

And He did so without sin.

He knows firsthand

what it means

to lose somebody you love.

He knows firsthand

what grief is.

He knows it.

He's our sympathetic High Priest.

Christ.

And He's interceding

for us now.

What Paul is saying here

is that the birth of Jesus,

being born in the likeness of man,

was part of His humiliation.

It was an act of humility.

It was Him emptying Himself,

pouring Himself out for others.

But His humble emptying

didn't stop at His birth.

It continued.

And so we read the third phrase

and we find that in verse 8.

In being found in human form,

He humbled Himself

by becoming obedient

to the point of death.

How did Jesus humble Himself?

By becoming obedient

to the point of death.

His humility was obedience

to the will of His Father.

The will of His Father

was to send His Son

to die for others.

For us.

So just as His incarnation

was an act of obedience,

so was His going to His death.

And we read

what kind of death He died.

Even death on a cross.

So this baby born to us

was born to die for us

on a Roman cross.

Have you heard of the word excruciate?

It's an English word

that means some of the most

deepest pain physically

we experience.

Excruciate literally means

out of the cross.

crucifixion was designed

to inflict as much

physical and psychological pain

as possible.

It was one of the most

demeaning ways to die.

It was brutal.

It was brutal.

Physically, it was awful.

Psychologically,

you are publicly

dying slowly naked.

It was humiliating.

He did it

for us.

He emptied Himself

by becoming a slave.

He emptied Himself

by taking on human likeness.

He emptied Himself

by dying on a cross

for a purpose.

And that was our salvation.

He came as a suffering servant

in the flesh

for our sake.

You can't disconnect

the incarnation

from the crucifixion.

He humbled Himself

for us.

It's in the name.

Jesus,

the Lord saves.

Emmanuel,

God with us

in humility.

The wonder of Christmas

is not the display

of the majesty of God.

but the display

of the humility of God.

That God would do this?

It's amazing.

So this little baby,

He's God.

He humbled Himself.

And He was exalted.

In verses 9-11,

we read how God the Father

responded to God the Son.

Therefore, God has highly exalted

Him and bestowed on Him

the name that is above

every name.

Notice the humility

that the Son displays

even reaches to the way

He's exalted.

He doesn't exalt Himself.

Rather, God the Father

is the one who exalts

God the Son in verse 9.

And God just didn't exalt Him.

He highly exalted Him.

This is classically

one of the Apostle Paul's

kind of made-up words he does.

It literally means

hyper-exalted.

And most likely,

Paul made it up

to try to get this sense

of the degree by which

God the Father exalted the Son.

So as a response

to the humble,

sacrificial obedience

to the Son

who went to the lowest

possible descent,

a slave,

God the Father

raised Him up

to the highest

possible degree.

Highly exalted.

And then God the Father

bestowed on Him

the name that is above

every name.

Again, it's an expression

that gets to

degree of exaltation.

And so we're left asking,

so what's the name?

What's the name above

every name?

Well, we've got two choices.

We've got to decide

between Jesus,

that name,

and another name,

Lord.

And so in verse 10,

we read,

so that at the name

of Jesus,

every knee should bow

in heaven and on earth

and under the earth.

So that since in heaven,

the angels,

and on earth,

everyone living,

and under the earth,

all the dead

will be raised up

and they will bow the knee

one day to Jesus.

So it's Jesus

and you can make

a case for that.

But the other option

is Lord.

And every tongue

confess that Jesus Christ

is Lord

to the glory

of God the Father.

Now there is a little,

there's a little something

that makes the case.

Would you turn back

in your Bibles

to Isaiah chapter 45?

Isaiah 45 · chapter mention

Isaiah chapter 45.

Isaiah 45 · chapter mention

Verses 10 and 11

are actually

the Apostle Paul

quoting

Isaiah 45, 23.

But he's quoting it

in a very interesting way.

But in order

to understand that,

you need to understand

who's speaking

in Isaiah 45, 23.

And in Isaiah 45, 23,

we read this.

Let's start

in verse 22.

Turn to me

and be saved

to all the ends

of the earth.

For I am God

and there is no other.

Who's speaking?

God.

Yahweh.

The Lord.

By myself

I have sworn

from my mouth

has gone out

in righteousness

a word

that shall not return.

To me,

every knee

shall bow.

Every tongue

shall swear

allegiance.

allegiance.

When you start

realizing

that Paul

is quoting

Isaiah 45, 23

and he's quoting

God speaking,

you start realizing

he is attributing

Isaiah 45, 23

to Jesus.

He's saying

Jesus

is God.

He is the one

whom every tongue

will confess

and every knee

will bow.

So the name

that is above

every name

it's not

Jesus.

It's

Lord.

And the way

that Paul

is using

Lord

is the name

of God.

Yahweh

from the Old

Testament.

So the name

that is above

every name

is the name

Lord

as in God.

Jesus Christ

is the Lord God.

every knee

shall bow

and every tongue

confess.

So on that

day when the

child who was

born in utter

humility

and who died

in utter

humiliation,

on that day

when he returns,

his exaltation

will be complete.

Every knee

bows

and every tongue

confesses

that he

is the Lord

God

and God

exalted him.

All glory

to God

the Father.

What child

is this?

He's the

preexistent

Christ

fully

and truly

God

who humbled

himself

by becoming

a servant

taking on

human likeness

died on a

cross

was then

exalted

think

resurrection

ascension

current reign

he was

exalted

by God

the Father

and bestowed

the name

above every

name

the name

Lord

God

of all

he is

our Lord

what child

is this?

He's Jesus

he's the

Lord of all

he's Emmanuel

God

with us

how do we

respond?

We bow our

knee to him

we confess

Jesus

as our

Lord

God

we worship

him

and we

demonstrate

the same

kind of

humility

to one

another

as he

showed

in him

becoming

flesh

so the

magi

in Matthew

2.11

had some

sense of

who this

child is

we read

in going

into the

house

they saw

the child

with Mary

his mother

and they

fell down

and worshipped

him

then opening

their treasures

they offered

him gifts

gold

and frankincense

and myrrh

so despite

this child's

humble appearance

and humble

origin

and humble

surroundings

and one

day humiliating

death

the magi

knew that

this child

was the

Christ

who is

the Lord

he humbled

himself

for the

salvation

of others

that's what

you go tell

on the mountain

that Jesus

Christ

is

Lord

let's pray

God we do

thank you so

much for

Philippians 2

we thank you

for this

day

God help us

to celebrate

the incarnation

of the second

person of the

trinity

Merry Christmas

it's your plan

for the salvation

of sinners

Lord Jesus

we confess you

as our Lord

now

and know one

day

that every knee

shall bow

and every tongue

confess

who you truly

are

God in the flesh

it's in your name

we pray

amen

amen

no

you

you

you

you

you

you

you

you

you

you

you

you