Philippians 2:5–11 — The Humility and the Glory of Christ

This sermon is from Philippians 2, verses 5-11, and is entitled, The Humility and the Glory

Philippians 2:5–11

of Christ. It was delivered to Ekklesia churches on Sunday, February 22, 2026.

You know, I've said it before and will probably say it again many times, that context is really

important, especially for letters like the one we've been studying. If we aren't able to see

each part for the part that it plays in the overall message, it's easy to misunderstand

some of these passages. And I've tried to point out over the last few passages this movement Paul

is making between two things that are equally true. In one passage, Paul will point out how God

is working and what Christ has done for us. And in the next passage, Paul will remind the church of

our role in responding to that. It's kind of a back and forth, like look at Jesus, look at what

God has done, and then in light of that, examine yourselves and look to the needs of others. If this

is true, then live like it is. We want to see like the redeemed, but also live like the redeemed.

And Paul knows that being a disciple of Jesus is equal parts, looking to him for our everything

that we need and submitting to him all that we are. And so today, our passage centers very squarely on

seeing the character of Christ. It is an exaltation of Jesus, who he is, how he lived and died and

rose again. And in centering our sight on Jesus, we also have to consider his humility and what

that means for us. As people who stand in awe of him and worship him, but also as people who are

being transformed day by day as we submit to the work of the Spirit to look more like him.

So let's read this passage together, and then let's spend the next 20 minutes or so

considering Jesus in his humility and his glory. This is Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 11.

Philippians 2:5–11

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of

God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form

of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, 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.

Paul's introductory statement in verse 5 is an invitation to the church to change their perspective.

The phrase that's translated, have this mind, carries the meaning of intentionally adopting

or applying an attitude to have a new frame of mind or a new view of reality

and your circumstances in light of something.

And sometimes after we receive some really good news, for example, or we find out something,

this happens naturally.

The test for a serious illness comes back negative, and you feel like you have a new

lease on life.

Your house finally sells, and you find some relief and some financial freedom from the

stress that you were carrying.

Something in your circumstance has changed, and you naturally just feel different or feel

better.

But what Paul is encouraging us to hear isn't a natural change.

It's a spiritually driven change that comes from recognizing what is really far better

news.

So what is the news?

What is this mindset that we are being encouraged to take and view life through?

It's the mindset that is ours in Christ Jesus.

And that would be the knowledge of what Jesus did on our behalf.

There's a temptation, I think, with passages like this to immediately try to turn from Jesus

to ourselves. And if we do that, we fail to really see Jesus as the Savior, and we turn him into some

kind of moral example. And yes, he is our moral example. And yes, there is a response that we are

called to, and we'll see in the next passage that kind of play out. But before we simplify this into

a WWJD or a What Would Jesus Do passage, we want to recognize that Paul's aim right from the

beginning in these verses is that we should behold the Savior and worship him. Because what is ours

in Christ isn't just a better way to live. It's the gift of eternal life paid for through the

humility and death of Jesus. Even in this first verse, there is some force behind Paul's words.

He's not saying, hey, cheer up, church, and he's not telling them to put on a happy face and grin

through it because Jesus, he's saying, as Christians, your outlook on all of life is

completely different because of the reality that you now see. Your priorities are completely

different. What and who and how you love is different. You need a spiritual mindset

transplant, and it starts with looking at this. As someone saved and adopted by the King of Kings,

I want you to adopt the view of reality that is already yours. And the truth is, yes,

you do need to change your actions and the way that you live. There's plenty of room for talking

about the impact of this on your life. But the mistake that I'm cautioning you against that I

think we make far too often in Christianity is to start with changing our actions or addressing

actions. And Paul is showing us in this letter that changed actions come from changed thinking.

And the only way to renew your mind and heart is to behold and receive the work of Jesus.

So let's make our way through these verses that put Jesus on display.

I'm going to read verses 6 and 8 again for you here.

It reads like a story of dissent from being in the form of God all the way down to the

most humiliating death imaginable on a wooden cross.

It says,

Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to

be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness

of men and being found in human form.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

So let's take a moment to look at each of these steps in between, because it helps us

to see Jesus as he really is, and that's something that we really, really need.

First, when Paul says Jesus was in the form of God, that is the same as saying he is equal

with God.

So Paul is saying he is not a creation of God.

He is not in some way a sub-character or a demigod like Hercules, for example.

We know from John that Jesus was present at the creation of the universe and was actually

part of its creation.

Things were made through Jesus, and he did not need to grasp equality with God because it was already his.

Jesus had nothing to gain for himself because all the glory was already his, and yet he chose to empty himself.

And it's important that we understand what Paul means here by Jesus emptying himself.

He is not saying that Jesus was God and then became less God or less of himself, but rather

what he's saying is he held nothing back when he took on human form as a man.

Jesus did not give up his divinity to become human.

He was still fully God when he became fully man.

And we might look to an example like parenthood for an example of what Paul is trying to express

through this phrase of emptying himself.

Parents, in a way, pour everything that they have into their children.

You pour your time and your energy and your treasure.

And certainly there are some in the world who might look at someone doing that and say,

you'd be crazy to raise a child.

Look at what you're giving up.

Look at what it costs you.

Look at how limited your life is because you're a parent.

But for the mother or father, though they recognize those limitations, you see this very differently, or at least you should.

Because you don't become less of a man or a woman by pouring your life into being a father or mother.

In some ways, you actually become more.

In a similar way, Jesus did willingly give up every comfort and willingly accepted the limitations

of being human. And the devil actually tried to tempt him with this very idea in the desert,

saying things like, you don't actually have to be hungry. You can make food for yourself out of

these rocks. You don't have to hide your glory. You can show it off. Go ahead, jump off from this

high place, and the angels will catch you right there in front of everybody. You don't have to

be obedient to the plan of God, Satan tried to tempt him. You can take the shortcut. And Jesus knew

that accepting these limitations was part of the plan for God's glory and our salvation.

And he did perfectly, humbled himself all the way to death. And not just any death, but a public

shameful, unjust death on a Roman cross. So Jesus did empty himself by holding nothing back,

but it was with a willing humility that ultimately put the love of God on display.

And as you look at that, look at how it contrasts with the sinful choices of humanity,

of people like you and me at every single point.

You know, we talk a lot about how Jesus lived the life that we never could.

And these verses make that really clear.

So while Adam and Eve grasped at the opportunity to be like God and only ended up taking the

death that comes with disobedience, Jesus, who already was fully God and is fully God

in humility took on the limits of being human. Sin caused someone like Cain and many others

since him to think only of their own glory and their own pride, even to the point of shedding

the blood of another. But Jesus, who is rightly to be glorified above all things, humbled himself

to the point of death and paid our price with the shedding of his blood.

Sin causes us to pursue desires that only bring us death, and Jesus descended all the way to death

in order to give us life. Do you see how looking at the humility of Christ

is the beginning of a new worldview entirely. How by considering the limitations that Jesus

willingly accepted, it puts our own selfish demands in perspective. Yet how many of the

things that we struggle with start to look less appealing after looking at Jesus?

That addiction that keeps taunting you with, you deserve this, suddenly starts to look like the

that it is. Your prideful demand to be honored and revered suddenly starts to seem selfish

when you consider your king who became a servant on your behalf.

Jesus came and died to give us freedom from the chains to those desires, to the chains of slavery

to our sin. He gave us freedom to bowing the knee to each one of those desires with no thought to

the glory of God or the good of others. We are free from a life that looks like that now. And so the

truth is that you really cannot come face to face with the humble life and death of Jesus and then

continue to live as though you didn't. Seeing that changes us, but so does seeing his glory.

So a pro-Bible reading tip is when you see the word therefore, ask yourself, what is that

therefore? What is it pointing back toward? And so in these final verses, Paul is saying,

in light of Christ's humility, let us now consider his glory. Verse 9 says,

therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

So from the depths of the grave now raised to the heights of heaven, Jesus is the name above

all other names. Not in some mystical way that the name Jesus or Yeshua becomes some special word

with special power. That's not it. Rather, that this same Jesus who we're talking about,

who humbled himself in every way, is now seen in the glory of who he has always been and will

forever be. Only now, we also see the depth of his love that could only be expressed through this

example of his humility. The Father's plan that was accomplished through the obedience of the Son

now makes this gift of salvation available to all who would receive it. Those who are willing to

come to Jesus for the costly to him but free to us gift of salvation are redeemed from our sin.

We have a new outlook on our life, which is now lived not for our own glory,

but for the glory of our Redeemer. And we also have the joy of the Spirit at work within us,

transforming us into the image of Jesus, transforming us into the very image of his humility.

as we look forward to the day when Paul says in verse 10,

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.

As we look to that certain future, we should really be aware of two things. First,

that this coming day is certain, and that this recognition of the identity and the glory of Jesus

will on that day be universal. Every place in scripture that talks about this coming day of

judgment and justice and glory speaks about it in terms of absolute certainty.

God's purpose will be accomplished. And on the day that is coming, there will be no more dispute

over whether Jesus is Lord. However, we should also be aware that there will be two groups of people

whose experience of that day will be very different. Because there will be those who bow

with great joy at the coming of the Lord who they know and love and have waited for.

But there will also be those who will bow in horrible realization that Jesus is indeed Lord

of all, but who have never willingly submitted their lives to him and have no part in the

salvation that he offered. And so on that day, there will be nothing left for me or anyone else

to say. But in this moment, I would beg you to trust your today and your eternity to the one who

loves you and offers you life through his death and resurrection. And so I'll close with this today,

That people who have been redeemed by Jesus, by definition, are constantly considering

both the humility and the glory of Jesus.

And as we behold him and consider him, we simply cannot remain unchanged.

We can't live our lives the way we did before.

We can't value the things that we use to value because our perspective on life has changed.

We can't live with the same pride that leaves our desires at the center of our universe

because we have seen the humility of Christ in his serving of us.

We can't live for our own glory anymore because we are so consumed with the glory of Christ.

And if you are looking at your life and at your routines and your values and your priorities,

the things that you're spending your time on, the things you're centering the life of yourself and

your family around, and if those things don't reflect the life of a person who is completely

centered on the glory of God, there are plenty of practical changes that you can make. But I would

invite you first to spend some time looking at Jesus. Sit with these few verses for a while

today. Start reading through one of the Gospels. Intentionally look at Jesus in his humility

and his glory, and start taking that new mindset that is yours in Christ Jesus.

Ekklesia is a church of house churches gathering weekly in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and in homes throughout the week.

We are a Bible-centered church focused on preaching from Scripture and making disciples of Jesus.

You can learn more about our statement of faith and contact a pastor by visiting ekklesiachurches.org.