Sunday September 20
Jesus Self-sacrificing Love
The apostle Paul encourages us to “let” or “allow” or “permit” the mind of Christ to dwell in us. This leads us to some fascinating questions. What was the mind of Christ like? What governed His thought patterns? What was the essence of His thinking?
Read Philippians 2:5-11. How do these verses reveal the heart of Christ’s thinking and the pattern that governed His entire life?
From all eternity Jesus was equal with God. Paul declares this eternal truth in these words, “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God” (Phil. 2:6, NKJV). The word translated as “form” is the Greek word morphē. It means the very essence of a thing. It links two things that are of equal value. The SDA Bible Commentary puts it this way: “This places Christ on an equality with the Father, and sets Him far above every other power. Paul stresses this in order to portray more vividly the depths of Christ’s voluntary humiliation.” —Volume 7, p. 154. Speaking of His eternal nature, Ellen G. White adds, “In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 530.
Jesus, who was equal with God from all eternity, “made Himself of no reputation” (Phil. 2:7, NKJV). This also is a fascinating Greek expression. It literally can be translated “emptied.” Jesus voluntarily “emptied Himself ” of His privileges and prerogatives as God’s equal to take on the form of a man and become a humble servant of humanity. As a servant, He revealed heaven’s law of love to the entire universe and, eventually, performed the ultimate act of love on the cross. He gave His life to save ours, eternally.
The essence of Jesus’ thinking was self-sacrificial love. To follow Jesus means that we love as He loved, serve as He served, and minister as He ministered. Allowing Jesus through His Holy Spirit to empty us of selfish ambition will cost us something. It cost Jesus everything. But Scripture says of Jesus, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:9, NKJV).
Heaven will be worth any sacrifice we make on earth. There will be sacrifices along the way, but the joys of service will outweigh them today, and the eternal joy of living with Christ throughout all eternity will make any sacrifice we make here seem insignificant.
When was the last time you truly had to die to self for Christ’s sake? What does your answer say to you about your Christian walk?
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