Exalted Matters

Mary, my wife, has had a couple of chance encounters with celebrities. At a music camp in a remote location, I found her sitting at a table with one of the male stars of the television series, "Lost." On one of our jaunts to a Nashville music store, she complimented a young man on his choice of guitars--without realizing it was Brad Paisley. My wife: celebrity magnet.

The rarity of these coincidences aside, what we noticed most were the gentle, humble personalities of these men. The Lost star was in several music classes with me and, actually seemed a bit insecure, frequently whispering in my ear, "Do I sound okay?" Mr. Paisley, incognito in standard ball cap, blue jeans and tee shirt, could have been any guy on the block. He accepted Mary's compliment with grace and wished us a nice day. I know men in my own community whose life stance is, "Do you know who I am?" But these celebrities did not need to flaunt their fame or superiority. They walked among us as fellow humans, laying aside any celebrity status.

The second chapter of Philippians contains one of the most beautiful chapters in the New Testament, which speaks of an even more dramatic example of this principle. The apostle Paul is encouraging the believers in Philippi to adopt the same attitude. Not only does it speak to how we should do life, it speaks volumes about Christ:

Philippians 2:5-11

New International Version (NIV)

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!

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.

He is, in his very nature--God! In terms of rank, he is equal with God. And because of his willingness to empty himself, to become one of us, submitting to God the Father all the way to the cross, God has given him a place of exaltation--a name above all names and a promise that every knee will bow and acknowledge him as Lord.

Jesus Christ is not just a man who practiced holiness and became like God. He was God before he came to earth. He is not merely another great philosopher, though his teaching changed the world. He is not just another prophet, foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the age, he is the fulfillment of all prophecies. He is not our buddy, our therapist or, our imaginary friend. He is God and exalted King.

The love of God is seen in this--while living in perfect bliss in heavenly realms, Father, Son and Spirit colluded in a conspiracy to restore fellowship with a fallen world and its broken inhabitants. God loves the world this much: He gave his only Son so that whoever believes in him will never perish, having eternal life. Your decision about whether you believe this or not is yours, he gives you that freedom. But your decision about who he is does not change who he is, any more than our initial belief that Brad Paisley was just another guy cancelled out his true identity.

One thing about that decision? What you choose to believe about Jesus has eternal consequences for you. Choose wisely.

Christ's Very Nature

I can remember lazy summer afternoons lying on a blanket in the grass, gazing at clouds. Faces, animal shapes, castles and feathers emerged, morphed and vanished. In the 70's there was a popular song about the illusions of clouds. The theme of the song was the illusions of love and life. Things are rarely what they seem, from clouds to life to love. We only think we know them, but in fact we are acquainted with how they seem. The problem is, the illusions are ever-changing and we may not grow to understand them at all from personal experience, unless we look deeper into their nature.

Having just challenged the Philippians to cultivate the same attitude as Christ Jesus (literally, to be like-minded with him), Paul goes on to remind them of his nature:

Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped... (Philippians 2:6)

Like the clouds over the Sea of Galilee, Jesus appeared to be many things to those who saw him. But to those who truly came to know him, he was something else entirely "in his very nature." This is where the biblical version of Jesus differs from the perspectives of many in the world today. The Bible never describes Jesus as (merely) a good man, as a great moral teacher (only), or as a pallid monk. Bold in his words and actions, Jesus asserted about himself that he exists eternally, that he is the only way to the Father, that he and the Father are one and the same. New Testament writers say that he existed before creation as one and the same as God, that all things were created by him, that all things continue to be held together by him, and that he is coming back to judge the world. See  John 1:1-4; 14 and Colossians 2:9.. An ordinary man who made such claims would be a liar, a lunatic, or a devil from hell "(C.S Lewis).

Such a One, eternally existing, all knowing, all powerful, looked upon the world and the human race. He saw both as broken, lost and, unless he intervened, without hope. As Paul wrote elsewhere, this is how we know the love of God, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. His position on the throne as God (and as a mystery of the triune God, next to God the Father) was less important to him than redeeming everything, including you and me.

This realization carries powerful implications for us, in light of the command to have the same attitude. We like our rights and we love our positions. We want to hold onto what we have. If another gets credit for what we have done, we are offended. We see certain jobs or people as being beneath us. It might even be called the American Dream, to compete and win, to come out on top, and to get what is due us. Paul would say, "Wake up!" Jesus, who was really God, did not hold onto what was rightly his. He did whatever was needed to submit to God and to redeem people.

What if we really were like-minded with Jesus? How would this change the way we walk through our days? In what areas/relationships would we be willing to loosen our grip  for the sake of the gospel? Let's ask the Holy Spirit to show us and to empower us to act, as Jesus did, for the good pleasure of the Father.