“Why Did Jesus Come?” – Philippians 2:6-11

In reading Genesis 1-2, it is amazing the care God took in creating Adam and Eve. From the beginning, God took the time to create a world, step-by-step, that would provide and sustain human life. Not only did God provide food for the body, but He also provided food for the soul in the beauty of His creation.

When God determined it was time to make men and women, He intentionally stated that we were to be made in His image. That is, when God made Adam and Eve, He created beings that had the capability to fellowship with Him know Him.

But Adam and Eve threw that away. When the serpent tempted them with the forbidden fruit, he told them, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). Upon hearing this, Eve reached out to the fruit, saw that it was pleasing to the eye and that it was a source for gaining wisdom. She took this fruit, forbidden to her by God Himself, and ate it. She shared it with Adam, who also ate it. Adam was there the whole time, not saying a word, but watching and waiting.

In reaching for the fruit, then, Adam and Eve were grasping for equality with God. Their grasp exceeded their reach, and while they were now aware of good and evil, they were no longer alive in their spirit. Their relationship with God was terminally transformed from children of God to sinners in need of His mercy.

That idea is present in the message Paul wrote to the Philippians. This passage tells us most clearly why Jesus came to our world, why there is a Christmas from His point of view.

Background

A quick read of Paul’s letter to the Philippians reveals a great affection from the apostle toward the church there. Philippi was a Roman city, giving Roman citizenship to all born there. This comes into play as we shall see shortly.

There are some problems appearing in the church. The main problem there was the beginning of a schism, a breaking of the fellowship. Paul’s letter has the emphasis of serving one another and restoring fellowship between the believers. We see this in the verses leading up to today’s passage. The apostle writes of unity in Christ and His love and fellowship with the Spirit. He asks them to be of one spirit and purpose. Verses 3-4 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” He then tells them of Christ’s example in attitude. This leads to today’s passage.

In the passage, Paul stresses Jesus’ willingness to put us above Himself. In this attitude we find the reason why Jesus came to our world.

Central Truth: Jesus came to earth because He had the attitude of service.

Jesus’ attitude is seen in:

1. His surrender of glory (6-7a)

Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.

Graduating from college with a degree in political science, I was a big fan of the American Revolution. I held strongly to the words of the Declaration of Independence and esteemed Thomas Jefferson in particular.

Shortly after Kim and I married, we attended a Christian seminar. The leader said a lot of things that made sense, and I agreed wholeheartedly with most of what he said. One thing he said, though, that went against my thinking was that Christians have no rights. Such a statement flew in the face of this American independence embracing young man. I was strong in my conviction that he was wrong.

That was then. Over time I’ve come to realize how true his words were. Jesus is our example of someone who denied His rights and embraced servitude as His attitude. We see this in this passage.

Remember talking about Adam and Eve and their desire to become like God? While Adam grasped for this equality, in contrast, Jesus refused to hold on to the glory that was His from the beginning. Out of His attitude of service and love for the Father and for us, Jesus willingly surrendered His omniscience and omnipresence. He gave up all that was rightly His in order to serve.

We know that Jesus had the right to maintain His divine attributes because He was and is God. That’s what Paul means by being in very nature God, and it is a statement John makes in both the gospel version he wrote and in his first letter. We see the nature of Jesus in the Creation story, where God spoke our universe into being. Because Jesus is the Word, He is also credited by the New Testament as the Creator. This is a characteristic unique to God, and because Jesus is the Word, He is also God.

But that didn’t stop Jesus from giving up all that was rightfully His. He gave it all up in order to serve. That’s why Jesus came to our world.

2. His humble obedience (7b-8)

. . . being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

There are some things I can never relate to. Going back to our friends the fruit flies, I cannot wrap my head around a lifespan of only a week and one devoted to eating and breeding. It just seems so pointless. What is the purpose of a fruit fly? What do they think, what do they feel, what do they have any passion for?

The wonder of Jesus coming into our world is precisely so that He could understand what it is to be a human being. It was as if I could suddenly commit myself to live as a fruit fly. Jesus became a human being, still with His divine nature, but also experience humanity from birth to death. He grew from an infant to an adult, and He experienced what it is to be human. He knew temptation, joy, laughter, sorrow, frustration. He knew this because He became us.

In becoming one of us, Jesus also showed us what it means to live and walk in obedience to the Father. Everything about Jesus was focused on doing God’s will and expressing God’s love and compassion toward those who, quite frankly, are so undeserving of that love and compassion.

Paul points to Jesus’ act of obedience to get a reaction from the Roman citizens of Philippi. He writes that Jesus was obedient to death—even death on a cross! The significance of this statement must have hit the Philippians like a ton of bricks. The horror of the cross was so bad that no Roman citizen could ever be crucified. In fact, they didn’t even like talking or thinking about crucifixion. It was death so horrible that they put it out of their minds as much as possible.

In the Jewish world, being hung was an indication that the person who died in such a manner was reviled by God and man, and could never be a part of God’s eternal plan. Yet Jesus obediently went to the cross, to be suspended between heaven and earth, cursed of God and of man, in order that you and I could be saved.

A commentary I read noted that death is something everyone will experience. We have to die. It is part of our nature. Jesus didn’t have to die, though. He willingly lay down His life (cf. John 10:17-18). He willingly experienced that one thing we all experience, not with relish but with a sense of uncertainty at best, dread and fear at worst. Jesus lay down His life—He was obedient to death—even death on a cross! He lay down His life, only to pick it up again.

Jesus came to our world in order to know what it was like to be like us, yes, but, more importantly, to willingly die for our sins and give us eternal life.

3. His glory (9-11)

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus ever 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.

Going back to the idea of Adam and Eve and their desire to become like God. Relying on the promise of the serpent, they grasped the fruit from the tree and ate the forbidden fruit. Their desire to become like God only revealed that they failed, learning the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, and knowing what they did was wrong, that it was evil. In so doing, they lost everything—Paradise, life, perfection.

Jesus, on the other hand, willingly made Himself nothing in order to become a servant of God and the Son of Man. In doing so, Jesus brought glory to the Father and glory to Himself.

The idea that is present in v. 9 is that God willingly, happily and gratefully returned and restored Jesus to His rightful place. It wasn’t that Jesus earned the highest place and the name that is above every name. It was His from the beginning, and was restored to Him when He returned to the Father.

The result of Jesus’ restoration is that He once again has the character and title that is worthy of worship and of exaltation. Jesus is coming again soon, and when He does, every knee will bow and acknowledge Him. Every knee in heaven—the angels. Every knee on earth—all humanity. Every knee beneath the earth—the demons and Satan himself. The idea of the original language is that those who will bow down to Jesus are those who have an intelligence and consciousness.

More, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Think of those who reject Jesus, who deny His ministry and, in some instances, His existence. On the day Jesus returns, there will be so many who never understood and will finally confess, too late, that Jesus really is Lord.

And all this will bring glory to the Father. The entire purpose of God’s love and relationship with us is to bring glory and honor to Him, because He is worthy of our praise and our thanks. He alone is worthy of our devotion and commitment. And we realize this all because Jesus willingly became nothing and took on the task of becoming human in order to die on the cross for us. Jesus’ obedience and service brought glory and honor to Him and to the Father.

This is why Jesus came into our world.

Conclusion

As Americans, we have certain rights and liberties that we have every reason to cherish, protect and preserve. These rights are those for whom men and women fought, bled and, in too many instances, died for. These are rights and ideals that are a beacon to people around the world. While we are not now nor have we ever been a perfect society, our ideals and our aspirations continue to be an example for all who cherish freedom and liberty.

As followers of Jesus, though, we are to be committed to Him and His ways. Jesus is our example of the attitude of servitude. The ideals Paul wrote of in Philippians 2:1-4. We know how and why we can do this because Jesus sets the example. That’s why He came to our world, and it is why we celebrate His birth.

Let our commitment this season to become what God calls us to be—servants of Christ and children of God.