Sunday: 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?
Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com
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” ( Philippians 2.6-7). 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” (Philippians 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? |
(30)
Given that Jesus self-sacrificing love does not make a lot of sense to the modern secular mind, how can they experience the sense of what Christianity is really on about?
I have friends whose only use of the words, "Jesus" and "God" is as an exclamation, or worse. Their idea of a Christian is a Bible-bashing do-gooder who casts aspersions on their fun. How do we share the Gospel with them?
You go to work parties, not-drinking, and you stay till the bitter end so that when they are vomiting and staggering, you can take them home safely and see that they get to bed.
When your neighbour's wife walks out on him, taking the kids and the furniture. You invite him in, and feed him, provide him with a bed and support until he sorts the mess out.
When your atheist friend finds out that she has incurable cancer, you listen to her and avoid the "I told you so - here is how you should have lived!" conversation.
You drive kilometres to ensure that someone in hospital is not forgotten. You mow the lawn of the little old lady who does not want to move out of her home. You pay a few hundred dollars into the school fee account of a non-Adventist struggling to meet the fee deadline. And so on.
And you pray very hard that in all that you do, the Holy Spirit will work through you to share the Gospel.
In radio technology, the information (sound waves) is superimposed onto a radio frequency carrier wave. Sound waves by themselves cannot be transmitted through space but radio waves can. So in order to send sound through space, we impose the sound waves onto the radio carrier waves and extract the sound at the receiver.
Likewise in the modern world, the Gospel cannot be transmitted through the vacuum of modern thinking and it needs to be carried on the lives of committed loving Christians. The Holy Spirit can work on the extraction process at the receiver end.
Our walk through life may be considered to be like eating the proverbial elephant – one bite at a time. Each bite may likened to a step in our journey through life. Our steps may actually be thoughts and feelings that occur as we go through life. These thoughts and feelings make up our character (who we are). If our thoughts and feelings are motivated by the same Spirit that Jesus’ thoughts and feelings are always motivated by then our mind and character will be like Jesus’ mind and character. When all our thoughts and feelings are continually motivated by God’s love then our character will be like Jesus.
This is possible only when we give permission for God’s Spirit (Love) to rule our thoughts or to drive the life.
Every time we give up our selfish motivation of our thoughts and feelings in any situation, we are doing in a small way what Jesus did when He made the decision to come and save us.
As our character grows and develops more, we develop more powerful ways of impacting the world around us with God’s Love because our character is more developed like His instead of our selfish one.
As Enoch and Elijah have both shown us, it is possible to develop a walk with God that is sealed and continuous in this lifetime on Earth. We can start inviting Jesus’ Spirit into our hearts now.
Let’s never stop this invitation! The 144,000 will be sealed before Jesus comes.
One of the first steps in faith for me, because of my temperament type, is the transformation of my mind, how I think. So you will often hear me using the words learning and understanding. Accordingly the following texts have special meaning for me. The good news is that when I surrender my mind to the LORD He creates in me new thought patterns when I fill my mind with His thoughts from the Word of the LORD (like the picture). Although thoughts might be the first step for me it doesn't stop there, as Jesus said His desire is for me to love Him completely, so He will also transform my heart, soul and body.
The study guide states "From all eternity Jesus was equal with God" Jesus in His prayer in John 17:5 said
Equality in glory with God is what Jesus risked and gave up to become a human, so although he was fully human and fully divine, while on earth He surrendered His life and will to God. After His resurrection He was restored to His rightful place sharing the throne of God. Heb 1:3
What do I give up? I choose to surrender my will to the LORD and He works in me to change me so that I want to be perfect like Jesus.
This is a quote I find very helpful to understand this topic.
Through it all we must understand that the victory is won by much earnest prayer. It is by the earnest prayer that God has accomplished the work of bringing my thoughts, desires, plans, into His will, because I have voluntarily submitted them to Him. My earnest prayer is: Bless me oh my saviour bless me as I sit low at thy feet. Oh look down in love upon me as I see thy face so sweet. Give me Lord the mind of Jesus, make me holy as He is. May I prove I've been with Jesus who is all my righteousness.
Then faith. Faith that He will and can accomplish this work for, not because I am indolent but because only He can do this work in me. What is His will? To do justly, and love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. Micah 6:8.
Today's lesson states "Heaven will be worth any sacrifice we make on earth."
This statement is true if it is understood one way - and it can also reflect a problem if it is understood another way.
If we are sacrificing in order to get a reward for doing so, we are at risk of retaining our self-seeking heart motivation.
Am I sacrificing merely because I want the reward - or am I sacrificing because I am genuinely convicted that doing so is the only way (abundant) life is possible?
Genuine self-sacrificing is not contingent upon any reward I may obtain. Genuine self-sacrificing is instead motivated by a commitment to doing what is right (ie righteous) simply because it is the right thing to do. The former is a self-oriented motivation, the latter is a non-self-oriented motivation.
So true.
The way the statement is worded invites thinking of giving up something in order to gain something better. God meets us where we are, and giving up something temporal to gain eternal life does require faith. And it is by faith we appropriate the promise of eternal life and the grace to life a Christ-like life here and now.
Viewed another way, self-sacrificing love describes the way Christ lived. And it is the way the Christian lives by grace in the here and now. We enter the Kingdom *now* as we accept the grace of God into our lives - as we allow 'the mind of Christ' to be within us. I think Maurice described some examples of the visible results in the Christian life quite well.
I too, find that troubling. The emphasis seems to be on giving up something, which is our work. But we can only live a life of self-sacrificing love if Christ's love is in us. We don't choose to sacrifice. We choose to accept Jesus love' and because of that we sacrifice. That doesn't mean it's always easy to live that life - we will struggle as long as we're on this Earth, but the key struggle is to give Jesus control, not to make various "sacrifices".
“Am I sacrificing merely because I want the reward - or am I sacrificing because I am genuinely convinced that doing so is the only way (abundant) life is possible?” Isn’t abundant life a reward too? Both options sound similar in that the sacrifice is made in order to gain some benefit to ones self. Please explain further
Hi Sharon
Yes, both options sound similar but there is a significant difference with respect to the nature and underpinning motivation - which I believe is why God looks at the heart rather than the outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7).
Abundant life appears to be the only ‘form’ of life that is viable. There is no other alternative. Therefore, abundant life is not so much a reward as it is a vital necessity. And the core of abundant life is other-centered beneficence which, by nature, necessitates self-renouncing and therefore precludes self-seeking.
Because abundant life is (a) the only viable option and (b) is by nature other-centred, the inherent underpinning motivation for living abundant life is simply a heart-commitment to living what is ‘right’ because it is the ‘right’ and only option. Again, abundant life is not a reward - it is the core necessity for viable life and is communal rather than individual in nature. Self-seeking it as a reward is therefore precluded.
I do not clearly understand Philippians 2:5-8 - "Let this MIND be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form (Spirit mind) of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8) and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
Who is Paul referring to in this passage? Who's mind was also in Christ Jesus? Who was in the form of God? Who took on the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men? Who humbled himself and became obedient unto death?
Isaiah 11:1-5, Isaiah 11:10; Jesus was from the root of Jesse, he was flesh. Jesse was the father of King David.
Rev. 22:16 - "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star."
Matt. 3:15-17 - "...and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon(not above) him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Was God referring to His Holy Spirit Son as the one in whom He was well pleased?
John3:31-36 - (34)"For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. (35) The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into is hand."
Matt.3:15 - "...Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness..." Jesus received the Holy Spirit of God; Jesus became the vessel of God's Holy Spirit - He became the Christ and son of God; the Holy Spirit's mind was now in Christ Jesus; the Spirit was in the 'form' of God; the Holy Spirit took the 'form' of a servant and was made in the likeness of men; the Holy Spirit humbled himself and, when the body of Jesus died on the cross He raised Him on the third day!
Jesus, born of a woman and given to the world by the Father was willing to submit 'Self' to the Spirit of the Father and, with this, He became Emanuel - God with us:
John14:6 - "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
John 8:12 - "I am the Light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of Life."
John6:25-33 - (27) "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you: FOR HIM HATH GOD THE FATHER SEALED." (with His Spirit)
John 3:16 - God made every effort to show us the Way, the Truth and the Light leading to Life. Is there still any 'reason' to hold back and not surrender all of 'self' and to be reborn in the Image of God?
Hi Brigitte
I find that "this mind" refers to 'what mindset' rather than 'whose mind'. That mindset is the mindset of Agape love that manifests in self-renouncing beneficence towards others. Ellen White has proposed that this mindset is the underpinning 'law'/principle of life on earth (at Creation) and in heaven - and that it has it's origin in the heart of God (Desire of Ages pgs 19-21). This is what is being reflected in Philippians 2:5-8.
Phil, my apology for the late response - I just discovered your reply. Thank you for clarifying 'this mind' for me. Our spiritual relationship with Heaven must be aligned with Heaven's principles which govern all affairs/relationships in the established universes.
Thank you for clarifying that: 'the underpinning 'law'/principle of life on earth (at Creation) and in heaven has its origin in the 'heart' of God - His Essence as it relates to life's creation process and its maintenance!
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen...... Heb 11:1-40
Jesus’ Self-Sacrificing Love
Jesus came to this earth as a human to fulfill his mission. The earth was already 4000 years old and other humans were living on this earth. Before he came it was foretold by his/our fore parents that he will come but no one knew the exact time. No one knew the exact time but they were given prophecies that at the fulness of time he will come. To keep that in mind and not to forgot, from Adam and Eve era they were told to literally do something. That something was to take a specific animal of a specific age of a specific color (no spots/strips) and offer it as a sacrifice to represent the coming of the messiah that will someday come and redeem us back to himself. Not to forgot those words given to Adam and Eve, they took part in the exact sacrifice and shew it to their children the exact way it should be done.
Come with me to Heb 11:4. It says, Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous. Abel was righteous, Abel walked in the ways of Jesus and did what he asked of him. He, as a child and a young man listened to his parents told the story of their disobedience to Jesus and Abel wanted to please and obey so he choose to obey. As a result of his obedience he offered the correct sacrifice to Jesus, unlike his brother Cain. Abel was righteous, that propelled him to make the correct sacrifice.
When he was killed by his brother, God was the one who testified of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
It is our obedience to Jesus that comes first which allows the Holy Spirit to live in us, them our sacrifice follows. Many times people are told to sacrifice without surrendering their all to Jesus. It cant happened.
Sin looses its grip on us as we keep our gaze on Jesus.