In Todd Bryant's sermon titled 'Jesus' Example of Love', he focuses on Philippians 2:1-11, a passage rich with theological implications about the nature and example of Jesus Christ. The sermon emphasizes the importance of theology, asserting that understanding Jesus' pre-existence, divinity, and humility is crucial for Christian orthodoxy. Jesus, who was in the form of God, chose to humble Himself, taking on human form and becoming a servant, ultimately dying on a cross. This act of love is presented as the ultimate example for Christians to follow. The sermon highlights the incarnation as an 'emptying' where Jesus did not set aside His deity but veiled His glory, living as God among men. Todd Bryant draws parallels with the Gospel of John, affirming Jesus as God in the flesh. The crucifixion, a public and shameful form of execution, underscores the depth of Jesus' sacrifice. Ultimately, Jesus' willingness to endure such humiliation and pain exemplifies the sacrificial love Christians are called to emulate. The sermon concludes by linking this theological understanding with practical Christian living, encouraging believers to love sacrificially, be of one mind, and esteem others above themselves, reflecting Jesus' love in their communities.

Take your Bible and open to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. This morning we'll be looking at verses 1 through 11. Let's just read through this and then we will make some comments. Philippians chapter 2 verse 1, if there be therefore any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." This passage really, perhaps unlike any other, adds a lot of theological depth to our understanding of the birth of our Lord, of the incarnation of the Son of God. Really only the prologue of John, John chapter 1 verses 1 through 18 can compete with this text. Now do not let the word theology cause you to drift off into some some days.

Theology is important. A few things drive me crazier than hearing somebody say, well, you know, our church just doesn't worry about theology, we just all about Jesus, you know. My response is usually, well, what do you believe about Jesus? I mean, what do you think about Jesus? Because listen, whatever the answer to that question is, is theology.

It's doctrine. So first thing I want to do this morning is look at the second half of the passage that we just read, which really lays out the incarnation of Jesus from an orthodox, Christian, theological point of view, and then we're going to go back around and look at the first part. So the name of my sermon is Jesus's Example of Love, And in this text, Paul uses Jesus's willingness to become a man as an example for us to follow, especially as it relates to other believers, and specifically here in this text, as it relates to fellow brothers in the local church in Philippi, and then by extension, in our own local churches. So verse five says, "'Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." Really we're gonna begin just with the last two words of verse 5, Christ Jesus, and then work our way through and then circle back around at the end. But I want you to be sure to know that Christ, Jesus, is the focus of this passage.

Hopefully, seeing what is said in the latter part will help me bring out the intent of the Apostle Paul more clearly. Now listen, this is as deep as theology gets here. So, put your thinking cap on and listen on purpose. The Apostle Paul here, and let me just remind you, this is inspired scripture. This is not Paul's opinion.

This is the word of God given by inspiration of God, 2 Timothy 3 says. And it's just put here for us through the pen of the Apostle Paul. So when I say Paul, I mean God said this through Paul. That's what I mean. That's important to know.

So the Apostle Paul declares that Jesus was in the form of God. Now of what time is he speaking about here? This actually will become very clear in this text, but it points all the way back to the time before Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem. This is critical to Christian orthodoxy. Jesus did not come into being when Mary gave birth to him.

He did not even come into being when he was conceived in the Virgin's womb. Jesus was pre-existent. That means he existed before Bethlehem. He existed before his birth. I'm sure if you're familiar with the prologue of John, again those first 18 verses in John's gospel, John speaks of this.

The Apostle John wrote his gospel to inform his readers specifically about the deity of Christ, that Jesus is literally God wrapped in human flesh. And the first words that flowed from John's Queel were, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, the same was in the beginning with God, all things were made by Him, that is by the Word, and without Him was not anything made that was made. Jesus is the word in that text. And so here in our text, Paul likewise declares that Jesus, before his birth, in eternity past, was in the form of God. He is not just some good teacher like some believe Gandhi to be or Buddha or Confucius.

No, no, no. Jesus is nothing like them. Jesus of Nazareth is God, co-equal to the Father, co-equal to the Holy Spirit. He is the eternal Son of God. If you are familiar with the Gospels, you know that the religious leaders hated Jesus because of this very thing.

In fact, the leaders are the ones that led the nation to murder our Lord. But in John 6, the Apostle John actually shares something that really ticked them off. And here's what Jesus said in John 6, 38, for I came down from heaven. That's the phrase they didn't like. I came down from heaven not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me.

John continues to explain, he writes this, then the Jews murmured at him because he said I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I come down from heaven? Listen, they full well understood the claim Jesus was making there. They knew what Jesus was saying, that he was declaring himself to be God.

And they believed it was blasphemy. And if you'd made that claim, if I'd have made that claim, it would have been. It would have been blasphemy. But he made the claim, and it was not blasphemy because he truly is God. Later on in John's Gospel, in his high priestly prayer, our Lord prayed, and now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

You get the point. I mean, I'm pressing this because I fear so many in Christendom today have not grasped it. Again, Jesus was pre-existent. He existed before Bethlehem, but he existed before Genesis 1. He existed before creation because he's God.

So the stage is set then here in our text. Jesus was in the form of God. But then notice these glorious words from the Apostle Paul. He says, Jesus thought it not robbery to be equal with God. And this is not exactly the language of a Southern American.

I'm assuming Georgians speak English almost as well as people from Alabama speak English. What does Paul intend here by saying Jesus fought it not robbery to be equal with God? Well first, again, Jesus was and is truly God. That much is clear, crystal clear really from the text. And he was not in the least bit shy in declaring that.

All of the New Testament writers declare that Jesus is God. But the idea I think that the King James translators had here was like a thief who robs something and he grasps hold of whatever it is that he is stealing and he will not let go of it. Jesus was not unwilling though to be born as a human. Through the normal channel of birth, through a human mother, to live in a human body, facing things like hunger and sweat. In other words, Jesus was co-equal to the Father in eternity past, but he did not use it to his own advantage.

He had every right to remain in heaven, enthroned above the cherubim, but he didn't. Look, the next verse makes very clear what Paul will say. Look at verse 7. This is going to clear up whatever fog there is in the language of verse 6. So he didn't think it was robbery to be equal to God, but he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.

So this explains precisely what Paul meant in verse 6. This is the theology behind the incarnation. You know we get all googly-eyed over our children when they're born. We just love to just stare at them. But listen, when Mary held Jesus in her arms, she was literally beholding the face of God.

His letter to the Colossian saints, the apostle Paul writes, for in him, Jesus, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily. All of God was enwrapped in Jesus. He wasn't part God. He was all God. Holy, you know, W-H-O-L-L-Y, holy God, fully God.

It's that same prologue that I mentioned earlier, John 1.14, says, the Word, which was and is God, was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. That is Paul's point here in Philippians. But Paul is looking at the incarnation from another point of view than what John's gospel looks at. Paul is looking at the incarnation here as an emptying. Jesus made himself of no reputation.

He was and is equal with God, but he made himself of no reputation. We might say he emptied himself. Now listen closely, this is very important. This in no way means that he set his deity aside. That is not what Paul is saying.

Don't think that. Don't listen to anybody who says that. Jesus didn't cease being God. That's not the point of the text. When Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem, he lived as God himself among men, the Creator in the midst of his creation.

But here's what Paul is saying. Jesus was born with a veiled glory. He looked like just any other baby. Despite what you see from painters like Leonardo da Vinci, Jesus was not born with a halo around his head so everybody knew who he was. On the contrary, the prophet Isaiah wrote, and this was 700 years, by the way, before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote, He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

Let me say it this way. When Jesus walked down the streets of Jerusalem, he looked like everybody else, just some normal guy, but he wasn't. In fact, Paul actually tells us here that Jesus, God himself in the flesh, took the form of a servant. We somewhat lose the force of that verse, really. Putting aside all political correctness for just a moment, this word servant is translated from the Greek word doulos, and literally it means slave.

So Jesus in eternity past existed in the form of God, but the Apostle Paul says he made himself of no reputation, he emptied himself and he took on the form of a slave. That's about as low of a reputation as anyone could take in the first century or any century. It's no wonder that Steve Lawson once said, quote, no one ever started so high and came so low as Jesus did in the incarnation, end quote. That's not an understatement at all. I don't know if you've ever seen the show on TV entitled Undercover Boss.

We watch it ever so often. It's that show where the CEO of the company goes undercover to work among the employees to see how everything's going in their company. Well in the very first episode, season one, Larry O'Donnell, president and COO of Waste Management, worked alongside his employees cleaning port-a-potties, sorting waste, collecting garbage to put in a landfill. Look, that's going from about as high as you can get in a company to about as low as you can go in a company. And that in no way explains how high Jesus was and how low he went.

It's not even a comparison. It may be something for us to wrap our mind around, but it's not a perfect picture. No wonder the Apostle Paul spoke of the incarnation to young Timothy and said, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh. Listen, if the Apostle Paul could not comprehend it, we can't.

But we can marvel at it. And such should draw our minds not only to be thankful for Jesus's willingness, but should bring us to the point of worship. And what was it that brought God so low? We were not left in the dark, Paul says. He was made in the likeness of men.

The creator himself became like his creation, but there's actually more here. Look at verse eight. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. You've probably heard the famous quote from the German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche when he said, God is dead. Nietzsche was an atheist.

Ironically, today he's dead and he's no longer an atheist. But God is not dead. God cannot die. Here's the marvel though, God became a man, so much a man, that he died. He laid down his life as a sacrifice for sinners.

Dying a death we deserve to die, the just for the unjust, the Apostle Peter says, and Jesus could do all of that because he's God. So understand, listen, Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. Now I know if there's a math teacher here, she's thinking, now that doesn't figure, but theologically it is precisely accurate. Jesus is 100% God, 100% man, and Jesus did not die just any death. Now, he submitted himself to being executed on a Roman cross.

Crucifixion is actually a rather unknown method of execution in our day. Honestly, so many people wear them around their neck or as earrings or have them hanging in their house that we just lose the power of what it means when we talk about crucifixion. Some have tried to compare crucifixion to the electric chair, which was used in America for many centuries to execute a criminal, but at the end of the day that's still no comparison. This is really quick history lesson on crucifixion. I know you're getting a theology lesson and a history lesson in the same message, that's a good way to kill a sermon, but we're going to do it anyway.

In the Roman culture, there was no more shameful way to die than on a cross. Listen, Romans would sometimes even crucify a dead body just to shame a person. We can't think like that. Crucifixion, unlike today's modern death chamber, was a completely public event in which one was being crucified through excruciating pain and torture, and then shamed, not only in front of their friends, but in front of their foes for hours, and sometimes even days leading up to their death. And to add to their shame, most commonly they were actually crucified completely naked.

The accused is publicly labeled as a shameful person and the family had to bear that even after the death of the one that was crucified. In crucifixion, the Roman soldiers, who were by the way professional killers, so if somebody tries to tell you that Jesus didn't really die on the cross, he just sort of swooned on the cross, and that's why he's able to push this big boulder out of the way three days later. No, these are professional killers. He was dead. They knew it.

But Their purpose really was to make a laughing stock of someone. Roman secular writings often refer to the crucifixion as the tree of shame. It was so despicable that Cicero argued that an honorable Roman should never even mention the word cross in polite conversation. Most followed his advice and despite literally hundreds of thousands of crucifixions by the Romans, very few writings about it exist. Do you know where the most vivid writings about the crucifixion are found?

In the book you hold in your lap, in the accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus. Listen, no wonder the writer of Hebrews says that we should be looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Listen, we do not comprehend crucifixion today the way that we should, and so we don't really appreciate what our Lord did for us. Well, that howl-o God was willing to go to redeem us. To finish out these first or these last several verses, verse 9, wherefore we would we would say therefore because of that God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Jesus as the ever faithful Son who came into the world to do the Father's will has now been rewarded.

He has been highly exalted. Today, at this very moment that we sit here, Jesus is enthroned at the right hand of the Father as a fulfillment really of Psalm 110 that says, the Lord said to my Lord sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies by footstool. That means there is coming a day then when at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. All things in heaven, things on earth, things under the earth, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father and in that day his enemies will be made his footstool. People are going to bow.

Everybody's going to bow, but people will bow in one of two ways. The saints of God will bow in adoration and worship and thanksgiving, praising Jesus for all that he has done for us. In fact, Revelation 5 seems to point to that time when redeemed saints worship by saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation and has made us unto our God kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth." There's that adoration and worship of the people of God. If you have repented of your sins and all of your hope has been passed on Christ, that is what your worship will sound like throughout eternity. However, there is another group that will bow.

The unbelieving multitudes who reject God's Son and therefore reject God. Listen to me, there is no hope at all of eternal life apart from the finished redeeming work of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He is the way, the truth, the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Him. Let me be painfully blunt.

If you don't love Jesus, if you are not trusting in him alone right now, you're not converted. You're still in your sins and you are condemned to pay sins penalty in the lake of fire forever. Understand, untold billions of people that have callously rejected Jesus will one day bow before him in fear and judgment, unlike the saints of God who bow in worship and adoration. And it matters not whether it's the sweet little unbelieving librarian or the mass murderer, it doesn't matter. Every single unbeliever will bow before him and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and this to the glory of God the Father.

As my prayer today is that you are thankful for what he has been willing to do. Well if the willingness of Jesus to become a man and die the death of a criminal on a Roman cross doesn't speak of God's love, nothing will. That's your theology lesson for the day, and it's as rich as it can get. Yet, if we are to be orthodox, understanding that theology is not optional. That is biblical Christianity.

Now, let me tell you a little bit about this book, Paul's letter to the church in Philippi. Other than the section we just looked at, this is one of the most practical books in the entire New Testament. Paul wrote this letter to the saints in Philippi to encourage them to be joyful. Steve Lawson actually calls it a joy-producing book. He went on to say, the apostle personally models how to live triumphantly and joyfully in the midst of difficult circumstances." That's his summation of this book.

In other words, the Apostle Paul is rejoicing personally in Christ, in the grace of God, and he wants to share the joy that he has with those of the community of believers, the church in Philippi. He loves them so much that he wants them to participate in the joy that he has. And here's the amazing thing, Paul wrote this letter while imprisoned in Rome, likely chained to a Roman soldier writing a letter about Christian joy. Well now, if this book is about joy, and it is, that raises quite a question. Why in the world did the Apostle Paul stick this deep, rich, really profound section in the middle of a letter written to produce joy in the members of the church at Philippi.

Why is it here? Understanding what we just read is not a hard part. Figuring out why it's here is a little bit more difficult, but this is one of those wonderful texts in which we actually are not left to wonder. We know why it's here. It's right here in the text.

Verses 6 through 11 do not exist on an island by themselves. They are not out of place. They are right where they are supposed to be. There is an old acronym for joy. You may have heard it in Sunday school when you were a kid, J-O-Y, joy.

Jesus, others, you. In other words, to have true Christian joy, God comes first. Then others. And then lastly, you. Well, that is precisely what we see here in this passage from our Lord.

He willingly set aside the glory that is due to him to become a man in order to die for others, sinners like you and me. Remember the first phrase that we skipped right there in verse 5, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. So Paul explains that Jesus, ever being our great example, has shown us how to act. Now let's look back at verse 1. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill you my joy that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." then Paul immediately goes into the passage we looked at today, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who though he existed in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal to God. So this is the content. In other words guys listen, Jesus's example that we've just looked at in verses 5 through 11 is the perfect example of love. Humble, self-sacrificing love.

Paul's point then in this text, be more like Jesus. If you want true Christian joy, love sacrificially because that's the way Jesus loved. That's not debatable, we just looked at it. It's here. It's in the text.

If we were to love like Jesus, according to Paul, here we are to be like-minded. Now just a quick disclaimer what Paul is not saying is that we ought to just throw every Christian doctrine out the window and sit around a campfire singing Kumbaya and not even worry about heresies and sin in the church. I mean that's not at all what Paul was saying, just a perusal of Paul's writings will inform us better than that. I mean just in the passage that we've looked at today already tells us better than that. Like these Orthodox truths about Jesus are not optional to the Christian faith.

Understanding the person and work of Christ is critical to Orthodox Christianity. We must seek unity around the truth, beginning with the truth of the gospel. But we must all agree that Scripture is the final authority. It's right. And all of us on something, somewhere, we're all wrong about some stuff.

We haven't got it all figured out. That's from the pulpit to the newest, youngest convert in the pew. But scripture is sufficient. It's enough. We don't need anything else.

And so If we are to love like Jesus, we must be like-minded in that. If we are to be like Jesus, we must have the same love, it says here. Christian love, loving the people and things that God loves. Just to piggyback on the sermon yesterday, that actually includes loving our enemies, which Jesus said would make sure that we were like our Father in heaven so that people could see God's love in us. So we must have the same love.

If we are to be like Jesus according to this text, we must be of one accord, of one mind. God is right and Mankind is wrong. Let God be true and every man a liar, scripture says. Listen, if we, if all of the churches represented here this weekend can come to the conclusion that God ultimately is right. Scripture is right.

We can find unity in our local churches and honestly between us that we can fellowship. If we are to be like Jesus, Paul says here, nothing can be done through strife. That is really like selfish ambition. Nothing can be done through vainglory. We might say haughtiness or even conceit.

Then he offers a contrast with that. He says, but in lowliness of mine, let each esteem other better than themselves. Guys, think of the text we just studied. This is the very reason Jesus came here to die for the betterment of others, not himself. Jesus did that for us.

He willingly let go of all the glory that he had with the Father before the world was created. He became a man. He died the death of the cross for others. Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus. Listen, whatever we say and do, that means in person, in front of people's faces, behind their backs, social media, Twitter, X or whatever it's called or whatever should be for the good of others.

Not to boast of our own personal knowledge. This does not mean, This does not mean we don't sometimes have to say some hard things. It doesn't mean that. In fact, sometimes it means the opposite. Sometimes we must say hard things to people that we love.

But this is the key. When we do, it must be for their good and ultimately for God's glory, not to boost our own ego. Jesus, again, is the example in this text. If we are to be like Jesus, we must not look at our own things, but we must look to the things of others. That is the way Jesus loved.

If we are to be Christians, we must be like Christ. In other words, because of your relationship to Jesus and that wonderful gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, this attitude should dominate us. Now it has been said that a high theology produces high doxology. Let me explain what that means. High theology, you know, a deeper understanding of the qualities of God, like we looked at this morning, should produce a high doxology.

That's a more intense worship. The more we know God, the more we know what he has done for us, the more we are able then to strive to be like him. You know, it's funny, many religions and cults teach their followers that they can ultimately one day become gods, Maybe with their own planet, birthing spirit babies throughout eternity. I'm not making that up, that's not a joke. One day they will be worshipped.

That other creatures will bow down to a creature. Our text says that every knee will bow down to Jesus, who is God. Listen, that is the lie taught by those cults. That is the lie that Satan told to Eve, essentially deceiving her by saying that God had cheated him because God doth know that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods." We'll never be gods. We will always be creatures, redeemed creatures, but creatures nevertheless.

You will not have people bowing down to you. You will be the one bowing, and you'll be glad to do it if you're redeemed. Listen, only in Christianity, the only true religion by the way, Only in Christianity has the eternal God himself chosen to become a man in order to redeem rebels who were shaking their fist at it. We don't teach that we're going to become gods. We teach, Paul taught, that our God became a man in order to redeem men.

Thomas Watson, he's an old English Puritan, He once wrote this quote, they that deny Christ to be God must greatly rest, he means like twist, or else deny the scripture to be the word of God. Amen. Amen. Child of God, it is greatly important for you to know that the person of Jesus of Nazareth is fully God and fully man. But that is not enough.

More than just knowing the theology about Jesus, We are called to be like Jesus, to love like Him. For is He who said, By this shall all men know ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. And if we are to impact this world starting in the communities where our churches are planted, that means we must be Christ to the community by displaying the very love we studied here in our text, which was our greatest example, the greatest example of love that has ever been given to humankind. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this rich text.

We cannot so much as wrap our heads around what you were willing to do for us, but we do know that it was a sacrificial love. And we have been called to love in that exact same fashion. God, we thank you for your Holy Spirit who has given us the ability to follow you, but we do confess that we wrestle with the flesh as well still at this time, help us by your grace to overcome the flesh and love like Jesus. It's in his name we pray, amen. Thank you.