Jesus had it all and gave it up for us.

Steve Brown:
Jesus had it all and gave it up for us. Let’s talk, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
Welcome to Key Life. I’m Matthew, executive producer for the program, and our host is author and seminary professor, Steve Brown. The church has suffered under do more, try harder religion for too long, and Key Life is here to proclaim that Jesus sets the captives free.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. If you’re just joining us, we’re studying Philippians, and a part of the Book of Philippians is the second chapter and the first eleven verses of the second chapter, which is the text that we’re studying these days. We’re going to study and spend some time there this week and probably next week, because it’s one of the key texts in the entire Bible. We’ve seen that Paul calls for unity and how important that is in our culture. And then he makes a statement about Jesus that is absolutely incredible. Now, we’ve seen, if you’ve been listening, we have noticed who Jesus was, Philippians 2:6a. He was in the form of God, and we did a word study for form. We saw that in Greek, there are two kinds of form. One is a form that can change, the other is a form that is the essence, and never changes. And Paul uses that second word to describe who Jesus was. When you sing.

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

If you’re an adult, you need to stop and say. Jesus, God, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, sovereign over everything loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Don’t forget who Jesus was. There was a story about a king who felt separate from his people. And so, he dressed as a poor man and began to walk the streets of his kingdom. He went into a bar and associated with the people in the bar, and when he left, and one man said to another, who was that? And the other said, I don’t know? He looks like a slave, but he smells like a king. That would be Jesus. Don’t forget who he was. Jesus loves me. Jesus, God, the essence of God. Sovereign and powerful, that’s who he was. And then we noticed, what he enjoyed. He had it all. I mean, he was God. Did you see that movie about God by the comedian? He would just blink his eyes and whatever he wanted to happened, that was true with Jesus. He had everything, and he gave it up, and he entered time and space for us. One time, I was living in Miami at the time, and the pastor of a church there, and the phone rang, and I was going out to do something, and I stopped and picked up the phone, and said, hello? And the voice on the other end of the line said, Steve? And I said, yes. And he said, this is Billy Graham. Now, I had a Baptist friend who was the pastor of a church a little bit north of mine, who was a close friend who did a pretty good imitation of Billy Graham. In fact, it was so good, that when he did it, you could hardly tell the difference between him talking and Billy Graham talking. And I thought, you know, I started to say, yeah, and I’m Abraham Lincoln, or sure you are. Or, you’re not Billy Graham. But for once in my life, I put a governor on my mouth and remained silent. And I said, really? And he said, I’m at a phone booth at the Miami airport. And I just wanted to say hello, and I appreciate what you’re doing. I almost fell flat on the floor. Let me tell you something, that was cool. I mean, I’ve told a lot of people about that. The time Billy Graham called me. Can you believe that? But let me tell you something more important than that, the time Jesus reached out to me. The God of the universe knew my name and you’ve got to remember that he left everything cause he loved me about 10 percent more than he likes you. And if you can’t say exactly what I just said, you don’t understand. Let me show you something else. Note, not only what he was and what he enjoyed, note what he did, Philippians 2:5 through 7.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God,

remember what I taught you about form

did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself.

Now, this is an expansion of what we’ve been talking about, but it’s important that we see what’s going on here and I don’t want you to miss it. The Greek word for emptied himself, or literally stripped himself, or divested himself, or humbled himself, the word is Kenosis, and it means to reduce to meaner circumstances, or to assign a lower rank or place, to abase oneself, to become something less than what one in essence is. That’s what Jesus did, and he did it for us. And I just looked at the clock, and I’m running out of time, and I just got started. So, we’ll continue with this tomorrow. But now, remember Jesus, and rejoice. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve. And thank you, yes, you, for being with us as we examine all the facets of Philippians 2:1 through 11. We’ll continue from here tomorrow. Hope you will join us again. Hey, I just got this heads up and I thought I’d pass it along to you. Life is hard. Oh, you already heard. Yeah. Listen, if you’re struggling with doubt and loneliness, if you’re looking for that elusive thing we call contentment, I think you’ll be interested in a classic message from Steve called, How to be Content, Not! Take a listen to a short excerpt, then I’ll be back to tell you about a special free offer. Here’s Steve.

Steve Brown:
Now, let me tell you about my friend Paul. In the seventh chapter of II Corinthians, Paul makes reference to an incident that happened in the third missionary journey. Now, you need to know that I and II Corinthians are a compilation of, at minimum, three different letters, maybe even a fourth. On the third missionary journey, Paul had gone to Corinth, he had spoken some things, truth to power, that needed to be said, and they were not happy with him, and he left. And then he got to Troas, and trust me on this, I’ve been there, I’ve done this, I’ve got a pile of T-shirts. Paul gets to Troas, and he says, Oh my, I wish I hadn’t said that. I say that every time I preach. I don’t believe I said that. They’ll think I’m just irritating them because I don’t like them. I could have been a little bit more gentle, a little wiser. I could have been softer and more pastoral and kind and more, how could I do that? And so, Paul sends Titus, his young friend, to Corinth to see if he can fix the problem. And Paul waits at Troas for Titus to show. And he waits, and he waits, and he waits. And I can just, I know, Paul’s a friend of mine. I’m just like him. And Paul said, Oh, gosh. And he just broken, empty, can’t sleep at night. He gets on a boat and goes to Macedonia and continues with his work. Sadder, but wiser. And then, Titus shows up in Macedonia. And Titus goes, love you, man. I think you’re the best things since sliced bread. If they were here, they’d pour Gatorade over your head. They think you are wonderful. You, oh, Paul, they have repented. And they said for me specifically to say how much they loved you. And then the seventh chapter of II Corinthians is where Paul goes. That is so good. Why? What was going on? He’s insecure. That’s what’s going on. If you don’t believe it, go to the 11th chapter of II Corinthians. That’s where Paul brags that he’s better than everybody else. You say, no, no, he’s more. No, he’s not. And what he said is true because I believe in verbal plenary inspiration. But nevertheless, the people God uses for Scripture are just like you. That’s why God can use you. And so, Paul brags. He said, I’ve done this, and I’ve done this, and I’ve done this. And then he stops in the text and says, I don’t believe I’m saying this. I’ve got to be out of my mind, but I’m going to do it anyway. And he goes on until, and he stops again. And he said, I can’t believe I’m doing this. Isn’t me? This is the, well, it’s not the Lord, it’s me. And then he goes on and does it again. And then when you move into the 12th chapter, he’s so human. He asked God to remove the thorn. What’s the thorn? Well, it could be his insecurity. And God says, my power is made perfect in weakness. You say, Steve, what are you bringing us up for? Because you ought to know. We’re going to kill ourselves with this hero thing. We really are. We’re all messed up. Look to the person next to you, or the person in front of you. Don’t look behind you because I’m insecure and sensitive. I think you’re not listening. Look around. They look so together, don’t they? I mean, everything’s working. They got their Bibles open. If you’ve got yours and they don’t have theirs, you can feel self righteous. But they do look together, don’t they? We’ve all worshipped. We church no less. Let me tell you about that person. They’re just as screwed up as you are.

Matthew Porter:
Like I said, classic. You can get this entire message on CD for free by calling us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that CD. If you’d like to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for your free copy of the CD called How to Be Content…NOT! Finally, if you value the work of Key Life, would you join us in that work through your financial support? You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or you can give safely and securely through text. Just text Key Life to 28950, then follow the instructions. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.