Muhammad Ali once said, “I am the greatest.” In August 1963, six months before winning the world heavyweight boxing championship, he even released a record album titled “I Am the Greatest.” Ali, no doubt, was a great athlete, but he was not an example to follow if one wants the mind of Christ.
In contrast, Jesus was perfectly sinless. Though He was tempted “in all points . . . as we are” (Heb. 4:15), He never sinned, not even by a thought. Nevertheless, Hebrews 5:8 indicates, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (NKJV). Jesus’ submission to the Father’s will was always perfect. There was never a moment He refused to submit, though no doubt many times it was not easy.
Read Philippians 2:5–8, which some consider the most powerful and beautiful texts in Scripture. What is Paul saying to us here? What are the implications of these words? Most important, how do we apply to our own lives the principle expressed here?
Jesus, who is equal with God, who is God, not only took upon Himself human flesh but became a “bondservant” (doulou, a servant, a slave) and then offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins! In another place, Paul says that He became “a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). God, our Creator, died on the cross in order to be our Redeemer as well, and that required Him to become a curse for us.
How do we begin to wrap our minds around what this is saying? Even more so, how do we do what the texts tell us to do, and that is to have the same kind of willingness to humble oneself and to sacrifice oneself for the good of others?
In another place, Jesus said: “But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt. 23:11, 12, NKJV). This, in many ways, reflects what Paul was telling us, in Philippians 2:5–8, to do as well.
In more powerfully graphic terms, Paul was saying here what he said earlier about not doing anything “through selfish ambition or conceit” (Phil. 2:3, NKJV).
How should we respond to what Christ has done for us, as depicted in Philippians 2:5–8? What response could possibly be “adequate” or worthy of what Christ has done for us, perhaps other than to fall on our knees and worship? Why is it so wrong to think that our works can add to what Christ has already done for us?
Supplemental EGW Notes
The Word of God is the grand instrument which convicts the unconverted, convincing them of their need of the sin-pardoning Saviour.
The plan of salvation combines the holy influences of past and present light. These influences are bound together by the golden chain of loving obedience. Receiving Christ by faith and bowing in submission to God’s will constitutes men and women sons and daughters of God. By the power which the Saviour alone can give they are made members of the royal family, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. . . .
To love God with all the heart, to be a partaker with Christ in His humiliation and suffering, means more than many understand. The atonement of Christ is the great central truth around which cluster all the truths that pertain to the great work of redemption. The mind of man is to blend with the mind of Christ. This union sanctifies the understanding, giving the thoughts clearness and force. . . .
The world is our field of missionary toil, and we are to go forth to our labor surrounded with the atmosphere of Gethsemane and Calvary.—Lift Him Up, p. 229.
How glorious are the possibilities set before the fallen race! Through His Son, God has revealed the excellency to which man is capable of attaining. Through the merits of Christ man is lifted from his depraved state, purified, and made more precious than the golden wedge of Ophir. It is possible for him to become a companion of the angels in glory, and to reflect the image of Jesus Christ. . . . Yet how seldom he realizes to what heights he could attain if he would allow God to direct his every step!
God permits every human being to exercise his individuality. He desires no one to submerge his mind in the mind of a fellow mortal. Those who desire to be transformed in mind and character are not to look to men, but to the divine Example. God gives the invitation, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” By conversion and transformation men are to receive the mind of Christ. Every one is to stand before God with an individual faith, an individual experience, knowing for himself that Christ is formed within, the hope of glory. . . .
As our example we have One who is all and in all, the Chiefest among ten thousand, One whose excellency is beyond comparison. He graciously adapted His life for universal imitation. United in Christ were wealth and poverty; majesty and abasement; unlimited power, and meekness and lowliness, which in every soul who receives Him will be reflected. . . .
O that we might more fully appreciate the honor Christ confers upon us! By wearing His yoke and learning of Him, we become like Him in aspiration, in meekness and lowliness, in fragrance of character, and unite with Him in ascribing praise and honor and glory to God as supreme. Those who live up to their high privileges in this life will receive an eternal reward in the life to come. If faithful we shall join the heavenly musicians in singing with sweet accord songs of praise to God and to the Lamb.—That I May Know Him, p. 134.
The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.