Paul is on his knees again doing everything within his power to convey the revelation of Christ and its implications for our orientation toward each other. He works hard to get the Philippians to answer yes to his rhetorical questions. Is there any consolation of love? Is there any fellowship in the Spirit? Is there and affection and compassion? Well, if the answer is yes, please, “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” So what is that same thing we are to be so intentional about?

A summary of verses 3 and 4 is the answer: essentially, we are to intentionally give each other preference above ourselves. Why should we do this? Because this attitude was in Christ, our example. Some of us meet Paul’s commentary with something like this: “There is just one small problem here, Lord: You are God and I am not. Your ways are higher than the heavens are above the earth. Is it really fair to ask me to “do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit” when it is my very nature to do everything from selfishness and empty conceit? Is it possible for me to turn a switch and be humble when my flesh is inherently prideful? And, by the way, why did you allow evil? Let the records show that I didn’t get to vote on this old nature that You are now so opposed to!”

God may listen to our protests. He’s probably not even angry with us. But He isn’t buying it either. Our protest won’t exempt us from the obedience of faith.

How far down did God come from heaven to earth? Was it a million light years? Maybe it was so far down that it cannot be measured. Perhaps His domain is so large it swallows all of time and space. And, how much of a change was it for the Creator of all realms to take on the form of a human being? This question may not wow us too much if we are our own standard of measure, our own reference point. Jesus, however, was wowed. His intimate awareness of the answers to these questions led Him, as God’s own Son, to conclude that any comparison to God, even for Himself, was a thing that could not be grasped. He has not asked us to bow quite as far. He just wants us to defer to others who happen to jointly share our current humble estate: “let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)

Having tried to make many of these arguments to God, I know He is not sympathetic. He just reminds me that He has been tempted in all the same ways I have, that He would not ask me to do anything that He has not equipped me for, that my experience of selfish behavior does not somehow confirm my fate as a victim to some fundamental and superior “sin-charged” nature. Just because we have a low opinion of ourselves does not mean that He shares our view.

God looks down and sees Christ in us, the hope of glory. We look down into our selves and see depravity, the guarantor of futility. I have lived a big portion of my Christian life with Solomon’s perspective: that “all is futility and striving after the wind,” with my own stumbling life as the obvious proof of His wisdom. I have recently shifted my focus, by faith, to a wisdom that is higher than Solomon’s that says, “The deepest Truth about me is not that I am a monster-of-iniquity; rather I am a new-creation with a new nature in Christ.”

Those who are still arguing with God over the unfairness of their lot, and that of mankind’s, will want absolute proof of this new life before they budge an inch. God will probably not accommodate them. He will probably offer them the same deal He gives all of His sons and daughters: the opportunity to entrust ourselves to a faithful Creator in the midst of our low opinion of Him and of ourselves. Is it possible that the futility we encounter with our flesh is an inevitability born of our fundamental assumptions about our depravity? Could our view of ourselves as sinners be disconnecting us from our truest selves and the power that is inherent to Christ in us? Could our false identity be in the way of our true destiny?

When Jesus says that we must take up our cross and follow Him, it may mean different things to different people at different times. For me, “my cross” has involved a surrender of certain opinions and beliefs I have held. The pain of this death, or cross, was necessary because these beliefs were my reality (my wineskin). They were foundational in how I explained to myself how the world works and how I interfaced with it. When God shakes you at this level, you may feel as though you are losing control, and the flesh will protest with everything it has. This inner war is especially interesting when you believe that your wineskin was doctrinally and biblically adequate (if not perfect). Oh dear, I am having flashbacks.

May I be so bold as to suggest that God is saying, “Quit your mournful introspections. They do not produce any righteousness, peace, or joy. Look up! Embrace My kingdom! It has come and it is within you! Discover who you really are! The dirge has been out of style since My resurrection!”

If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)

It is an irony to me that I found myself as an elder in a church, having complied with the minimal standards of leadership: having one wife and being free from drunkenness. The irony is that I was in compliance to all the biblical standards I was aware of with the exception of “joy”—which is integral to life in the kingdom. It is the very tone of Paul’s fatherly words to the Philippians.

The irony was that I had to repent of many of my views of scripture which were formed from my vantage point as a man who viewed himself as a victim of a selfish, lustful, prideful, greedy nature. I promise you, you can come up with some hard views toward yourself and others by seeing life through this lens. I also promise you the battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil is much harder when your basic assumption about your identity is that it is depraved. Life is like a self-fulfilling prophecy. You become what you behold. Obsess with your own sin nature: you empower sin. Obsess with Christ, and you live and think in harmony with your new nature and you’re transformed from glory to glory.

So, indeed we are fallen; but indeed we have been raised with Christ. Our depravity is a little “t” truth. Our new nature is a big “T” Truth! We will be far more righteous, peaceful, and joyful when we begin living out of the reality of Christ in us—our very Life, as the deeper Truth anchoring our identities. Then we shall fulfill our destinies as lights in this world, “blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:15)

Because we will have lived our lives honoring Him (in our new identities) as the One who has earned (through His “surrender of obedience) the title King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we will stand in joyful company on that day when “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those who are in heaven and earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)

Father, may you grant that Your Bride adorn herself with raiment of festive color as she discovers the reality of who she really is in Christ. May her countenance be lifted up as she beholds You, Her Bridegroom, calling to her, telling her to get ready, that today is the day of salvation. May our personal and our collective discovery of our kingdom identities constitute a reformation for our present day. May its impact be proportional to You, who desire to do exceedingly above and beyond our expectations. To You Lord, to whom all things are possible. In Jesus Name. Amen.

 

 

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