Now I want you to imagine with me a cold, dirty animal stable six miles outside of Jerusalem.
Nowhere in the Gospels are we told what kind of labor Mary had.
So we don't know if it was a long labor or a short labor.
We don't know if it was a one-push birth or multiple pushes over multiple hours.
We're not told.
We're not told if Jesus was a breech baby or He was a head-first baby.
We don't know.
But we are told that Mary gave birth to a firstborn son and they named Him Jesus.
We also know that secretly Mary and Joseph knew that this baby boy was not conceived by Joseph.
But this baby was conceived miraculously by the Holy Spirit.
There was some controversy stirring around this lady's pregnancy.
Now, surely the conception of Jesus was a miracle.
But nine months later, His birth was oh so mundane.
There was pain.
There was sweat.
Blood.
Exhaustion.
After birth for sure.
In a mess.
The baby may have been miraculously conceived, but this baby was delivered in the most mundane of ways.
He wasn't born with a halo around His head.
He certainly didn't deliver Himself from Mary's womb.
He didn't start feeding Himself.
He didn't clothe Himself in swaddling clothes.
He didn't start changing His own diapers.
This little baby was completely dependent on His mother.
Now, if you were in that stable and you witnessed this delivery and you were looking at this baby lying in the manger,
would you have any sense of who this baby truly was?
His true nature?
His true identity?
Why did the Magi come and worship Him?
What child is this?
If you would open up your Bibles to Philippians 2, we're going to look at a classic passage in the Apostle Paul.
We're going to kind of jump in kind of midstream of Paulian thought.
And if you would turn to Philippians 2, verses 5 through 11.
I'm going to read this to you.
And then I just want to kind of bathe your mind in the truth of this passage on this Christmas Day.
So you'd be amazed of who this baby is.
What child is this?
Listen.
Verse 5.
Have this mind among yourselves.
Paul's writing to Christians in the town of Philippi.
And he's saying to them,
Have this humble mind among yourselves.
The humility that Jesus demonstrated.
And so he says,
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who, speaking of Christ Jesus,
though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men.
Merry Christmas.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Therefore, God has highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus,
every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Father, what child is this?
This baby lying in the manger,
kids the one that you're drawing right now,
hopefully not sleeping.
This is the second person of the Trinity
who humbled himself for you.
And so this morning,
I just want to point out three truths from this passage,
and I'll be moving at a quick clip.
First truth is,
this baby, he is God.
Second truth, he humbled himself.
And third truth,
he was exalted.
So first truth of this little baby in the manger,
he is God.
He was alive before he was born.
When you read verse 6,
we read,
who though he was in the form of God.
Now when you hear that word form,
I'm not sure what goes through your mind.
What goes through my mind is,
I'm lying in my bed in my house.
It's dark.
Some of our kids have come home.
They light up the hall,
and they're standing in my bedroom doorway,
and I can't see them,
but I see their form.
I know who they are.
I see their shape.
I know who it is.
Now if you look around the room,
we are a people of a variety of shapes and forms,
aren't we?
But when Paul talks about
who is in the form of God,
he's not just talking about
the form,
the shape of God.
That word in the original language
actually means to take on
its full and true essence.
So what Paul is saying there is,
Jesus, who was very God,
that phrase,
the form of God,
has a lot of similarities
to Colossians 1.15
where Jesus is described
as the image of God,
the icon of God.
Or in Hebrews 1.3
where Jesus is said to be
the exact imprint of God's nature.
Or of course in John 1
where Jesus is described
as the Word of God.
The Word was with God.
The Word was God.
And we learn in John 1.18
that it's this Word of God,
Jesus,
who makes known the unseen God.
So it would be possible for you to read
who though he was in the form of God
and think that Jesus isn't quite fully God.
But that's not what Paul's saying.
He's saying that Christ,
the second person of the Trinity,
has always been the true display
of the full essence of God
for eternity.
He is equal in essence
to God the Father
and God the Son.
He is fully God,
eternally existent with God
in a relationship
that experienced love forever.
The Trinity.
The Word was with God
and the Word was God.
Understanding that phrase that way,
it really helps you understand the next phrase.
And so when you read
who did not count equality with God
a thing to be grasped,
you're kind of like,
huh?
If you look back at Philippians 2,
1-5,
Paul is calling the Philippian Christians
to live with each other in humility.
Look at verse 3.
He says,
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit,
but in humility count others
more significant than yourselves.
But in humility count others
more significant than yourselves.
And verse 4,
Let each of you look not only
to his own interests,
but also to the interests of others.
This was all about living their lives
in a manner worthy of the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
And so for them to live in unity together,
they need to be humble with one another.
In order to be humble with one another,
the Apostle Paul says,
Look at Jesus,
who is fully God
and did not consider using His divinity
to advance His personal purposes.
That's what Paul's saying here.
He did not consider equality.
He did not consider using His equality
with God for His own advantage.
That's what the Apostle Paul's saying.
Jesus, before He became a man,
exercised humility.
In His pre-incarnate state,
the second person of the Trinity
did not consider using His divinity
for His own personal advantage,
and so He became a man.
Pretty cool, huh?
So what child is this?
He's the second person of the Trinity.
He was fully God in essence
who existed before He took on human likeness.
That's who this little child is.
He's God.
Second point,
He humbled Himself.
In verses 7 and 8,
we read about Jesus
making Himself nothing.
Emptying Himself.
That phrase,
making Himself nothing,
you might be reading a version
that says He emptied Himself.
And when you think about
making Himself nothing
or emptying Himself,
you start thinking in terms of subtraction,
don't you?
You start thinking in terms of
taking something away.
And so some Bible-believing Christians,
when they read this verse,
they'll say that
when the second person of the Trinity
took on human flesh,
Jesus emptied Himself
in such a way that
He emptied Himself
of some of His divine attributes,
at least for a little bit.
but there's no reason
to draw that conclusion
from this passage.
When the second person of the Trinity
took on human flesh,
He did not in any way
cease to be fully God
in all that He is.
If He subtracted something,
it would have been this,
the glory that was His
before He took on human flesh,
and we read that in John 17, 5.
But nothing about His essence,
who He is,
any of His attributes.
So when we read
He made Himself nothing
or He emptied Himself,
you might start thinking
about subtraction,
but you shouldn't think subtraction.
You need to think
in terms of addition.
Jesus emptied Himself.
He poured Himself out.
He made Himself nothing
by taking on some things.
And the next three phrases
in v. 7 and 8 show that.
And so we read,
but made Himself nothing
by taking the form of a servant.
Do you read that?
That word form is the same word
used in v. 6.
And so the One who is
fully and truly God
became a servant.
A slave.
Fully and truly.
In all essence.
A slave.
And if you're familiar with anything
with the first century world,
a slave was the lowliest
of all human beings
on the status ladder
of the time.
No rights.
So this emptying
is actually a humbling,
a humble pouring out
of the second person
of the Trinity for others.
So the shock of Christmas
is that the One
who is fully and truly God
became fully and truly a slave.
Mark 10.45,
I came not to be served,
but to serve
and to give my life
as a ransom for many.
So He emptied Himself
by taking on the form
of a servant.
And then we read,
He emptied Himself
by being born
in the likeness of men,
of human beings.
He poured Himself out.
He emptied Himself.
He made Himself nothing
by adding to Himself
the fullness
of human experience.
experience.
He experienced everything
that we have experienced.
And He did so without sin.
He knows firsthand
what it means
to lose somebody you love.
He knows firsthand
what grief is.
He knows it.
He's our sympathetic High Priest.
Christ.
And He's interceding
for us now.
What Paul is saying here
is that the birth of Jesus,
being born in the likeness of man,
was part of His humiliation.
It was an act of humility.
It was Him emptying Himself,
pouring Himself out for others.
But His humble emptying
didn't stop at His birth.
It continued.
And so we read the third phrase
and we find that in verse 8.
In being found in human form,
He humbled Himself
by becoming obedient
to the point of death.
How did Jesus humble Himself?
By becoming obedient
to the point of death.
His humility was obedience
to the will of His Father.
The will of His Father
was to send His Son
to die for others.
For us.
So just as His incarnation
was an act of obedience,
so was His going to His death.
And we read
what kind of death He died.
Even death on a cross.
So this baby born to us
was born to die for us
on a Roman cross.
Have you heard of the word excruciate?
It's an English word
that means some of the most
deepest pain physically
we experience.
Excruciate literally means
out of the cross.
crucifixion was designed
to inflict as much
physical and psychological pain
as possible.
It was one of the most
demeaning ways to die.
It was brutal.
Physically, it was awful.
Psychologically,
you are publicly
dying slowly naked.
It was humiliating.
He did it
for us.
He emptied Himself
by becoming a slave.
He emptied Himself
by taking on human likeness.
He emptied Himself
by dying on a cross
for a purpose.
And that was our salvation.
He came as a suffering servant
in the flesh
for our sake.
You can't disconnect
the incarnation
from the crucifixion.
He humbled Himself
for us.
It's in the name.
Jesus,
the Lord saves.
Emmanuel,
God with us
in humility.
The wonder of Christmas
is not the display
of the majesty of God.
but the display
of the humility of God.
That God would do this?
It's amazing.
So this little baby,
He's God.
He humbled Himself.
And He was exalted.
In verses 9-11,
we read how God the Father
responded to God the Son.
Therefore, God has highly exalted
Him and bestowed on Him
the name that is above
every name.
Notice the humility
that the Son displays
even reaches to the way
He's exalted.
He doesn't exalt Himself.
Rather, God the Father
is the one who exalts
God the Son in verse 9.
And God just didn't exalt Him.
He highly exalted Him.
This is classically
one of the Apostle Paul's
kind of made-up words he does.
It literally means
hyper-exalted.
And most likely,
Paul made it up
to try to get this sense
of the degree by which
God the Father exalted the Son.
So as a response
to the humble,
sacrificial obedience
to the Son
who went to the lowest
possible descent,
a slave,
God the Father
raised Him up
to the highest
possible degree.
Highly exalted.
And then God the Father
bestowed on Him
the name that is above
every name.
Again, it's an expression
that gets to
degree of exaltation.
And so we're left asking,
so what's the name?
What's the name above
every name?
Well, we've got two choices.
We've got to decide
between Jesus,
that name,
and another name,
Lord.
And so in verse 10,
we read,
so that at the name
of Jesus,
every knee should bow
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth.
So that since in heaven,
the angels,
and on earth,
everyone living,
and under the earth,
all the dead
will be raised up
and they will bow the knee
one day to Jesus.
So it's Jesus
and you can make
a case for that.
But the other option
is Lord.
And every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord
to the glory
of God the Father.
Now there is a little,
there's a little something
that makes the case.
Would you turn back
in your Bibles
to Isaiah chapter 45?
Isaiah chapter 45.
Verses 10 and 11
are actually
the Apostle Paul
quoting
Isaiah 45, 23.
But he's quoting it
in a very interesting way.
But in order
to understand that,
you need to understand
who's speaking
in Isaiah 45, 23.
And in Isaiah 45, 23,
we read this.
Let's start
in verse 22.
Turn to me
and be saved
to all the ends
of the earth.
For I am God
and there is no other.
Who's speaking?
God.
Yahweh.
The Lord.
By myself
I have sworn
from my mouth
has gone out
in righteousness
a word
that shall not return.
To me,
every knee
shall bow.
Every tongue
shall swear
allegiance.
When you start
realizing
that Paul
is quoting
Isaiah 45, 23
and he's quoting
God speaking,
you start realizing
he is attributing
Isaiah 45, 23
to Jesus.
He's saying
Jesus
is God.
He is the one
whom every tongue
will confess
and every knee
will bow.
So the name
that is above
every name
it's not
Jesus.
It's
Lord.
And the way
that Paul
is using
Lord
is the name
of God.
Yahweh
from the Old
Testament.
So the name
that is above
every name
is the name
Lord
as in God.
Jesus Christ
is the Lord God.
every knee
shall bow
and every tongue
confess.
So on that
day when the
child who was
born in utter
humility
and who died
in utter
humiliation,
on that day
when he returns,
his exaltation
will be complete.
Every knee
bows
and every tongue
confesses
that he
is the Lord
God
and God
exalted him.
All glory
to God
the Father.
What child
is this?
He's the
preexistent
Christ
fully
and truly
God
who humbled
himself
by becoming
a servant
taking on
human likeness
died on a
cross
was then
exalted
think
resurrection
ascension
current reign
he was
exalted
by God
the Father
and bestowed
the name
above every
name
the name
Lord
God
of all
he is
our Lord
what child
is this?
He's Jesus
he's the
Lord of all
he's Emmanuel
God
with us
how do we
respond?
We bow our
knee to him
we confess
Jesus
as our
Lord
God
we worship
him
and we
demonstrate
the same
kind of
humility
to one
another
as he
showed
in him
becoming
flesh
so the
magi
in Matthew
2.11
had some
sense of
who this
child is
we read
in going
into the
house
they saw
the child
with Mary
his mother
and they
fell down
and worshipped
him
then opening
their treasures
they offered
him gifts
gold
and frankincense
and myrrh
so despite
this child's
humble appearance
and humble
origin
and humble
surroundings
and one
day humiliating
death
the magi
knew that
this child
was the
Christ
who is
the Lord
he humbled
himself
for the
salvation
of others
that's what
you go tell
on the mountain
that Jesus
Christ
is
Lord
let's pray
God we do
thank you so
much for
Philippians 2
we thank you
for this
day
God help us
to celebrate
the incarnation
of the second
person of the
trinity
Merry Christmas
it's your plan
for the salvation
of sinners
Lord Jesus
we confess you
as our Lord
now
and know one
day
that every knee
shall bow
and every tongue
confess
who you truly
are
God in the flesh
it's in your name
we pray
amen
no
you