Just as I believe the Bible is as a mirror that gives us a true reflection of what we really look like, I also believe it contains many “portraits” of Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Over the course of our studies in the Bible we will often come across these “portraits” and this particularly discussion centres on that which is found within Philippians 2:5-11.
Usually when I have read this passage, the two elements which are most striking about this picture of the Lord Yeshua are His Humility and His Meekness. A while ago when reading through Philippians again, I saw yet another element in this portrait and was really struck by it.
Philippians 2:5-11 reads:
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it [b]robbery to be equal with God, 7 but [c]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The verses being considered here in particular are verses 6-8.
Meditating on these what I came to see at every stage was the motivation of the Lord. That motivation was love. Love between Himself and God the Father and His love for humanity. Can you see this too, I wonder?
Our Motivations
This struck me especially because of the clear contrast between the Lord and us. Undoubtedly great and incredible and praiseworthy acts may be done by individuals but an honest and real assessment of the motives behind those acts more often than not reveals motives other than an absolute self-less love.
Sometimes – many times – if we are honest with ourselves, we too can find ourselves doing and saying things (or leaving things undone) which, before God, which have questionable motives them. At the very least they are not always all they should be when we really search our hearts.
The Lord’s Motivation
Not so for our Lord and Saviour Yeshua The Messiah.
It was because of His giving and self-less love that He left His place of glory, where
- He is worshipped,
- where His will is done; and
- where, as John 1:1 states ‘the Word was God’
to come to this earth to redeemed us and save us from our sins and all the fearful consequences following. God, our Saviour, came to us who needed to be saved.
Love as the Lord’s motivation.
As we think about that, let’s just take a moment to consider again at how amazing this is.
Keeping in the forefront of our minds those words used by John concerning the Lord Yeshua The Messiah as “the Word who was God” thinking about what that means, we can see that:
- It was because of love – love was the motivation of the Word who was God who ‘made Himself of no reputation’ – (verse 7).
- Love was the motivation behind the Word who was God ‘taking the form of a bondservant’, (verse 7) the lowest of all servants instead of choosing, for example, to come in the position of a reigning king.
- Love was the motivation behind the Word who was God ‘coming in the likeness of men’. He chose to become one of us – us whom He had created and formed from the dust of the earth – instead of choosing, for example to come in the likeness of a powerful and glorious looking angel. The likeness that He chose was so ordinary too – no Hollywood glamour looks here. Isaiah the Hebrew Prophet wrote this:
“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2)
- Love was the motivation as the Word who was God ‘humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross’.
- Love was the motivation as the Word who was God ‘humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross’.
Looking At the Lord Yeshua Again
- Look at the life of Yeshua as portrayed in the Gospels. See again the humility and meekness of the Word who was God as He lived amongst man.
- His Birth – entering this world as in the way of all humans, as a baby (Luke 2:6-16).
- His (human) family’s circumstances – choosing lowliness (Luke 2:22-24 & Leviticus 12:6-8).
- Sharing in our humanity, and so felt:
- hunger (Matthew 4:2).
- thirst (John 19:28).
- weariness (John 4:6).
- in need of sleep (Matt. 8:24).
- sadness so as to shed tears (John 11:35).
- grieved (Mark 3:5).
- sorrowful (Matthew 26:38).
- despised and rejected by His own creation (Isaiah 53:3).
- agony (Matt. 22:44);
- abandoned and alone (Matthew 27:46).
- See His obedience motivated by this love (John 14:31).
- See the works motivated by this love (John 8:28-29).
- See the suffering that the Word who was God chose to suffer motivated by this love (John 10:11; John 10:18).
- See again the ultimate demonstration of that love as the motivation in the Word who was God becoming the sin-offering (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4) to save His fallen and lost humanity.
- See again this love that was the motivation in the Word who was God choosing to endure the greatest agony of all in becoming our sin-offering, that experience of separation from God the Father for only time in all eternity as He, the Word who was God becomes the sin-offering, as Matthew 27:46 tells us:
“Yeshua cried out with a loud voice, saying “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
- See that this love was the motivation in the Word who was God dying the most shameful and agonizing death, on a cross, amongst common criminals.
A thought on Application:
So, what can we take from this?
Among questions which may arise from looking at these things, must surely be:
- What are my motivations?
- How do we as believers grow in the area of being motivated by genuine love?
Growing in the grace and knowing of God
The answer I felt laid on my heart as I pondered these things was “through knowing Yeshua”.
What answer does the Holy Spirit lay on your heart in thinking of these things?
What does it mean to ‘know’ the Lord?
What does that look like – in practical terms – to ‘know the Lord’. Thank God for the word of God and the Holy Spirit to guide us in His truth through the grace of God. How glorious it is that the word of God is limitless in depth, light and truth from which we can continually draw as the Holy Spirit makes them alive for us, to us and in us, the grace of God helping us.
May we be continually enabled though the Holy Spirit to ‘run the race of faith’ hearing and doing the word as we hear that we may grow in the grace of Lord Yeshua. So many examples in the Bible instruct us that to know the Lord is to walk in accordance with His will. Taking time to find these and practice holding these in our thoughts, thinking over them will always be a blessing to a heart voluntarily seeking God.
There is of course the important distinction we must make which – as with many things shared on this site we know already, but sometimes we ‘forget to remember’ – is the knowing of the Lord from merely knowing about the Lord.
It is so great that we can tell another person all about Lord Yeshua from our reading the word, listening to messages and being involved in the work of the Lord. May we also know the grace of God enabling us to also keep keeping in mind that on the day we stand before the Lord Yeshua, the most important thing will be He knew us and that we knew the Him.
I know as women we tend to feel comfier in our sister Martha’s shoes, but we need to make sure we slip into Mary’s as often as we can (Luke 10:38-42).
How do we as believers grow in the area of being motivated by genuine love?
As we grow in our knowledge of Him through, for example:
- not just studying and reading the Bible, but allowing His words to abide is us, correct us and submitting to it – the word that is living and active (John 14:7; Hebrews 4:12);
- through not just “praying”, but learning increasingly to seek God’s face with all our heart, having in it a deepening desire to seek His will to be done;
- through not just obeying or obeying for getting, but seeking to obey out of a motivation of love for God;
we are – or are more likely to be – submitting to and co-operating with the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Which, we are taught, is to reveal the Lord Yeshua to us and in us and through us – without whom we cannot do anything anyway. As this happens, He brings forth His fruit in us – and the fruit of the Spirit is love (amongst other things) (Galatians 5:22).
Once again, so many Scriptures can help us and direct our personal prayers to Father God in our quiet time, trusting the promise that He will give us what we have need of if we ask believing, knowing nothing which might hinder His answer towards us. It is His will that we be conformed to the likeness of His beloved Son Yeshua, through whom we have come to know the love of God. This Scripture comes to mind just now as I consider this:
15 Whoever confesses that Yeshua is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love [c]Him because He first loved us.
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, [d]how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
Which Scripture(s) come to your thoughts?
May Almighty God our Heavenly Father grant us His grace to help us to continue persevering and increasingly to hear and obey by His Spirit, following Lord Yeshua equipped with His love, serving Him to His glory.
Please feel free to leave your comments below and so build one another up in these perilous days.
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