Messages

Christ Like Servants

Scripture: Phil 2:5-11

⁵In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:

⁶ Who, being the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

⁷ rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

 ⁸ And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

¹⁰ That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth,

¹¹ And every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Here in this book, Apostle Paul is instructing the Church in Philippi on how they are to live. This is a very practical book and here he tells us we need to live and serve like Jesus. He tells them that by following his example they can live a successful Christian life.

Vs. 5 says, ⁵In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:

Vs. 5 tells us to do what Jesus did and think what Jesus thought. And have the same attitude towards servant hood that He had. Attitude is abstract, and actions are real. Our actions are determined by our attitude. Why we do what we do.

Jesus served the way He served because He was a servant in His attitude. You do what you are. If you are a servant at heart, then serving will flow out of you very naturally. It is easy to live with people who have an attitude of a servant. Because they are there to serve and not to Lord it over you.

Servant leadership is the greatest contrast between spiritual leadership and secular leadership.

In the 3 ½ years of His ministry on the earth, Jesus consistently taught His disciples about servant hood. If you desire to be great in God’s kingdom, learn to be the servant of all. Mat 20:25

Everybody can become great because anybody can serve.

What are the qualities of a servant?

1. SERVANT GIVES UP RIGHTS FOR OTHERS: vs. 6

• The dual nature of Jesus Christ – 100% God and 100% man
• When Jesus asked Peter, who do u say I am, Peter says, You are Christ, son of the living God.
• We see a contrast between Adam and Christ, Adam was a created Human being but he always desired divinity in his life, on the other hand Christ was deity and surrendered his rights of the deity and embraced human life.
• As God he had so many rights and advantages but to serve mankind he relinquished those rights and became a man to reach out man.
• As a man, Jesus was tempted like us in every way but he did not sin.
• As God, he used his powers to people free from sin, sickness, disease, bondages, and demonic oppressions. He never used his divine power for his own advantage but used it to bless people in need.
• Paul makes it clear that the God whome we serve is not just a prophet, a healer, a teacher, But he is God incarnate. John 1:14 “the word became fleash and dwelt among us”
• Jesus did not use his rights to serve himself, for he said, he came not to be served but to serve.
• This is a clear contrast between the worldly system and Jesus. In the world the one who has more power, more money, and more prestige is the one who is served. You will have people serving them at every point of their lives.
• But in Christendom, the more you reach to the top, you don’t gain rights but you surrender those rights in order to serve like Jesus.
• If you want to have the same attitude as Christ, you need to surrender your rights just like Jesus. 

 

2.  SERVANT BECOMES NOTHING TO MAKE HIS MASTER EVERYTHING Vs. 7

• All of us like to be called as servants, but don’t like to be treated like one.
• Emptied himself…..literally became nothing. Emptied himself of his power, authority, glory, significance. And he became nothing taking the very nature of a servant.
• From nature of God he will fully embraced the nature of a servant.
• By giving up the nature of God, and becoming a servant he was living out true human life.
• He willfully surrendered the splendor of heaven to the smell of the stable, left the company of angels to have company of sinful men, he who was omnipotent embraced the limitations of humanity, from being served to serve, from the exalted one to the one to be executed, …
• Why did he do all this? Because he loved you and me…
• This is what it means to follow Christ, To lose your life to save it, to empty yourself to be filled by the love and passion of Jesus Christ.
• These are the paradoxes in the Bible,
  • Save my life…..lose my life…Luke 9:24-26
  • Be lifted up…humble myself…James 4:7
  • Be the greatest…be a servant….Mat 20:20-22
  • Be first …be last…Mat 19:30
  • Rule….serve…..luk 22:26-27
• But our fallen nature hates this….it is not interested in being emptied but filled, we are more interested in becoming something than being nothing, it does not want to give up the pride and ego.
• But if we want to serve like Jesus this is the only option.
• To willfully become nothing and empty our self of all the pride and ego and begin to serve like Jesus.

 

3. SERVANTS ARE OBEDIENT WHATEVER THE COST. Vs 8

• ⁸ And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!
• This a very powerful verse, having created the human beings, he became a human being and was obedient to death even death on the cross..
• As we sang this morning, hands that flung stars into sky to cruel nails surrendered.
• The execution on the cross was the worst kind of execution of the Romans particularly reserved for the worst criminals and the down cast of the society.
• For Jesus being the sinless man on the face of the earth, there was nothing more humiliating than the death on the cross.
• Jesus committed no sin, yet he was accused and he did not elude the cross and his shame.
  • Many times when Saul threw the javelin on David, the Bible says that David eluded the javelin, but Jesus never eluded the cross inspite of it being so humiliating for him.
• In the world that Paul lived, crucifixion was the lowest anyone could stoop socially, it was the cruelest form of execution in the Roman empire.
• Before impaling someone on the cross, they were brutally tortured and some would die then itself.
• Then they were impaled on the cross with ropes, nails, ..
• Death came slowly as the victim experienced increased blood loss, thirst, hunger, attack from wild birds and suffocation.
• 1 Cor 1:23, the message of the cross was stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the gentiles.
• Inspite of all this humiliation Jesus was obedient to the Father.
• This is the love of Christ that was shown for u and me on that cruel cross. He loved us so much to an extent of dying for us on the cross. He came from heaven to earth to show the way, from the earth to the cross my debt to pay, from the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky.
• Christ will never ask us to do as much as he did. We can never sacrifice as much he sacrificed for us. We can never be humiliated as much as he was.
• But nevertheless when we asks us to serve Him is such and such a place, in such and such a way and in such and such a time, let us not back off from being obedient.
• Jesus was obedient to the father even to death on a cross.
• Let us follow Jesus’ obedience to the father.
• Genuine discipleship involves being obedient to Christ, whatever the cost, whenever the call, wherever and however. There are no part time, partial disciples. With Jesus it is either all or nothing. 

 

4. SERVANT HOOD WILL BE REWARDED: vs. 9-11

• ⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

¹⁰ That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth,

¹¹ And every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

• Because Jesus was obedient, he humbled himself and was willing to pay the price, he will be exalted.
• Because of this God exalted him and gave him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father.
• Proverbs 22:4: "The result of humility is the fear of the LORD along with wealth, honor, and life."
• Matthew 23:11: "The greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
• James 4:10: Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
• Luke 14:11-14: "'For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.'
• God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
• Servant hood will always be rewarded. Ex. Joseph

 

5. SERVANT HOOD IS MORE ABOUT BEING THAN DOING:

• Any religion that exalts self above all else cannot be true Christianity. Christ himself being God, humbled himself and became a servant and taught is by example, how much more we as his followers need to follow His example.
• If He died for us, how much we need to live for others.
• Many times we desire to demonstrate servanthood in some big ways. But it all starts in small ways everyday of our lives.
• Be a servant in your houses, in small groups….
• Your thoughts become your attitudes, your attitudes become your actions and your actions become your behavior.
• If you want to change your behavior, change your thoughts, then your attitude will change and then there will be a change in your actions.
• Determine to serve, no matter what is the place, time or the situation.
• Many of us are willing to wash the feet of Jesus, which is comparatively easy, But that’s not what Jesus expects from us. He wants us to wash one anothers feet.
• When we are willing to serve one another, like Jesus, we will enjoy all the blessings of obedience.

Conclusion

• Are you here to serve or are you here to be served?
• Is your attitude like the world's or is it like Christ's?
• Are you going through the motions of service or are you becoming a servant?