Scripture
6 Who, being in very nature 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 man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Reflection
Happy New Year.
What a great time to follow through on those new year’s resolutions we’ve made. But before we get started with them, can I encourage you to add ‘humility’ to it.
We read in today’s three verses what the epitome of humility should look like. Not only do we learn what humility looks like from these verses but it also leaves us with a mandate to imitate it. In order to help Paul’s readers to understand the full force of this type of humility, Paul employs the doctrine of incarnation to explain it.
Paul was making the point that Jesus is the very essence of God and in his incarnation, he embraced perfect humanity also. The fact that Jesus assumed humanity is crucial for us because as Gregory Naziazen said ‘What has not been assumed has not been healed or redeemed’. It’s because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that we can now have a relationship with God the Father. It’s also because Jesus didn’t consider himself equality with God that we can now also imitate this type of humility and reflect it back into the world. Therefore, for the year 2021, let’s clothe ourselves with Christ’s humility as a new year’s resolution as we journey together in making Jesus the center of our lives.
Thoughts for the day
- What does this passage tell you about God or Jesus?
- What does this passage tell you about humanity?
- What do you feel God is telling you through this passage?
- How can you apply this message in an area of your life that needs transformation?
- Is there anyone you think should hear or will benefit from this message? Go and tell them.
Prayer
Pray for specific people you know; neighbors, friends or those you see when you walk. Or, pray for opportunities to get to know your neighbors better.
