Christ is Lord 

Philippians 2:1-30

Key Verses 2:9-11

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

In this passage Paul exhorted each of the brothers and sisters at the church of Philippi to curb his or her own pride, and regard others as better than themselves, and thereby look to the interests of others as well as their own, for doing so is the key to building up the body of Christ, and thereby fulfilling the purpose of a church, that is, to advance the gospel efficiently, with all the members of a church still being very joyful.  

1. Read v. 1-4. What does this passage suggest to us about: 1) the good the saints at the church of Philippi tried to do to others; 2) the "problems" that surfaced in so doing; 3) the cause(s) for the problems; and 4) Paul's solution to the problems? 

** They tried to serve others by sharing with others words of encouragement or comfort, or by showing compassion to fellow coworkers. 

** The following expressions suggest to us 7 different categories of problems that surfaced:

1) "Make my joy complete" showing lack of joy;

2) "By being like-minded" showing lack of unity in mind;

3) "Having the same love" showing hatred and enmity was growing up;

4) "Being one in spirit and purpose" showing disunity in spirit and purpose; 

5) "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit" showing the church fellowship becoming like a fraternity or sorority house; 

6) "But in humility" showing some people becoming proud;

7) "Consider others better than yourselves" showing some of the members suffering from superiority or inferiority complex. 

** First cause is pride, and second cause is selfishness, for you become proud, and then you become a self-seeking person, rather than God seeking and others-seeking. 

** Solution: Regard others as better than yourself; look to not only your own interests but also the interests of others. 

2. Read v. 3 again. In what respect is it not always easy for one to regard others as "better" than oneself (1)? Yet why is it that one must consider others as better than himself? 

** Mainly it is because of the lack of perspective, for when we see others from a human perspective we end up with either a superiority complex or inferiority complex. For example, when we perform well it is not easy to see others who do not perform as well as we do as better than us. Or it is not easy for a sister who thinks she is pretty to regard other sisters as better than herself. 

This is the so-called “honors student syndrome". Suppose you got an A plus on the final exam in Physics, and the student sitting next to you got an F minus. An A student finds it difficult to see an F student as better than himself.

** We must see others as better than ourselves because: 1) God created each person according to his own image, granting each person unique beauty (Gen 1:26-28); 2) if you can perform well it is not because of you but because of God who helped you to perform better (1Co 4:7; 1:31); and 3) if anyone is in Christ, he or she is already a child of God in whose eyes he or she is already perfect. 

3. Read v. 4 again. What does the expression "not only...but also" suggest to us about: 1) what we are naturally good at doing; and 2) what we are not always good at doing? What does the word "should" tell us about the level of efforts we need to exert in looking to the interests of others?

** We are naturally good in seeking our own interests.

** We are not good at looking to the interests of others.

** We must exert conscious effort to look to the interests of others, for unless we "struggle hard" to look to the interests of others, even without ourselves knowing it we end up serving our own interests alone, even at the sacrifice of others'. 

4. Memorize v. 5. What does "attitude" mean? What is the significance of an "attitude" (Gn 1:26-28; 1Ki 11:11; Mt 20:16)?

** A position of the body or manner of carrying oneself; state of feeling or mind about a person or situation. 

** It (i.e., having the right attitude) is the key to fulfilling our full potential as a human being, for God created us to know God and grow to his greatness. The opposite is true (Gen 1:26-28). If one maintains a wrong attitude even if one has been created to perform superbly one is bound to fall into a bottomless pit. So we say, "In the school of success attitude is everything." 

5. Read vs. 6-7. What does the word "consider" tell us about the beginning point of maintaining a right attitude? What does "made" tell us about the kind of decision Jesus made despite his identity as God? How do you think Jesus could make such a decision (1Jn 4:16; Jn 14:10; 2Co 5:14)? 

** It all takes place within the space called "mind." The word "consider" talks about the faculty of mind. In one's mind, what kind of position you take before God and before men is what causes you to either rise or fall, without a limit.

** The decision to give up his glory as God and enter the human world, becoming like us. 

** It is thanks to the love of God that prompted Jesus to do this. Jesus understood God's love which is totally selfless, and therefore totally sacrificial. 

6. Read vs. 7-8. What was it like for one to live as a "servant" in Jesus' day (Lk 17:7-10)? What might it have been like for God to be made in "human likeness" for good? What must it have been like to obey the command that you (an innocent man) sacrifice even to the point of dying on a cross? Yet how was Jesus able to obey the command? 

** Servants did not live to promote their own interests but to serve their master's interests, in total sacrifice of their lives.  

** It might have been as difficult as it is for a man to be born as a rat or an earthworm and remain so eternally. 

** The drops of  sweat turning to [look like] blood as Luke 22:44 describes shows us the kind of struggles/pains Jesus had to undergo in securing  obedience to the point of dying on a cross. 

Luke 22:44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

** In humility, he considered himself as nothing. 

7. Read vs. 9-11 and describe the way God blessed Jesus' humble obedience. What does this passage, especially the expression "Christ is Lord", tell us about the blessedness of the life that curbs one's own pride and serves others as Jesus did? 

** Lord means the sovereign ruler, indicating that God designed the universe in such a way that the humble would rule the world.

The end.