CHRIST’S EXAMPLE

CHRIST’S EXAMPLE

Phil. 2:8 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.

I am not so sure which is the most stunning; the glory of God seen in the deity of Christ and the infinite attributes associated with His divine nature, or the the incredible beauty of the testimony of Jesus seen in His humanity. Paul said, “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men”, that verse describes the shocking truth of the humility of Christ seen in His humanity. David said that God had to humble Himself to even take notice of the planet earth, how much more humility is seen in Him when He actually entered into His creation and appeared as part of the creation. Wow!!! He humbled Himself to become a man, and as Paul said, a servant. The word for servant that Paul used was doulos, it means a male slave. That is part of the incredible testimony of Jesus, He not only became a man, He came as a servant and suffered the humiliating death of crucifixion on a Roman cross. Jonathan Edwards wrote about the example Christ displayed in His walk as a man. Here is a short excerpt.

“The sincerity and wonderful ardency of Christ’s love and friendship to his disciples, his wonderfully pitiful and compassionate nature, and the tenderness of his heart and his great love to mankind and all that were his, appears by his taking so much pains and being so much concerned for the comforting of his disciples, just before his death, when he had all the horrors of that just before his eyes; and we know that he was not a little affected by this prospect. And yet he seems to be much more concerned for the disciples, than himself; he seems to be wholly taken up in pitying them, exhorting and counseling them, and praying for them and the church. How strange it seems to a man that is going to be put to death, [to be] so much concerned and taken up in pitying his friends; what a degree of friendship must that be that will cause it. ‘Twas not because he was unconcerned about his death.”

Just as Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father”. His entire life was an unveiling of God’s love. We see it in His birth, His life, His ministry, and in His death. We all have different feelings and opinions of what love is and what love may look like. In Christ it becomes blazingly visible. So if you are stumbling through life, maybe feeling like nobody cares or even takes notice of you in your troubles, take heart. Christ loves you totally and finally. If you can’t feel it or see it, have another look at Jesus as seen in the gospels. If you take another look I think you will agree, this is what love really looks like, it looks like Jesus.