As Paul continues to encourage the church at Philippi about how to live as Christians he offers them this straightforward, yet tremendously serious, command: be like Jesus. The focus of Paul's message is that we need to emulate the attitude displayed by Jesus. The Gospels are full of examples of the words and actions of Jesus that Jesus himself tells us to copy, but here in Philippians Paul focuses on the attitude (i.e. worldview, mindset) that made those words and actions in the Gospels possible.
The first step in adopting a Christ-like attitude is humility. As God, Jesus didn't seek to hold onto the rights and privileges that were justly his, rather he set them aside in order to be a servant. If we are going to make a difference in this world, we too must serve.
Secondly, Jesus took upon himself the very form of humanity, including all of our limitations except the sin nature, in order to truly offer humanity a once and for all salvation. How could any of us fail to stoop to help others when God himself embraced human frailty, became "God with us", in order to save us?
Lastly, and most importantly, Jesus was obedient. This isn't a case of being obedient because it is convenient or expedient, the obedience of Jesus to the will of the Father led to his gruesome and humiliating death upon a cross. Why would Jesus do such a thing? It was the only way. Therefore, we too must take up our cross and follow in the footsteps of Jesus. The only way to truly be like Jesus is to also be obedient to the Word of God.
Thankfully, Paul also includes a vision of Jesus' future glory to encourage us to follow him. On that last day, everyone and everything that has speech will bow the knee to Jesus and proclaim that he is Lord. There is no question that we will be there and participate in the honor that is due to Jesus. The question to you is: Do you want to join willingly in the celebration of Jesus' glory?
What does it mean to "be like Jesus"? Humility. Obedience. Glory.
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