6 Days to Christmas

Today I want to look at Philippians 2:9. We have studied one of the most beautiful passages in the entire Bible for the last 12 blogs. Verses 6-8 demonstrate to us what was involved in Christmas and how we should respond to it. Paul says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” Jesus became the greatest missionary because He embraced suffering. The writer of Hebrews tells us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Have you ever grown weary in the mission? Have you ever lost heart in the commission? Consider the suffering example of Jesus and press on. Paul tells us of Jesus’ great journey down the road to the incarnation. He willingly abandoned a sovereign position, He accepted a servants place, so that He could approach a sinful people. If the Christmas season does anything to us it should remind us of the Missionary Call. We are to go. We are to do whatever it takes so that all can hear. The beauty of it all is that we are promised success—I say that simply because it is within the plan of God for the Gospel to be preached to all the nations. When we join with God in sharing His missionary zeal we are guaranteed victory. Victory, but not ease. Abundance, but not comfort. Joy with sorrow. Peace with persecution. Life even in death. That is the call—take up your cross daily and follow Him. How can we do it?

We do it because of one word in this great passage. The word—“therefore.” What a great word! You know the drill—whenever you see a therefore you ask, “What is it there for?” Because of the suffering Jesus endured, because He abandoned a sovereign position, because He accepted a servants place, because He approached a sinful people; “therefore, God…” This is a fulfillment of a Biblical principle—Matthew 23:12, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles Himself will be exalted.” Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:5, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” We spend so much time exalting ourselves—making ourselves comfortable, taking care of our needs and the needs of our children that we have lost our zeal. We have lost our focus. Where is the willingness to suffer for the cause? Where is the abandonment? Where are the servants? Even our pastors have become CEO’s and our deacons have become Boards. Where is Jesus in that? Our calling is not to be like the world—our calling is to be followers of Jesus.