When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Preached at Northwest Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, May 15, 2011

Philippians 2:1-11, “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 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 bond-servant, and coming in the likeness of men. 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. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

What do you see when you look at the cross of Jesus? For centuries the cross has been the symbol of the Christian faith, displayed in many different ways, some ornate, some ordinary, the world over. Yet, this representation of what really is at the heart of Christianity, though millions, maybe billions have seen it, I dare say that nearly that many have misunderstood it and not grasped what it means.

What do you see when you look at the cross of Christ? An ornate piece of church furniture? An odd arrangement of ordinary wood, upright and crossbeam? A good-luck charm to be carried in one’s pocket? A piece of jewelry to be hung around one’s neck? A crucifix, with Jesus still hanging there, perhaps indicating that somehow His work is not yet finished there? The cross of Jesus, what do you see?

The song writer, Isaac Watts, penned these immortal words, as his answer to that question, you remember them, I’m sure:

“When I survey the wondrous cross

on which the Prince of glory died,

my richest gain I count but loss,

and pour contempt on all my pride.

“See, from His head, His hands, His feet,

sorrow and love flow mingled down;

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,

or thorns compose so rich a crown?”

What do you see when you survey the cross of Jesus?

For the Christian – I’m not talking about the ‘bench warmer’, the ‘pew filler’, the ‘religious’ man or woman or young person, no – but for the Christian, born of God, born again, New Creation in Christ person, there is insight into what that piece of church furniture stands for. In this powerful passage of Scripture, God’s Holy Spirit not only directed the apostle Paul to describe in very moving terms the INCARNATION of Jesus, how God the Son, Who was in the very form and essence of God the Father, made Himself of no reputation, took upon the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.

In Philippians 2:5ff, Paul not only graphically describes the INCARNATION of God the Son, and points forward to the other side of the cross, the EXALTATION of God the Son to the right hand of God the Father as He, Jesus Christ, received from His Father the name that is above every name… Notice what he does, what God’s Spirit directed Paul to insert and include right there in the middle. Philippians 2:8 – The incarnated Son of God, the soon-to-be-exalted Son of God, Paul says that in between those two monumental events stands one event that makes the other two what they are: “[Jesus Christ, God the Son] humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross…”

What do you see when you look at the cross of Christ? What insight into that unusual configuration of wood do you gain from what Paul says here?

Let me suggest two things for you to consider: first of all, for the Christian, for all who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, and who bow to Him as Lord, there is atoning significance to the cross of Christ…

I trust that for all who are within the sound of my voice right now, there is a recognition of, an acknowledgment of sin in their lives. An admission something along these lines: “I am a great sinner…” But, this is where most people’s biggest problem lies. They recognize that something’s not quite right with them, maybe even use the labels “sin” and “sinner” to describe that problem. But what to do about it? That’s where the trouble is. What to do about my sin?

My friends, do you know what to do about your sin? I have a friend who thinks that if she pray and practice the rosary often enough – somehow, some way – that will take care of her sin. What to do about your sin? Is that the thing to do about it? I have another friend, struggling with some deep-rooted sin-issues in her life, seeking to find a way to deal with those issues, she told me, “I’m trying to figure out who or what my ‘Higher Power’ is so that I can overcome these things…”

What to do about our sin? Is that the thing to do about it?

I know people, and likely you do, too, who think that what they must do about their sin, what they have done about their sin, is pray a prayer, say a few special words, get dunked in a baptistery, give a big check to the church, serve as an Elder or Deacon or Sunday School Teacher, perhaps even go into the ministry or head to the mission field, and that somehow, some way, those things will compensate for their sin and make things right for them with God.

But listen, what does the Word of God say? In this one simple verse, Philippians 2:8 - this verse that summarizes all of what Matthew, Mark, Luke and John describes for us in greater detail about the suffering, the agony, the death of Christ – what do we read? Well, for starters, let me remind you of what we don’t read here. You and I DON’T read anywhere in that verse, our names, so as to inform us that, when it comes to ATONING for our sins, paying the penalty for them so that we could be right with God, we had nothing to do with it! WE had nothing to do with the atoning of our sins before our Maker and Judge. So, who did? Has our penalty been paid? Have our sins been atoned for?

My Loved Ones, do you realize how precious the four simple words “I am IN CHRIST” really are? My prayers, my good works, my participation in religious ceremonies, my… my… my… had nothing to do with it! What He did, what Jesus Christ did – “It is finished! Paid in full!” - at Calvary had everything to do with paying the price for my sins! “He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” is how it is put here in Philippians 2.

Peter describes it like this, what marvelous words, 1 Peter 2:24-25, “Jesus Christ Himself bore our sins [not His own sins, He was the sinless One, the Spotless Lamb who came into this world to take away our sins] in His own body on the cross…” We didn’t do it! NO! We were like sheep, going astray, everyone of us going our own way rather than the way our Creator meant for us to go - in essence that’s what sin is! We were like straying sheep, blind to our eternally, dreadful destination. But listen, the Lord of the universe, laid on His own Beloved Son the iniquities of us all, so that by His stripes, by and because of what He endured on that cross, we might be healed! Isn’t that the best news you’ve ever heard?

Beloved, there is ATONING significance to the cross of Christ! Two thousand years ago, on a configuration of wood very similar to that one there, “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us!” But listen, that’s not all God wants us to see and understand when we look at the cross. The Scripture text from Philippians two – did you make note of how it begins?

In this grand exposition of the Incarnation, Humiliation and Exaltation of Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul begins the passage with these poignant words: “Let this mind(set) be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…” In powerful and penetrating terms, the Holy Spirit uses the pen of the apostle Paul to say: “Jesus Christ, God the Son, He was in the very nature God, shared the same essence and nature as His Father, yet, instead of clinging to that and the perogatives of that status and position, what did He do? Jesus made Himself of no reputation, set aside His status as the Son, He took upon the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men…” Wonderful! He did all of that at the bidding of His Father! Wonderful! But, look, that’s not all He did at His Father’s command!

We just read about it, we just studied it a moment ago. God the Son, not only laid aside the privilege of Son-ship to become a servant! Listen, He also became obedient unto DEATH, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, if there’s any other way, for sin to be atoned for – please – let it be. Nevertheless! Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done!” Jesus Christ, God the Son, not only laid aside the privilege of Son-ship to be a servant, He also became obedient all the way to death, the excruciating death of the cross, to be our sacrifice – why? To set an example, to be a model, to point the way our heavenly Father expects US to walk! “Let this mind be in you...”

I mentioned earlier that verse 8, as it describes the atoning significance of the cross for us, has everything to do with Jesus and with what He did for us at Calvary! And nothing to do with us! So as to teach us that we CAN'T atone for our sins! And all of that is true...

But listen, it is every bit as true to say that the cross of Christ, in “Let-this-mind-be-in-you” fashion has everything to do with us! It does! Verse 8, what does it say again? It says that Jesus Christ, God the Son, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Now look at the very next verse following the end of our Scripture text, Philippians 2:12.

Through Christ, through the obedient, atoning death of Christ, are you God's son or daughter? Then what? “Let this mind(set) be in you...” “Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

There is – God intended for there to be EXEMPLARY significance to what Jesus did on Calvary!

1 Peter 2:24-25, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

1 Corinthians 6:18-20, “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

This obedience, as God's children following the example of God the Son, Paul prayed for it in Philippians 1:9-11; he promoted it, through letters like this one, and most of all, by his own life of obedience, he preached it! He said, “Follow me, as I follow Christ...”

And he did so, because of what he saw when he looked at the cross:

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,

Save in the death of Christ, my God;

All the vain things that charm me most-

I sacrifice them to His blood.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small:

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

What do you see, what do I see, when we look at the cross?

The Incarnation of God the Son: Crucial Doctrine, Practical Application

Image credit: Phoebe Kautt

Preached at Northwest Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, May 1, 2011

Philippians 2:1-16, “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 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. 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. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”

This message is really mean to be a continuation of our study during the Bible School hour a few moments ago, and what you might call an ‘overflow’ of the messages regarding the April Fool which were our study focus last month. The questions before us, when reading and studying a passage like this are numerous – complex – and I think quite riveting. I’d like to invite you to walk through the passage with me and consider with me the deep truths of the gospel and how those truths, that Biblical doctrine are meant to transform you and me.

Going back to the records, the accounts of Jesus’ birth found in Matthew chapters one and two, and Luke chapters one and two, the first truth of the gospel, the first core doctrine with which the apostle Paul instructs his friends at Philippi and his friends at McKinney is the doctrine of the Incarnation. In startling, almost mind-boggling contrast, the apostle Paul, like apostle John and the apostle Matthew, and like the inspired writer Luke sets forth this truth: Jesus Christ was in the very form of God. He was in every way of the same nature and of the same essence, and possessed the same eternal and infinite attributes as God the Father. He was, is and always will be the Second member of the Triune Godhead, the One Scripture describes as God the Son.

The apostle John, opening up his gospel in much the same way as the Book of Genesis opens up the Bible, the apostle John speaks of Jesus’ eternal nature and of His oneness with the Father from eternity past like this: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…” Don’t miss that last phrase either. That’s the phrase the Jehovah’s Witnesses have reworked in their theology and re-translated in their ‘Bible’ so as to claim that Jesus Christ is somehow, some way a lesser, an inferior ‘god’ with a small ‘g’. Just like the apostle John, whose bold, emphatic and exceedingly clear declaration was: Jesus, the Eternal Word of God, was, is and always will be God, what God was, fully and eternally divine… so, the apostle Paul reminds us in this first statement of gospel doctrine that Jesus Christ was equal with God.

By the way, did you remember that that unique relationship, that unparalleled status and position of equality with God was what Satan urged Adam and Eve to pursue in the garden? Genesis 4:3 – “Go ahead. You won’t die! Go ahead, eat the forbidden fruit, because if you do you will be like God, knowing good and evil…”

Listen, my Loved Ones, I know this is deep, deep stuff, and difficult for us to totally comprehend. But listen, the doctrine of the Incarnation, that core gospel doctrine is ravaged of its stumbling block ability – you know, “it if foolishness to those who are perishing” (1 Cor. 1:18) – and also it is robbed of its life-altering, eternal destiny changing power in our lives, if we don’t grasp, or if we, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and many other false groups, remove from it the fact that Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, was first of all the Eternal Word of God, God the Son, fully, infinitely, eternally EQUAL WITH GOD!

Yes, go ahead, take a minute and let what I’ve just explained to you sort of sink in. It’s difficulty stuff, isn’t it? We look at pictures, artists’ rendering of what Jesus may have looked like, maybe have even in our own minds a mental image of our Savior’s face, so tender, so warm, so human! But listen, as nice as those things might be, listen, that’s not who Jesus was before Bethlehem! No! He was, as Luke records in his genealogy of Jesus found in Luke chapter three, the Son of God, last line, startling, mind-boggling last line of the genealogy, Jesus was not, as most everyone supposed, the son of Joseph, the carpenter from Nazareth! No! He was – is – always will be, the Son of God! (Luke 3:38) The Eternal Word of God – with God – in the beginning.

Now, why do I press this point so intensely? Two reasons; number one, because of how it helps us see the depths of what Christ did for us! And, what an awesome things all of that is! But secondly, I press this point about the full deity of Christ, about His being in ‘very nature’ God (that’s what the simply word ‘form’ means, there in verse 6); Jesus’ Christ essential being and nature is God – the same - not less than, not different from God the Father, but the same. I press this point about Jesus Christ’s full deity because of how it serves to instruct us, and yes, I would say, even confront us and rebuke us, right where we NEED rebuke, confrontation and instruction. Let’s open each of these up for just a moment, shall we?

Do you and I really grasp, in all its depth, in all its meaning, in all of its infinite beauty, what Jesus Christ has done for us? I’d like to suggest to you that we don’t! We should make it our aim to grasp these things. In fact, the apostle Paul prayed that the Christians at Ephesus WOULD grasp the depths of all of this in Ephesians chapters one and three. Take a look.

Ephesians 1:15-23, “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

Ephesians 3:14-21, “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Do you and I really comprehend the depths of what Jesus Christ has done for us? I don’t think we do!

But listen, don’t lose heart. Don’t give up or give in. That’s why the apostle Paul wrote Philippians chapter two, to help us, to enable us to more fully understand the awesome nature of what Jesus has done for us, when He became flesh and dwelt among us. That’s why God’s Spirit directed Paul to write Philippians chapter two.

And, what has Jesus Christ done for us in this thing we Christian’s call the Incarnation? It’s deep. I know it is. But listen, in light of what we’ve already learned about the infinite and eternal DEITY of Christ, it is also downright startling! Shocking! And undoubtedly, a stumbling block of FOOLISHNESS to many across the centuries. What am I talking about? Four times, in slightly different ways with slightly different aspects of meaning, but all four, bundled up to penetrate our hearts; here’s what I’m talking about.

Philippians 2:5 and following: “Christ Jesus, who was in the form of God… [and] equal with God… what did He do for us?

In 2 Corinthians 8:9 the apostle Paul puts it this way. Don’t you love this verse? A verse, by the way, that is situated right, smack-dab, in the middle of a section in 2 Corinthians about paying your tithes. In 2 Corinthians 8:9, the apostle Paul describes this startling, almost shocking nature of the doctrine of the Incarnation of Christ like this: “for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich – Donald Trump eat your heart out! Though Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word of God, Second member of the Godhead, though He was rich – with a capital ‘R’ – in His grace, what did He do? “He became poor, born in a stable, placed in a manger, nowhere to lay His head on this earth, no place really to call ‘home’.

The eternally RICH God, the Son, became poor – POOR – that you through His poverty might become rich!” Do you comprehend the DEPTHS of what Jesus Christ did for you? Paul’s hoping, praying, writing so that we will…

And so he says, in Philippians 2:5-8,

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 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. 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.”

What did Jesus Christ do for you? He did not grasp for, cling to, that pre-incarnate glory and majesty, but made Himself of no reputation, literally, “He emptied Himself,” took on the form of a slave, a bondservant, and came in the likeness of men; that we, that WE, through His poverty, might become rich!

Now listen, in as simple of terms as I can come up with, that’s the Doctrine of the Incarnation. The Word, the Eternal Word of God, Who was with God in the beginning, God the Son, Jesus Christ, the Infinitely Rich One, the Equal with God One; He became flesh, He became poor. That’s the startling, shocking, stumbling block of the Incarnation. And, that doctrine is at the heart of all that Jesus Christ has done for us. But listen, here’s where the message moves from staggering depths of doctrine, to stunning words of instruction and rebuke. So, get ready, get ready.

Verse 5 – The pivot point for the whole passage, notice what it says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” Another translation puts it like this: “your attitude, your mindset should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…”

Okay, Paul. Okay. What are you trying to tell us? Drop down to verses 14 through 16 with me, will you? The God and Father who desires to have blameless and un-blemished children in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation – are you a child of God? Blameless and without blemish, is that what you are? The Savior who longs for the ones He came to save to shine like lights in the world. And, ye, even the apostle who prayed, I mean begged God that people at Philippi and people at McKinney would hold fast the Word of life so that he could rejoice in the day of Christ that he had not run or labored in vain.

God – our Father – Jesus Christ, our Savior; Paul, inspired apostle, all three of them exhort us with the words… “let this mind, this mindset, this attitude that prompted Jesus Christ to do what He did, let it be in you!” Why? You know why, don’t you? I know, it hurts, it embarrasses us, it really ought to SHAME us, that we NEED that exhortation; but, we need that Christ-like mindset, because instead of enjoying the consolation Christ provides, instead of being comforted by His love, instead of relishing a fellowship, a Holy Spirit-fellowship, richer and deeper than any other on earth; instead of being marked as our Savior is marked, by affection, tender affection and mercy, you know what we are! We are pursuing self! We are watching out only for our own interests! We are esteeming ourselves better than anyone else! We are on the hunt for an empty glory – “I will be like God!” - that is really no glory at all! Let this mind, this Christ-like mindset, be in you! In you! Can you hear the still small voice, the quiet whisper of the Spirit of Jesus, and of the Word of Jesus to the effect that this is the way God intended for you and me to think and behave all along? Can you hear them say, “in Christ, in God, who is at work in His children, both to will and to do for His good pleasure, to please Him! In Him this is the way it CAN be, it WILL BE in you and me? Or, or – Is the only voice we hear the screaming, blaring voice of our Enemy, “you can be as God – go ahead – eat the fruit!”?

The Doctrine of the Incarnation of Christ, and really, also that of the humiliation of Christ, stretched out as He was, on Calvary’s cross, and that of the Exaltation of Christ, here’s what they teach us, what they say to us:

Jesus Christ emptied Himself and thus, was highly exalted…

But we, too often we, exalt ourselves, and thus, God – what does He do? He has to humble us! He has to confront us with the words, “Let this mind, THIS mind be in you…”