Philippians 2: 5-11

        I would like to say something about the kind of man that God chooses.  God does not choose things that are seen with the natural eye, but He sees a character of man here, humble, obedient, the One who was the Bondman.  This One goes on, having no place in this world, but that character is of great worth to God, it is of great worth to heaven.  I think there is a great encouragement to us.  I think there is something that God finds in believers today that take on this character, “For let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”, Phil 2: 5.  This is the pattern.  As our brother has been saying, there is only one pattern, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.  I have only a very simple impression but I am encouraged by what our brother has been saying.

        Christ has been cast out as worthless by man.  Men were so near, and they took account of Christ, but they cast Him out; they rejected Him.  They could not see the beauty that was in the Lord Jesus.  As a result of our time together, as the Lord has spoken to us, do we see beauty in Jesus?  Do we see beauty in God’s Man?  I think that would be a wonderful encouragement for every heart here if we are to leave this room tonight and say, ‘I have seen something in Jesus I have never seen before’, because there is something beautiful, some beautiful characteristic feature in Jesus that has never been seen, and never will be seen, in any other man.  But there is something, I believe, that has been formed in every believer which God is taking pleasure in.  There is a principle in this; God exalts that character of man.  Although Jesus is unique, and He is unique in every way, God exalts this character of man.  This is a wonderful portion of scripture, and it is often referred to.  It is something for every true lover of Jesus to contemplate, this One here who “did not esteem it an object of rapine to be on an equality with God; but emptied himself, taking a bondman’s form”.  Think of the Bondman, that One who says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go free”, Ex 21: 5.  Think of the scope that is in that thought, “I love my master”.  Think of the One who is ready to serve, One who was here not in relation to His own will, “not my will, but thine be done”, Luke 22: 42.  That is the perfection, the beauty, the loveliness that is in Jesus and in no other.  That is what God could see.  Think of the beauty of what God could look down on.  He saw a blessed Man here, and God could take joy and satisfaction in every footstep of His pathway here because He could see the moral perfection that was in Jesus.  He could raise that blessed Man and He had a basis on which to do so.  You may say He had a righteous basis to do so.  I think that is a wonderful thing to take account of, that God could take great satisfaction in this blessed Man in His walk here, who satisfied Him in every step of His pathway.  “Taking his place in the likeness of men; and having been found in figure as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death”.   Think of that beautiful moral feature that God loves to see in every believer, the characteristic feature of obedience.  It is natural with every one of us to be disobedient, but obedience is a wonderful thing that God takes account of, as we have the power of the Spirit, and have our eye on that blessed Man.  I think it is something that is to mark the believer as we are left here, this character of obedience.  If we are obedient persons, there is something being worked out morally in our souls that God can take account of which is building us up and strengthening us and bringing out these features that God finds His satisfaction and pleasure in.  There is nothing else being formed in the saints at this present time.  God is working at the present time to form Jesus in the hearts of the saints.  I think that is a great thing for the young ones to take account of that God is doing something with every one of us, and He is forming us like this blessed and glorious Man.  So it says here, “becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of the cross”.  We often use this passage of scripture in the gospel, and it is something, I am sure, that affects every one of us, that this blessed Man was prepared to go that way in suffering love to manifest and to make known the love of God.  Then it goes on to say, “Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and granted him a name, that which is above every name”.

        I bring this forward as a result of what our brother has said, that God has chosen this Man.  And I think this passage of scripture which we have read would say why God has chosen Jesus, because of His moral worth, because He was here as a Man.  He was not just here as a Man in perfection, but He was here as a Man who portrayed every feature that God desired to find in man, and He was here as a Man who was prepared to go into death and to remove every hindrance, every obstacle that stood in the way between God and man, bringing out from that point onwards an avenue by which God can come out in blessing towards man.  God loved to raise this blessed Man from the dead, He loved to take Him out of the grave because He could see a universe of people who were going to be formed like this blessed Man.  We see these characteristic features, and if they are seen in the world, they are looked on in dismay.  But God takes great satisfaction in this character, wherefore God has chosen this Man.   May we be encouraged, for His Name’s sake.

Grangemouth

17 November 2007