Singing praise and worship songs communally is integral to Sunday morning church services all across the country and the world. While many churches choose to worship God through contemporary Christian songs, there are also many traditional churches who still choose to sing hymns as a congregation. Though these hymns are hundreds of years old, their beloved lyrics are theologically rich, and they remain popular in the lives of Christians today. Some of the most well-known hymns include “Amazing Grace,” “How Great Thou Art,” “It Is Well,” “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” and “Blessed Assurance.” One of my favorite hymns that I remember singing in church growing up is “Jesus Paid it All”-
“Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe / Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”[1]
Paul actually includes a hymn about Jesus in his letter to the church in Philippi.
Philippians 2:5-11 is often called the “hymn of Christ,” and it describes the preexistence, incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.[2] Paul writes,
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11, ESV
The hymn begins by describing Jesus’ preexistence, His existence as one person of the triune Godhead before He came and lived on the earth. It says that He was in the “form of God.” In this verse, the word “form” refers to “the true and exact nature of something, possessing all the characteristics and qualities of something.”[3] This means that Jesus is God. He is equal with God. They share the same nature. They possess the same qualities and characteristics. But Paul writes that Jesus didn’t count this equality a thing to be grasped. “Grasped” in this verse means “to be kept and exploited for his own benefit or advantage.”[4]Jesus did not have to come to this sinful, broken earth. He could have stayed with God the Father in glory. But He instead chose to put the interests and needs of the people He loved before His own.
The next verse in the passage talks about Jesus’ incarnation, His coming to the earth in human form. He emptied Himself to take the form of a servant, of a human being. Many scholars will argue that Jesus somehow gave up or forsook His divinity, His identity as God when he “emptied” Himself to become a man. But Jesus was always both fully God and fully man when He came to the earth. If He had lived on this earth as a normal, sinful human like the rest of us, His death would not have been a sufficient sacrifice for our sins. The ESV Study Bible suggests that the idea of Jesus “emptying” Himself means,
“Christ, who had all the privileges that were rightly his as king of the universe, gave them up to become an ordinary Jewish baby bound for the cross… While he had every right to stay comfortably where he was, in a position of power, his love drove him to a position of weakness for the sake of sinful mankind.”[5]
So, when Jesus came to the earth, He gave up His privileges, His position, His power, and He humbled Himself in obedience to God the Father, and He went to the cross. Sometimes the cross is almost romanticized in today’s Christian circles. But dying on a cross was one of the most painful and humiliating ways to die. First, you were flogged and beaten nearly to death, but not quite. Then, they would nail you on a wooden cross and lift you up so everyone could see you. And you would spend the final hours of your life laboring to push your shredded, bloody body up so you could take in a breath. No one would want to die by crucifixion, but Jesus chose to do it for our sake.
But, as we all know, Jesus did not stay dead. He was resurrected and exalted, receiving the status and authority of our Messiah, our Savior, our Lord and deserving all glory and praise. He ascended into heaven, but one day soon Jesus will return, and everyone will see Him for who He is and glorify both Him and the Father.[6]
Jesus left His place in heaven, came down to live as a human being on this broken earth, and died an awful death. And He did this all for us. He loved us and wanted to give us eternal life in the presence of God, so He put us before Himself. The ESV Study Bible comments-
“Jesus is the paradigm of genuine spiritual progress: not a self-aggrandizing struggle for supremacy, but a deep love for God and neighbor shown in deeds of service.”[7]
We often try our best in life to get ahead, to be the best, to make a better life for ourselves. But Jesus teaches us something different. He teaches us to live a life of humble service and sacrificial love, of looking to others’ interests instead of our own (Philippians 2:4).
My friend, let me share the same exhortation with you that Paul shared with the Philippians-
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 2:3-5
Confess and declare today that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior and imitate Him in His humble servitude.
“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into His presence with singing!” Psalm 100:1-2
[1] Kevin Halloran, “The 25 Most Popular Christian Hymns,” last modified July 1, 2013, https://unlockingthebible.org/2013/07/the-25-most-popular-christian-hymns/.
[2] The ESV Study Bible, Personal Size, ESV Bible (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 2282.
[3] Ibid., 2283.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid., 2282.
