Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. If you would like to follow along
in your Bibles for today's message, turn in your Bibles to the book
of Philippians, chapter two. Paul's epistle to the church
at Philippi, chapter two. And the title of the message
is this, Jesus Christ, who and what? Jesus Christ, who and what. Now that may sound a little strange
for a title but I hope that by the power of the Spirit I can
make sense of this to you. But what I want to talk about
this morning, this passage, the Apostle Paul as he's writing
to the church at Philippi and he's writing this epistle from
prison in Rome And he's writing it as an encouragement for them
to continue in the gospel ministry, preaching the truth. Later on,
he talks about them being lights in a dark and corrupt, a perverted
war, crooked and perverse nation, the light. And the light there
is Christ. We talk about Christ who is the
light himself. He's the light of the world.
And the gospel truth that the Holy Spirit uses to communicate
Christ in the preaching of the gospel is the light. And I'm
gonna talk about that next time. But one of the things, you know,
there's no perfect church here on this earth. And when I say
that, you have to be careful, you have to make some distinctions.
For example, every true believer Every truly saved person is perfect
and complete as they stand before God represented by Jesus Christ,
the surety and substitute. And that's what the Bible teaches. If you're a believer, you have
a perfect, righteous, complete standing before God, not in yourself. You're not perfect in yourself.
I'm not perfect in myself. I'm a sinner saved by grace. I still, as a saved person, I
still have a struggle, a warfare, the scripture says, within myself
concerning this issue of sin. It's called the warfare of the
flesh and the spirit. Paul describes that, well, the
Bible describes it all over the place. David in the Psalms, when
you read the Psalms of David, many times you see his struggles.
Job struggled with it, Abraham struggled with it, Paul struggled
with it, Romans 7, for example, Galatians chapter five. So every
true believer is still a sinner, a sinner saved by the grace of
God. But if you're a believer, a true
believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you cannot be charged with the
guilt of sin that brings condemnation. Now, you need to understand that,
and many people don't today. The salvation of a sinner is
based upon what the Bible calls the righteousness of God, which
is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross to establish righteousness,
and that righteousness is imputed. It is charged, accounted, to
every one of God's chosen people. Their sins were charged to Christ,
the debt of their sins. We sing a hymn at our church,
at Eager Avenue Grace Church, called Jesus Paid It All. What
did he pay? He paid my sin debt in full so
that I owe nothing in a legal way to God's law and justice. Christ paid it all. The blood
of Christ cleanses me from all sins. So I have a perfect standing
before God. But while I'm still on this earth
in this body of flesh, I'm still a sinner. I still have struggles.
I still fall short. of the standard of God's glory.
And when you have a group of people that come together in
a local church collectively, there's problems. And there's
going to be struggles. There's going to have to be love.
There's going to have to be forgiveness. And that's what Paul's dealing
with here. He deals with people who are arguing, who are at odds
with each other. And he tells him that the answer
to that is humility, godly humility. Look at verse 3 of Philippians
2. He says, let nothing be done through strife. That's fighting,
arguing, and vainglory. That's trying to get your way.
That's what it is, vainglory. It's pride. And he says, but
in lowliness of mind, that's humility. let each esteem other
better than themselves." In other words, give in. Now, he's not
talking about giving in to sin or giving in to foolishness.
giving somebody their way if their way is going to hurt other
people or hurt the church or bring shame and reproach upon
the gospel. He's not saying that. He's just
talking about in these personal preferences that we have, we
all still have our personal prejudices and preferences. This is the
way I want to do it, you want to do it this way. Either way
would be fine, but this is my way. And he says, in lowliness
of mind, let each esteem estimate other better than themselves.
Verse four he says, look not every man on his own things,
but every man also on the things of others. A believer in a local
body, the church, a local church, is to exist there for the glory
of God, in Christ and the good of all. Not just getting your
own way. And he says here, when he's promoting
this humility, he goes into something that is really unique to Christianity
and really fascinating and amazing and wonderful. And it's the basis. It forms the ground and the basis,
not only of humility, and how believers should treat each other,
but the whole Christian religion, the whole life of a Christian,
and what is the basis of that? It involves two things. Two things
that are so important that you need to ask yourself, I need
to ask myself, and that is this. Who is Jesus Christ, and what
did he do? When I say, what did he do? I
mean, what did he accomplish on Calvary's cross? Who and what? Now there are many doctrines,
truths, teachings that are unique to Christianity. But that which
forms the whole basis of a person who calls himself a Christian,
do you call yourself a Christian? That's why I say I'm a Christian.
Well, am I really a Christian or do I just say that? Am I saying,
well, I'm a Christian because I grew up in America, especially
in the Bible Belt, that I went to church all my life? See, those
things do not define a Christian. They might define a culture,
but that's not true Christianity. One time the unbelievers were
asking Christ questions, trying to trip him up. And he kept answering
them with ultimate wisdom and putting them in their place,
but he concluded the whole thing by asking them a question. And he said to them, when he
brought them down to the end of their little discussion, their
little attempts to entrap him, they say, who is Christ? Who is Messiah? Whose son is
he? Who is Jesus Christ? And that's
an important question. Exactly who is Jesus Christ and
exactly what did he accomplish for his people? Now that's the
two questions that form the basis of Christianity. The right answer
to those two questions, that's why I entitled the message, Jesus
Christ, Who and What? Who is Jesus Christ and what
did he actually accomplish when he died on the cross? Because
right there, the right answers to those questions, according
to the Bible, sets Christianity apart from all religions of man. And when you think about Christianity
today, you think about different denominations. We live in a time
of great religious confusion, friend. I would venture to say,
and I'm not saying this to be mean or to be unkind or to be
proud or anything, but I run into so many people who are members
of different churches, different denominations, and they really
have absolutely no idea what their church believes, what their
denomination believes, and what they believe. in the essence
of that message. They go there because there are
programs for their children or there are social interactions
between people of like mind who have the same kind of interest
and all of those things. They go there because the message
they hear makes them feel good, psychology, moral pep talks,
or they want their family to be in a moral environment. Now listen to me. At surface, none of those things
are bad, but there's no reason to be a member of any given church. The church is set forth to preach
the gospel. And what I want to know, if I'm
going to be a member of a church, is what do they think of Jesus
Christ? Who is Jesus Christ? And what
did he accomplish on Calvary, on the cross, to save me from
my sins? That's the issue. Well, that's
what Paul goes into. And listen to what he says now.
This is Philippians 2 and verse 5. He says, when he's talking
about humility, he says, let this mind be in you. Think like this. Which was also
in Christ Jesus. The same way that he thought,
you think, and here's how he goes. He says in verse 6, now
I'm gonna go through these verses and I want you to follow along.
He says, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God? Who is Jesus Christ? Well, he
was in the form of God. Now that word form, when you
think of a form, you might think of outward appearance, something
as it appears outwardly. But that's not what the word
means. The word form here has to do with appearance. but it's
that which shows the inward essence in other words it's the reality
of what a person really is who is Jesus Christ really in his
very nature and in his essence and Paul explains it here now
Paul's writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit and he says
He was in the form of God. What does that mean? He thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. Wow! What a statement! What he's saying here is that
Jesus Christ is God in His very nature and essence. And for Christ
Himself, for Jesus of Nazareth, To claim to be equal with God,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is not robbery. What do you mean by that? Well,
if I were to come before you and say that I am God, that would
be robbery. I would be trying to steal from
God's glory. I'd be lying, and certainly I'd
be foolish, but I'd be trying to rob God of His glory. I am
not God. And I'm not saying that because
anybody thinks that I am. I'm just making the point here.
I saw on the news a couple weeks ago of another denomination,
I think it started back in the 70s, where this woman, I think
she's Korean, I'm not sure, who claims to be God reborn. Well, that's robbery. That's
foolishness. That's blasphemy. That's the
ultimate blasphemy. Years ago, many of you remember
this fellow out in Waco, Texas named David Koresh that claimed
to be Jesus, claimed to be the Messiah. That's robbery. But
this person, Jesus of Nazareth, his name is Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is God with us. He's the word, which was before
the world began, from the beginning. He's the Word made flesh dwelling
among us. So who is Jesus Christ? Well,
He is God. Now, somebody says, well, how
do you explain the Trinity? God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. I'll tell you how I explain it,
I don't. And I'll tell you why I don't,
because I can't explain it, and you cannot either. And there
are no illustrations that explain the Trinity. My friend, the Trinity
is an awesome truth. That is too high for us. All
I can tell you is it's true. I believe it because God said
it. It's how He reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
It's not three gods. It's not a three-headed God.
It's not God in three parts, God in three forms, or God in
three ways. It's God in three persons. And
that's as far as we can go. But let me tell you something
now. Don't be amazed if you truly worship God that you can't understand
everything about the nature and essence of God. You know why
that is? Because we're human. We're limited. We're finite. Plus, we're sinful humans. But
Jesus Christ is God, and he thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, equal in essence, equal in nature, equal in every attribute
of his nature. That's who he is. But look at
verse 7 of Philippians 2. Now he's talking about Christ
Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, verse 7, but made himself of no reputation
and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men." Now that speaks of His humanity. Who is Jesus
Christ? He is God in human flesh without
sin. Now understand that. Jesus Christ
is God-man. When it says He made Himself
of no reputation, it literally means He emptied Himself. Now
that doesn't mean he stopped being God when he was made flesh. Theologians call that the incarnation. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Flesh there, you know in the
Bible, and this is something about biblical interpretation.
In the Bible, the word flesh is used in different ways. Sometimes
the word flesh is an emblem of sin. sinful flesh, the warfare
of the flesh and the spirit, sin and the Holy Spirit, me. It's the flesh profiteth nothing. That's talking about the works
of man. Cannot profit you as far as salvation. You can't be
saved by your work. Sometimes the word flesh simply
is talking about this fleshly material body. that we inhabit
in our minds, our spirit, our mind, affections, and will. Romans
chapter 1, Paul identified Jesus Christ as he who was made of
the seed of David according to the flesh. Christ's humanity,
body and soul, had a human genealogy that reached all the way back
to David, all the way back to Abraham. And yet, he was not
born of man. His birth was a miraculous birth.
He was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the Holy
Spirit. And so when He was born, He was
born as a babe, just like you and I, but He was not born in
sin. But in doing that, when you looked
at that babe in the manger, Or when you looked at him as he
grew in wisdom and stature. Boy, that's an awesome thought,
isn't it? He who is wisdom, Proverbs 8 personifies wisdom, and that's
Christ before the foundation. He who is the very wisdom of
God grew in wisdom and stature. That's an amazing thing. That's why salvation by God's
grace is so amazing, or one of the reasons. But he made himself
of no reputation. He brought, he came to the point
to where he did, just by looking at him, you couldn't say, well,
that person's special. I know all these paintings that
came out of the Renaissance and came out, and even modern paintings,
they picture him. with some glow about him. Now
listen, I know there were visions of Christ, especially in Revelation,
that God gave John, but when he walked on, that are special,
but when Jesus of Nazareth walked on this earth, there was nothing
in his appearance that would tip you off that this person's
special. What made him special and set
him apart was what he did and what he said. But look over in
Isaiah 53. Listen to what Isaiah said about
him in prophecy. Isaiah 53 in verse 1. Who hath
believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed, the power of God? For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath
no form, nor comeliness, nor beauty. And when we shall see
him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised
and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised,
and we esteemed him not. Well, that's who Jesus Christ
is. And then back in Philippians chapter 2, look at verse 8. So
He is God-man. That's who He is. He's God in
human flesh without sin. Why did He become God in human
flesh? Why did He do that? Well, look
at verse 8 of Philippians 2. And being found in fashion as
a man, He humbled Himself. In other words, being found that
way, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. He became obedient. He was God-man because he had
to obey the law. Why did he have to obey the law?
Because he stood. The reason all this took place
is he stood as surety and substitute of his people. Now see, this
is where we get into the what. Jesus Christ, who and what? Who is he? God in human flesh. What did he accomplish? Well,
look at Galatians chapter four. In Galatians chapter four and
verse four, the apostle describes it this way. He says, but when
the fullness of the time was come, now the fullness of the
time was the time that God set before the foundation of the
world. God sent forth His Son, that's His deity, made of a woman,
that's His humanity without sin, made under the law. In other
words, He became subject to the law because He's the surety and
substitute of His people. And as surety and substitute,
all their sins were charged and imputed to Him, and He became
accountable, responsible to pay the debt, and the debt meant
His death. He became obedient unto death,
Philippians 2.8, even the death of the cross. He had to die on
the cross. Why? Because God is a righteous
judge. Yes, God is love, God is mercy,
God is grace. It was an act of love that sent
Jesus Christ into the world to do this. But why did He do it? He did it to satisfy the justice
of God. He was made under the law, Galatians
4-5, to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive
the adoption of sons. It was redemption. What is redemption? That means the price is paid.
The dead is paid. And what does all that involve?
The Bible describes that in so many wonderful ways. It means
He put away the sins of His people by His blood. The blood of Jesus
Christ, His death, is satisfaction to God's law and justice. That's
what He did. He satisfied the justice of God. There's no wrath for the people
of God, the ones for whom Jesus Christ died, because His blood
satisfied that wrath and brought forth righteousness, the righteousness
of God. Daniel said that he made an end
of sin, he finished the transgression, he brought in everlasting righteousness,
he died to redeem his people. What did he accomplish? Christ
did not come to make you and me or anybody savable. He did
not come to try to save anybody. By His death on the cross, satisfying
the justice of God based on the sins of God's chosen people imputed,
charged to Him, Christ secured the salvation of every sinner
for whom He died. His righteousness is imputed,
charged, accounted to them. And righteousness demands life
and salvation. And it says it here in Philippians
2 and verse 9, Wherefore, for this reason God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven,
things in earth, things under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father." You see that? In other words, because Christ
was the successful Redeemer, the surety of His people, who
substituted Himself on the cross to die for their sins and bring
forth righteousness whereby God could be just and justifier,
God exalted him as God-man. Now, as God absolutely considered,
he was always exalted, high above everyone, but this is talking
about the result of what he accomplished on the cross. As mediator, as
God-man, he is highly exalted. The scripture says that he's
seated at the right hand. You see, he died He was buried. He arose from the dead. Why?
Because He paid the price. He satisfied justice. He brought
in righteousness. And because He did all that,
He ascended to the Father. He's seated at the right hand
of God ever living to make intercession for His people. Who are they?
They are all who come to faith in Jesus Christ for all salvation. Who is He? What did He do? Jesus
Christ, who and what. You see, that's the issue. What
Christ accomplished on Calvary. Somebody said, well, he did everything
he can do. Now the rest is up to you. Let
me tell you something. If he did everything he can do,
he saved his people. The rest is not up to you. It's
all in him. Hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, 31707. contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.