Exaltation through Humiliation (John Hofileña)

My name is John, I pastor a church in Malate—Redeemer Christian Church Manila. I am a member of the Philippine Gospel Network, and I’ve been personally blessed to be a part of this fellowship of pastors who push for Gospel clarity in our churches, lalo na sa panahon na the knowledge of the biblical Gospel is sadly very low among church-going people. We hope to help our fellow pastors and their churches grow in the knowledge of Christ and his Gospel. 

Speaking of our church, some of our members are seated here with you as you enjoy the conference today, and I am glad they are with me. I’m glad and thankful that you took the time to be with us today.

Introduction

One of the difficult things to deal with in the local church, I have found, is when you have to talk to people about suffering as ordained by God for his people, suffering as something that is designed by God for the sanctification of his people, suffering as necessary for the life of a Christian.

I find that Christians will gladly agree with you when you say this from the pulpit, but when reality hits, sa puso pala nila talaga, they disagree. And it’s not that I don’t understand why—naiintindihan po nating lahat ang bigat ng suffering, when we have to deal with broken world and broken systems around us, when we have to deal with the sin of the people around us—hindi naman talaga madali ‘yon.

But just for the sake of proper theology—please understand that we are not arguing, and I think we should never argue—na madali o pleasurable o kayang-kaya natin ang suffering. Hindi po yun ang point ko, and I think its cruel to say that to suffering saints. But as we strive to know Jesus Christ is revealed in his Word, we should continue to preach that God ordains suffering, designed for the sanctification of God’s people, and that it is necessary for Christians as we endure the life that God has for us.

And because of this usual and (dare I say) normal pushback against suffering, we must recognize the necessity of constantly reminding our local church of these things, kasi nga hindi natural sa atin ang tanggapin ang mga katotohanang ito. Truth be told, I would say that some Christians are functional prosperity theology believers, because we usually choose not to believe or accept that God would bring us into suffering intentionally, that he would ordain it in our lives.

So looking into this passage, it should be our prayer that God would sanctify our hearts and minds, so that we can learn the difficult but beautiful truth—Jesus, as God-man, poured himself out on the cross, not seeking his advantage, humbling himself unto death for the glory of God. We are called to have this same mindset in our lives, community, and endurance until Christ returns. 

Let’s dig into our passage for today.

Outline

• The Humiliation of Jesus (2:6–8)
• The Exaltation of Jesus (2:9–11)
• Ethical and Community Reminders (2:5)

The Humiliation of Christ

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6–8 ESV)

We start with Paul’s argument to the Philippian church in v. 6, but it bears remembering the place, time, and situation why this letter was written. It was written by Paul from prison to a suffering church, a church that had concerns inside and outside. In this sense, your church or my church might be similar situationally with the church at Philippi. Problems inside? Yes. Problems from the outside? Also yes.

Particularly, Paul was calling for the Philippians in the beginning of chapter 2 to “complete his joy” (2:2)—the implication being that something needed to be completed, something was still lacking. Don’t get me wrong, Paul loved this church (1:3–5), but he was also continually encouraging them to an imperative, to “let their manner of life be worthy of the gospel” (1:27). With this standard, tama lang na i-exhort nya yung church to be “in full accord and of one mind” (2:2)—sa Tagalog, magkasundo at nagkakaisa sa isip at layunin.

Sa 2:3, he is asking them to “do nothing out of selfish ambition, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Huwag maging makasarili, maging magpakumbaba, at ituring ang iba na mas magaling kaysa sa ‘yo. 

That really is the kicker, isn’t it? Nalaman ni Pablo na may suffering na nga sa loob at labas ng church na ito—tapos hindi pa sila nagkakasundo. Sa pakiwari ni Pablo, ang kulang talaga sa kanila ay yung pagpapakumbaba, yung ituring yung iba na mas magaling at mas mabuti sa kanila—eh ang hirap gawin nun. For people who are naturally inward looking, people will never look at others as better than themselves. Kung susumahin pa nga, ang mantra naman talaga natin ay ito: “Kaya ko din yun eh.”

And so Paul begins to show them how it is to live our lives according to the Gospel—to look not to self but to Christ. And in v. 6 he begins his argument for humility with a presuppositional statement: “though he was in the form of God.” What does Paul mean here? He was saying that Jesus was pre-existent as God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. That foundational truth sets up the weight of the next lines, because it is this Jesus who “emptied himself,” who took the form of a servant, who took on the likeness of human beings.

Makikita natin dito yung orthodox na katuruan ng early church (not just Paul) in light of Jesus’s resurrection and ascension. Because he rose from the grave and ascended to heaven, they believed that Jesus himself had prior existence “in the form of God”—he had in his character everything essential to being God. This is why you would appreciate the NIV’s rendition of this statement—ginamit nila yung “in very nature God”—because that’s the argument that Paul was using as a foundation for everything that follows.

Brothers and sisters, it is this weighty reality which gives strength to Paul’s next arguments about Jesus—that he was God from the beginning and had every right to all authority and power.

But—Paul now continues—Jesus did not consider his equality with God as something to be grasped. We are not to look at this phrase as meaning, or even implying, that Jesus did not have equality with God and then grasp it, like it was something he did not have. That would void the foundational statement we have just discussed.

What Paul wanted to communicate here is that Jesus already had all the advantages he needed—he was God from the beginning. But Jesus did not grasp this equality with God as an advantage. He had all the authority, the opportunity, and every right to do so, but he didn’t. 

This is what it means for Jesus to be “in the form of God”—in a sense pinapakita talaga sa atin ni Kristo yung “form” ni God, as it were—kung sino sya bilang Diyos. Not that he was grasping for something that wasn’t his, it was that equality with God was always his to begin with—but he did not press on his rights to make it an advantage.

This was the “form” of who God is, as it were, and Paul was only reminding the Philippians that this is the same God that they have known through the Cross—a God who would give his extravagant love even at the cost of suffering and being humiliated. He would not, and he did not claim his advantage, but gave everything to obey the Father. 

Paul is also known in his other letters for using the contrast between Adam and Christ, and in this argument there are hints of that—Adam as representative of sinful humanity and Christ the representative of those redeemed and forgiven by God. You would remember that in the garden, Adam “who was made in the image of God” rebelled against God, and wanted to be like God—he considered his “equality” with God as something to be seized—something that wasn’t fully his, but he wanted it. Christ, in stark contrast to Adam, did not even consider “grasping” at what was his to begin with, but he did the exact opposite. Adam tried to become “like God” but failed and plunged us into sin; Christ, as God, became man and saved us from our sin.

In this first argument Paul was setting us up for the heavy truth in v. 7—that instead of grasping this equality as an advantage, Jesus emptied himself. He emptied himself of what? No, the language is not like that. He just emptied himself—meaning, binuhos nya yung sarili nya hanggang wala nang laman. This is the complete metaphor, and it is weighty in its simplicity. How did he do this? He emptied himself by becoming a servant. Paul is pointing us to the humiliation in the incarnation of Christ—in his birth, in his life, in his death.

Mga kapatid, there was humiliation in all stages of the life of Jesus.

• There was humiliation in his birth. Jesus took on human form to bear the punishment of God for sinners. Hindi naman siya obligado na iligtas tayo, alam natin yan. Pero nagkatawang-tao ang Diyos Anak—born as a baby in very poor circumstances. We are in that season, it doesn’t take a lot to remember this story of how God the Son took on the form of a child, born in a manger because no one would take them in. 
• There was humiliation in his life. Jesus, as he did his earthly ministry, suffered humiliation for us. Sabi nga ni Hermann Witsius, isang Dutch Theologian, na kung ang naaalala lang natin ay yung pagkamatay ni Kristo sa krus, then we make too little of his sufferings for us. Christ suffered and obeyed the law for us because we cannot keep it. Sinunod ni Kristo ang batas ng Diyos, at siya pa rin ang dumanas ng paghihirap bilang kabayaran sa ating pagkakasala. Jesus, as God-man, suffered the indignities of having to live in human flesh—yung pagkagutom, yung pagkapagod, yung ma-experience yung kalungkutan ng mamatay ang mga mahal sa buhay, he experienced betrayal, he experienced being abandoned by friends, being misunderstood, being accused of something na hindi nya naman ginawa—all of these things he suffered. 
• And there was humiliation in his death. As a human being, he became obedient even to the worst kind of death known to their culture at that time—death on a cross.

Mga kapatid, ito yung pagkakakilala ni Pablo kay Kristo—and it would be good that we take note, because he encourages the Philippians to take the same “mindset.” What was the mindset of Jesus Christ?

The Exaltation of Christ

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9–11 ESV)

Naipakita na ni Pablo na yung intentionality ni Jesus to empty himself and be obedient to death by crucifixion is the truest evidence of “equality with God”—because Jesus showed that this is exactly what God would do in that situation, and being the God-man, he did exactly that.

But Paul’s issue and point in this passage for the Philippians was not yet finished, it wasn’t complete. It is through the Father’s exaltation of the Son that his point was completed, because it proved that the sacrifice of the Son of the cross was right in all respects, and he wanted the Philippian church to understand that it was just right for them to live a humble and sacrificial life, obedient to whatever suffering God ordained of the Christian life.

In this section, Paul would encourage the Philippians to look to the eschatological reality of justification and vindication for those who are in Christ. Para sa isang local church na mabigat ang pinagdadaanan, ito yung encouragement and assurance. Si Kristo ang maghahari—at ang mga Kristiyano ay inangkin na ni Kristo, not just here in the now, but also in the “not yet”.

Verse 9 shows us that God has “highly exalted” Jesus—meaning that God has elevated Jesus to the highest possible position, and that he has given him “the name that is above every name.” What does this mean? If we look at the Old Testament, Paul was most likely borrowing from the language of Isaiah 45, in verse 23, where Yahweh declares that “to Me (Yahweh, Lord) every knee will bow and every tongue will swear allegiance”—the name there is the LORD, in capital letters. And it is the strongest argument for what Paul is saying here — that Jesus had been “given the name,” as it were and that name is “LORD” (all caps) as equal to Yahweh—a name under which everyone must submit and ascribe authority to. 

What happens when God exalts Jesus? These next two clauses are taken directly from the Isaiah 45 passage we looked back to—and both of these clauses show that all of creation shall bow down and offer him worship. The “should” or “shall” in these statements point us to a future event, and Paul is pointing the Philippians to the eschatological return of Christ, where all of creation would then acknowledge Jesus as LORD, whether they want to or not.

“Every knee shall bow”—Looking both at the Isaiah text and this, Paul is showing us that this right to all authority has been given to Jesus (you would hear whispers of Matthew 28 in here), because Yahweh says in Isaiah that “to Me, every knee shall bow,” and Paul says that the same exaltation would be given to Jesus. Notice na walang usapan dito sa language na ito na ang magbibigay ng pagsamba kay Kristo ay yun lang mga iniligtas— wala pong any hint ng ganyang usapan. Ang sinasabi ni Pablo is that ALL will bow down to Jesus, even if they would not want to give in and submit to his authority. It doesn’t matter.

“Every tongue will confess”—not only will all of creation bow down, what would also come from them is the verbal declaration of one thing, and this is notable, mga kapatid.

At that time—and I would propose, in our time as well—it is only the suffering and enduring church of God that is declaring this. Sa church membership namin, the minimum requirement is to believe in the same Gospel, and declare Jesus as Lord over your life and over everything—so the church members are the same in our declaration. But there will come a time at the return of the King, when ALL would declare that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”

At the end of all things, all of creation will behold Jesus and declare what only the Christians now know and believe and worship—they will declare with one voice: Jesus is KYRIOS, this Jesus who was crucified, who died, and who rose again, in whom the Christians believe.

Everybody would now see the truth of what Peter himself declared and implored the Jews to believe in Acts 2:36 so that they would be saved: “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Pero this end-time confession will not be because of salvation—it would just be the whole of the cosmos stating a fact and its final and irrevocable agrement—that Jesus Christ is Lord.

And finally in the closing of v. 11, Paul acknowledges that his monotheism as a Jew was never in danger with his submission to Jesus Christ, and to that effect, all Christians should still consider themselves as monotheists to the core.

He ends the statement that all this worship and acknowledgment of Jesus at the end time is “to the glory of God the Father.” This is the same language that we hear Paul remind the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 8:6—that there is one God (the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist), and one Lord (Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist).

Worshiping Jesus at the end is worshiping God, the glory of Jesus is the glory of God—and we will either take pleasure in this, or we will be compelled to do this even if we don’t want to.

Ethical and Community Reminders

Mga kapatid, we hear in verse 5 of our passage what Paul was thinking of contextually when he led the Philippians through the Christ-hymn—he was thinking of them, when he said, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” He was thinking of them as a church when he said “among yourselves,” and he was thinking specifically of believers, those who are “in Christ Jesus.”

Dito ko din gustong hugutin yung mga reminders para sa atin.

Firstly, Paul was talking to the Philippians and telling them to “have this mind among yourselves”—and we know contextually that there were hints of disunity and disagreement among them, hints of selfishness in the community—especially evidenced by the name-drops in chapter 4 with the two women, Euodia and Syntyche, encouraged to “agree in the Lord.” 

Beholding Christ in his humiliation gives us no reason for pride in our relations within the local church. Gusto ko sanang sabihin na madali lang ito, given the passage we have just read, but local church experience will tell us, no doubt, that this is a struggle. Pero ang malinaw sa atin is that we have to be aware that our sin, our depravity—specifically our pride—contributes a lot to relational issues within the church. We are unable to “think of others as better than ourselves”—so deeply rooted is our selfishness that when we get into relational issues within the church—the kneejerk response is usually “kasalanan nila”. 

We are so quick to “grasp” at our advantage, how we are better than others, when in fact it is the opposite that shows us as Christ-like—when we do not grasp at our advantage and be obedient to correction from God’s Word and the church.

“Have this mind among yourselves” is a strong and sober reminder that being full of ourselves is not the example Christ set for us—it is the opposite, and that grasping at “oy di hamak, mas maayos naman ako sa kanya” does not bring the church community more towards Christ-likeness, but would instead allow pride and hurt to fester within the community. This is why the intention of Paul to correct the two women in Philippians 4 was so clear and strong—because having a prolonged disagreement does not commend the humility of Christ’s people to others.

Secondly, we as Christians need to enter into the “mindset of suffering” knowing that this is how Christ has set his example for us. Paul’s statement in chapter 3 verse 10: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death”—doesn’t have to be a vague notion for us.

Christ’s humiliation shows us the necessity of suffering as Christians endure to the end. I mentioned earlier that refusing to believe that God can ordain and will ordain suffering in our lives makes us functional prosperity theology believers. On the onset, we should clearly see that the Christ-hymn in Philippians 2 is one of the clearest and strongest arguments against prosperity theology that the church should have.

The goal for Christianity—whether in 1st century Macedonia or in 2024 Philippines—has never been to be financially ahead of society. Prosperity theology is giving us wrong and twisted indicators of Christ-likeness, if Philippians 2 is to be believed. Jesus, to show God and his character to us, refused to grasp at his own advantage, and became obedient even to death on a cross. This, brothers and sisters, is the mind of God.

Please put what prosperity teaching you can find on your social media feed—you can find a lot—and place it side by side with Philippians 2, and see how strange for us to call prosperity theology as “Christian.” No, it is unorthodox, evil, and not like Christ at all. It is not biblical Christian belief, no matter how much these men try to convince you that it is. It doesn’t at all mirror or reflect the glory of Christ in his humiliation. And no, don’t tell me that the reason Jesus suffered on the cross was for us to have financial breakthrough—ano yun, by his stripes we become rich? Please, push away prosperity theology from your churches, dahil hindi ‘yan Christian.

But my fear is this, that even as we exist and endure in biblically healthy churches, there will still be some of us who can’t quite accept that God would ordain suffering in the lives of Christians. And in that sense, we might verbally be against prosperity theology (they’re an easy target for those who are reforming and reformed-ish)—but functionally, we believe in the same foundational lie, God will not give me suffering because I try to obey his commands as much as I can. I go to church, I give to the church, I go to conferences. Listen to this conference teach you that this is a lie.

Suffering is something that God ordains for his people, suffering is designed by God for the sanctification of his people, and therefore suffering is necessary as we endure Christian life. The blessing here is this—as Piper would say—it’s doing something in us. Suffering is never in vain for a Christian. As we look at Philippians 2, we look at Jesus, the God-man, who suffered humiliation in his life and in the end was exalted by God.

Brothers and sisters, this brokenness, this pain, this hurt, it is not ultimate. It has an endpoint. And the endpoint is final sanctification and glory. This should lead us to our last point quite naturally.

The final eschatological exaltation of Christ is also the hope of final vindication for Christians who must endure brokenness and suffering in this life. There is a goal, there is an endpoint. Pain and suffering must not render us hopeless, because our hope never was in the “now”—it is in the “not yet.”

The Philippians 2 Christ-hymn shows us the natural trajectory for those who love Christ and endure this life within the local church—we suffer in the now, but we will experience glory in the “not yet.” Hear me out, brothers and sisters. We should not be surprised when suffering, pain, and hurt show up within our churches—that is the trajectory, that is the ordained design.

And no, this is not poverty theology, we are not even saying that for you to be Christian, you need to be in constant suffering. There is a strain of asceticism in poverty theology—na kung nag-e-enjoy ka sa mundong ito, hindi ka tamang Kristiyano. But that is not what the church believes. I cannot go into that more than mentioning it—but this is just to say, we do not believe in poverty theology as well.

But the stronger tendency is to despair when suffering shows up. As a church, we do not give in to despair—because we look at the natural trajectory of Christ in Philippians 2 (humiliation then exaltation) is then the natural trajectory Christian life. The Bible literally screams this at us. We suffer for a while—this light and momentary affliction—so it can produce in us an eternal weight of glory.

Brothers and sisters, this is why the local church has the necessary task of equipping and discipling each other—so that we might endure the necessary suffering when it does arrive, and it will.

Brother pastors, equip your congregations for the suffering that will arrive, and point them to the vindication that is inevitable when Jesus returns. Please do not point them to any other hope except in the Gospel—the hope of salvation from our sins, and an eternity with Christ.

Mga pastor, wala po tayong ibang pag-asa na maibibigay at maituturo sa mga kapatiran natin, kundi ang itinuturo ng salita ng Diyos. Wag po natin silang ituro sa pulitika—our hope for a better life does not reside with the government. Wag po natin silang ituro sa pera, because money is a cruel idol—uubusin nyan ang kanilang pagkatao hanggang wala nang matira, at maiimpyerno pa sila. Their hope is not even in their family and how well they manage it, or in their ministries and how well they perform. Our hope is in Christ, and we will wait steadfastly for glory to come.

Brothers and sisters, tayong mga nasa congregations, let us learn how to biblically encourage and disciple one another in light of this natural trajectory. If this trajectory is biblical and true—then we equip each other to expect suffering from the brokenness and sin around us, it will come, though in different forms and seasons. But we preach to each other the Gospel—our thankfulness for God’s grace in salvation, our encouragement that the Holy Spirit is with us daily in our sanctification, our joy in the local gathering as we regularly meet and not give up meeting—repeat and repeat—until we arrive at our final hope of vindication and glory, the return of our King Jesus, where he will set all things right, he will defeat the final enemy, and we will live with him eternally. No more pain, no more fighting sin—just the joy of constantly being in his presence.