Topic #5 Humiliation & Exaltation of Christ #1

So let's begin by revisiting some verses that I think, Roger, these were your verses initially. Actually, I think Jim had the first part and I had this. Actually, we divided this into three sections. Okay. You said two slide sets, so my assumption was it was two.

I didn't look back as to who taught this before. I think what Roger has done is pick kind of five topical areas in Philippians that I think are kind of bread and butter the meat and the backbone of the Philippians. So, let's turn to Philippians 2, 5 through 11. Just simply read that to start with. We're going to divide this into two parts. So, whomever, Ingrid, if you have it.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 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. Okay, so what I'm going to ask everyone to do now is to take their hand out and turn it upside down and not look at it. I told Margaret I was going to try something new today that no one got their hand out until the end of the class.

And you don't have a hand out. This is purposeful. This is purposeful. So he can have the hand out. He can just turn it upside down. And those listening on tape, excuse my cough, it will be interrupted periodically by clear language. Nevertheless. So, we've read the verses, and so having read this, what comes to mind when you consider the entire text? Again, think of the entire text.

The related question is, do you notice the contrast between 5-8 and 9-11? It's like Philippians 101 here. What's different between those two sections? Could those, in your own view, be independent text and not related one to the other? The text from 5-8 talks about how he made himself of no reputation, but then in contrast to that, 9-11 says, but the time will come when every knee will bow, everyone will recognize who Christ is. Okay, so can they be independent? They could be independent, but they actually, I think, represent really who Christ was. I mean that he came to earth as a man, he was probably humiliated to come as a man. What suggests that they may not really stand independently, although biblical truth stands independently always, but you have to interpret in context, right? Your title pretty well breaks it down too, the humiliation being the first and the exaltation being the second. Humiliation and exaltation are the two topics. Humiliation today and exaltation next time. I'm going to get to that in a second.

Are they necessarily related? Could they stand alone without being related? Just an opinion here. God's given us his word as it stands, so we don't want to question that. What tells you something about the relationship one to the other, just in the text?

One shows fully man and the other fully God. Okay, that's along the line, but what else? What's J. Vernon McGee say about this term? covenant. Okay, we'll get to that too today, Roy. This is good. It says that this human, that God, this human who is God, that glorifies God. God the Father is actually glorified by this. I don't know. To me, I would just fully first pull out the connection just as a picture of resurrection. Would be, you know, But that would be my... Is a resurrection mentioned here? No. Verse 9, what's the first word?

Wherefore. What is it there for? I'm not a McGee fan, but I listen to him every morning. I hear this all the time. Therefore always means what's it there for? And it's therefore, because it relates to what came before. Now, it's interesting, I think, when you look at the text, where's the resurrection here? I mean, it's assumed, is it not? I mean, if we talk about the death on the cross in verse 8, then we go, therefore, exalting him in heavenly places. So, what happened to the resurrection? Well, Paul assumes the reader of this is already well informed and knowledgeable about the resurrection. Okay, good comments.

So, I looked up the definitions in a worldly dictionary of humiliation and exaltation. Humiliation, the abasement of pride which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to loneliness or submission. Think about that one. Exaltation. And I kind of just took one that I like best, because there were about three or four. The act of raising in rank, power, or character.

How do you like those worldly definitions here? They fit in terms of what your view is of Christ's humiliation? One of the things that strikes me here is that the word name is used. He's given him a name that's maybe above everything. You think about the word name, meaning his reputation, his history, his character. Yeah, in terms of exaltation, it's an act of raising of character. I mean, exaltation is our topic next week, but anyway, these are the terms that have been used to really tie into the title.

I think, let's kind of set the stage here, and verse 4 is not included here, right? What does verse 4 say? Actually, verse 5 is included, my bad. So this is verse 5. This all begins with letting this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. I think this is kind of profound. Let mind be is the verb, okay? It's not let be the verb, but let mind be is the verb. And that's present passive imperative. So how do we translate something that's present tense, passive and imperative? God's doing the action. We're submitting to Him. And it's occurring now, present tense. Imperative means what? So we have to do something that's passive? What's that all about? Well, I thought, how's this for identification?

But the identification with the Lord Jesus Christ in terms of letting this mind be in you that's also in Christ Jesus. If that's a passive act, we still... I mean, that means we've already been given the mind of Christ to its limitations in an earthly existence, right? But yet, that passivity needs to be acted upon by our faith, right?

Isn't that identification? I mean, that's identification left and right. from sundown to sunset, identification is an active process on the part of the believer based on the fact that we've been passively given a new creation and a new nature. So let this mind be in you. What does that mean? What does it mean to let the mind of Christ be in us as believers? Accept it as true.

Well, but do I have creation in mind in terms of all the details of that? Has Christ formed the heavens and the earth? No. There's a limitation, isn't there? It's not like he's focused on a topic, too. Okay. More. Other thoughts about having the mind of Christ.

What does that look like? What does that mean? Yeah, Gail. In verse 5 it says, who, and then if you leave out the next phrase, who thought? He was thinking. Who was thinking? Christ. Jesus Christ. Okay. He was thinking and he considered the plan of God and what the goal of it was and that it was his job to carry it out. And so he submitted. And are we to do the same? Okay, I like that. Oops, what happened? Okay. That was an 800 number. It means it's imperative to do it. The mind of Christ has been given to you, so get into that mindset. I think it relates to thought, the thought process, the understanding and the wisdom that is of the Lord.

It doesn't mean we have the ultimate mind of Christ because we're limited in our earthly existence. But having the mind of Christ is a thought process that's Spirit-led, and it's the wisdom of the Lord, and it's an understanding of who we are as citizens of a different kingdom. This is a whole different process than getting the Adam nature to be convinced intellectually of the way we should be behaving or acting or performing, right? Isn't it the opposite, too, of what religion today says? We've got to think ourselves positive thinking. Power of positive thinking? Yeah, and this is the opposite of that. Norman Vincent Peale wasn't he? Founder of power of positive thinking? It's also not fatalism. It's not fatalism either.

Well, if you think and consider the plan of God, and you truly believe, that he is sovereign and that all things work together for good. Doesn't that, there's a thinking through and maybe a realization of yes this is a good thing and there's purpose behind what's happening to me and therefore I can willingly agree with him that he will be glorified and he will take care of me. Okay, good.

Other thoughts about this mind of Christ in us as believers? There's no better example of identification. And really, it's not a matter of we study, develop the mind of Christ. Clearly God reveals himself in his word. But also that new nature spirit led ultimately reveals his wisdom and his understanding and putting things into perspective from an eternal point of view. Just think of Newtown, Connecticut.

How disastrous was that? There's only one way you can deal with that is from eternity. It's the only way you can deal with that. I don't know, just this morning I showed Peter and Margaret the headlines of the Denver Post yesterday about some A couple from Columbine has sent a note to the families in Newtown just saying, don't have people tell you how to grieve, you know, one step at a time. Let God guide your path. I mean, it's really kind of moving. But I mean, how can you deal with something like that? It's only with the mind of Christ that you can look at this and reconcile it to any extent, despite the grief and pain.

Donna? thinking there in 11, you know, you talk about the mind of Christ, the goal there is the glory of God, right? Yeah, if Hal were here, he'd really want that as an exclamation point, right? Because it's really all to God's glory. And by the way, putting on the mind of Christ through the human desire and effort really is not God's glory, right? I mean, it's not something we work at, it's something we believe in. That we actually, through his word, ultimately, increasingly have his thought process, his understanding, and his wisdom.

But don't you find too, as you read through these verses, from man's wisdom, how insane this plan was? Oh, right. It doesn't make any sense, does it, no. It doesn't show you who God is. Right. It just knocks you right over, right? Really good point. All right, good. So the stage is set. So the topic for today is humiliation.

Now, first, what's pride? How would you define pride? Is pride a good thing from God's perspective? Or is pride good from a human perspective? Define pride. Thinking more of yourself than you are. Okay. Any other thoughts? What about being proud of a of a son, Peter, accomplishing some worldly task of being now a Cat One cyclist. I mean, I'm proud about that from a human perspective. I mean, is that wrongful pride? I don't think so. Anyway, let's go a little further. Pride certainly is a good thing.

Let's turn to 1 John 2.16. And whoever gets it first, just go ahead and read it. And today we're going to have a little bit more biblical reference than my putting the verses up there for you. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.

So Donna, define that pride of life as John describes it in John 2. Lust of the eyes, we all know what that's all about. Lust of the flesh, we kind of identify with that. What's the pride of life? John calls it among the three greatest things that are stumbling the believer, right? Roger? Go ahead. I don't know.

Don, if you had something, don't let me know. Anyway, cheese slaughter is fine. How about in the Gospels where the farmer, the Lord kind of condemns him. He says, You know, tomorrow you say you're going to build barns, and you're going to make this, and you're going to be very prosperous. You don't know. Tonight, your soul may be required of you. I kind of think of that as a pride of life. A rich man kind of? I'm going to do all these wonderful things.

You don't know. Tomorrow, you may not be here. How can a man say that and not know what tomorrow holds? Okay. Good example. Donna? Well, along that same line, that pride of life, there's that entitlement that I should exist. you know, that there is value in who I am. But as believers, don't we all fall kind of in the trap of times? We kind of have expectations. It's like a song, I did it my way. And who sang that song? Frank Sinatra. That's a rabbit trail. Alright, from a biblical perspective, here's pride.

It's an empty braggart talk. It's an insolent and empty assurance. This is Thayer's. It's an insolent and empty assurance. It trusts in its own power and resources and shamefully despises and violates divine laws and human rights. And the third is an impious and empty presumption which trusts in the stability of earthly things. I mean, that's essentially what Donna and Roger both just said in different ways. So pride, biblically, is not a good thing and it's really wrapped up in the human spirit and not in the spirit-led life of the believer.

I saw on TV, they were interviewing a certain movie star, a gentleman, who's quite famous, and he said, I don't know what the question asked him was, but his answer was that, I tell God he better not mess with me, because I'm going to do such and such. Oh boy, that's some self-determinism. I was talking about because the Lord says tomorrow your soul will be required of you. He didn't want to go there. I didn't want to go there. Alright, let's look in perspective. But here it says that Christ who, and this is scriptural now, existing in the form of God, counted not being on an equality with God as a thing to be grasped. Now, wow. That's really profound stuff. So let's dissect that a little. So grasps is used in most of the translations. It's a thing to be seized upon or to be held fast and retain.

Christ said, this isn't something I'm going to seize and hold on to under all circumstances, right? And the interesting thing is, this is anything but pride. So this humiliation, and we're going to come back to this in a few bullet points, but this is not human pride. I mean, his humiliation isn't what we go through in the human existence, in the power of the flesh. I mean, God humbles us through mostly, in fact, not entirely, circumstances that ultimately disappoint us as we exist in our human condition. But there is a humiliation I think the believer does go through that relates and identifies with that of the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about that and we'll come back to that.

In Philippians 2.8 it says he humbled or emptied himself.

And the interesting thing about this, I found, is that while addressing the Pharisees, Christ himself stated in Matthew 23.12, and whoever exalts himself will be humbled. and who humbles himself will be exalted.

Now, how does that, by the way, that text was really a text, that text was really addressing the Pharisees. Now, this was not, this is not kingdom age truth. Now, this is kind of real time. Were you there at the time? Kind of a conversation between Christ and the Pharisees.

How does that relate to what he's going through in Philippians 2.8 or 2.7? So it says he humbled, or in fact, and that's what he uses again in the verse in Matthew, he humbled or emptied himself. So that humiliation is not the same, is it, as he was addressing the Pharisees about?

You think? Well, there's two different levels. One is a divine level and one is a human level. Correct. And I think it's important to dissect that. But Christ also left it absolutely clear to the Pharisees that this humiliation or humbling of the human spirit is not in fact what he is experiencing as he is leaving the heavenly throne.

Thus his humiliation was one of loneliness, not one of pride. Remember if we went back to humiliation, the definition, the abasement of pride which creates a mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. So, you know, the abasement of human pride does lead to a state of lowliness or submission, but it's all self-indwelled, whereas Christ's lowliness and submission was from a heavenly perspective. So even though the process may be similar, it's certainly in a different nature and needs to be interpreted in light of who Christ was and who we are as human spirits. So the question I ask here is that his humiliation was one of lowliness, clearly, leaving heavenly places, coming to earth, not pride.

But what about submission, Donna? I was just curious, the humiliation, you know, if you're humiliated, someone does that to you. Generally. This appears that he allowed it, right? He himself, and we're going to come to that, but absolutely this is self-inducing, right? I guess we could be self-destructive in our own sense and be humiliated. I mean, people do self-destruct, right? I don't want to necessarily think of examples. But there are certainly ones that do exist.

So in John 8, 28, 29, then Jesus said to them, so the question here again is submission. So he becomes lowly from a heavenly perspective. So that fits. But the submission is something that I just picked this verse out of probably many we could have gone to. And then Jesus said to them, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I speak these things. And He who sent me is with me, and the Father has not left me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." Is that not submission?

I mean, so in a sense, his humiliation was one of heaven-to-earth lowliness, if you will. I mean, looking at Earth as an entirely different kind of place, although he made it, than the heavenly spheres. But secondly, his submission was evident by his response to the Father.

So in a sense, the humiliation of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we as believers identify with that, it's ultimately our home is in heaven, is it not? So we can identify with that aspect of the humiliation. And the fact that our submission is to the leadership and direction we get by the power of the Spirit, to the Lord and the Lord Jesus Christ. So in a sense, that humiliation of submission is still part of who we are in identification. But again, much of the humiliation as believers is really appealing to the old man, isn't it? And as we see that humiliation of the old man, that turns us to Christ. I mean, in a sense, God uses that in a believer to grow us in grace and increasingly conform us to the image of his Son. Any thoughts about this? The lowliness and the submission. Yeah, Ingrid.

Well, I think it's just kind of interesting how, even though he was humiliated, he still had the power of God, right? his manly form. He could do miracles. He could talk about his future in heaven. He claimed to be God. I am the father of one. So it wasn't like he was totally powerless.

What do you think of his first 30 years of life? Was that a miracle performing Lord Jesus Christ? No. Don't you think his ministry really started in the River Jordan? I mean, don't you think when John baptized him is when the miracles... I mean, it doesn't mean... Remember, at age 12 in the temple, he brought the intrinsic God-based understanding and mind of the Lord. But we don't have any documentation that over the first 30 years of his life that this God-man was performing miracles or doing you know, anything beyond the usual, though again he was viewed, I guess, as being very, very knowledgeable.

Is that the word? Rabbit trail. Rabbit trails are fun. Do you think he always knew what he was here to do as early as... But I don't think he knew the timing. Did he know the timing before? I don't know. I mean, we'll find out one day when we're with him.

I mean, how much perspective did the 14-year-old Lord Jesus Christ have about the events that were to follow? I think he was entirely submissive. And as God revealed these events were taking place, he experienced them, obviously, wholeheartedly and accepted them. But the miracles didn't begin until the Holy Spirit came to him, right? I mean, his teaching probably occurred before that. I mean, he was fully knowledgeable. I was thinking that his mother Mary knew he was different and she knew that he could fix the situation which happened at the marriage at Cana. That's true.

That marriage was after his baptism though, was it not? I don't want to be interpreted, nor should we be interpreted, you know, and those listening on tape, that the Lord Jesus Christ didn't have the capability. It's just that we don't have documentation that the Miraculous Acts started before he was baptized. But they may have occurred.

And remember John said at the end of his gospel that ultimately there are so many other things that we can say about the Lord Jesus Christ that there's not enough pages. One of the things that this verse is actually telling us is that he's not doing his own work. Correct. Exactly. And he said that. I've come to do my Father's will.

And he said, for I always do those things that please Him. And you know, in a sense, It was natural for him to do the things that pleased the Heavenly Father, because there was no sin nature in the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't always do the things that please the Father, because we still have the sin nature. Although, we're going to come to this, but we all know this, the cross dealt with the sin nature, but we still experience it on a daily basis. Notice how Paul describes this humiliation of the Lord Jesus.

He was being made. Now, interesting, the verb tense is aorist active indicative. and self-determined. That means, and I think Ingrid brought this up, this was something he did on his own. God didn't say, get out of here, let's go on down there to earth and go to the cross. I mean, he actively participated in his own humiliation. Okay, important point, I think. Secondly, and again, is this not the eternal covenant?

Let's look at Hebrews 9.15 just for a second. Here, Pete. I can't read this anymore. You might as well. I have my iPad up here. The problem with iPads, you can't turn to the verse quickly.

Anybody, Hebrews 9.15.

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. All right, so this eternal covenant is that covenant between the father and the son that he would ultimately humiliate himself and come, that the cross would be sufficient for what that eternal covenant was all about.

The second thing that Paul says is there's no reputation compared to what? We're at Christmas time. His birth was a pretty, you know, oh, by the way, I have to manger some baby being born. He didn't have a name yet. No history on earth. He came as a baby. That's all. All right. No reputation. Baby in a manger with no room for him in the end.

I guess you could say he did have a prophecy. I mean, we know that from scripture. Yeah, the prophecy turned to him, but boy, the people around him certainly didn't know about it, did they? This wasn't a birth at Columbia Presbyterian, okay? And that's like Isaiah 53, he was despised and rejected of men, and his appearance was nothing special. That's a nice verse to bring up here.

The third thing Paul says, excuse me, he came as a form of a bondservant. The only way we can interpret that is very literally, it's a slave totally dependent. But what was he a slave to and dependent to? His father's will. There is the humiliation of submission, is it not? But we see his submission was a favorable relationship.

But from a heavenly perspective, it was still in a human body. Whereas our humiliation, again, is most often in the old man who gets humiliated. Our humiliation, we need to think more of what that looks like from a heavenly perspective. In terms of sometimes we are humbled to see the glory of God ultimately be pervasive in our life.

And the fourth thing is coming in the likeness of men, figure, image, life, likeness, representation, but no sin nature. I mean, in a sense, how well could he identify with us without a sin nature? Did you ever think about that? I mean, here we're walking by faith in the new creation. But we're always tainted, aren't we, in our human experience by this sin nature. Maybe you're not, but I am.

I was saying, but when he went to the cross and took the sins of the world, he did, he experienced the result of our sin himself. He became sin for us. So, I mean, at this point in time, So he could identify with us and say, I took your sin and I experienced your sin. And maybe he experienced every single sin.

I don't know if that's true or not, but maybe he's felt them. Well, for three hours, right? Every sin that anyone's ever committed. Well, I don't know, but I'm just saying. She was talking about Connecticut there, thinking about, well, you know, experienced that, the Lord. Sure he did. You've got to believe that. And it's comforting. You've got to believe that. And so he can identify with us in difficulty like that.

But that earthly walk for 33 years without, you know, you ultimately kind of wonder what that life really looked like every minute. But you believe God, that this God-man had no sin nature. Right. talking about him coming with no reputation, that's as a man. As a man? As a man. He's got a great reputation. How about the creator? The flip side of that is, while he is with no reputation, he's holding all things together. He is the creator who is holding all things together. It's just, you know, how can we, we can't put those together in our minds. But they're true. They're absolutely true.

And the fifth thing is that he was found in the appearance of a man. I'm trying to dissect what's the difference of coming in the likeness of men and found in the appearance of men. I just simply said physically. Can you dissect the differences between those two things? I wondered if it had to do with emotions and internal things that man comes with. Well, and he acted like a man. In the likeness, you mean. Yeah, in the likeness. Well, he's fully man, I mean.

But, you know, the scripture says it in two ways that made me a little bit different. Yeah, there might have been, actually, I don't think, Mac, I didn't bring my notes, but there might be a slight difference, and I just forgot. Well, I don't think we need to dwell on this, but it says it, and my thoughts were that, yeah, I think Roy is good in terms of the emotions and every aspect of the human existence, whereas found in the appearance of a man would be a physical appearance, I think, human form.

Wouldn't it also be the way he acts? He goes to work, he takes care of business, like all this function is. not unlike others. He has human action. He weeps in Christ. I put that more on the likeness of man rather than the appearance of a man. I think the appearance probably is physical, isn't it? He walked. He got hungry and he got tired and he had to get away from people sometimes.

There was a lot of rejection. There he is coming to take on the sin of the world and man is rejecting that. Once you have the angelic conflicts who are involved there, they were out to get him. Good one, thanks Mark. Well the second one actually means that he had the external condition of a man. And the first one has to do with he was of that nature, he was of humankind. Without the sin nature. Yeah.

Okay, I think we've really dissected this pretty well. But not only was his humility as such, meaning loneliness and submission, but he became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. I mean, so that's the end of this humiliation section. Let's look at that in more detail.

The cross at that time. I did a bit of historical search on the cross and Herodotus in about 450 BC and the Assyrians ultimately and then the Greeks and then the Romans used the cross as a punishment for sin. And this was a punishment for slaves and for non-citizens and occasionally for citizens themselves guilty of treason. So the crime wasn't necessarily all that serious. I mean, we think of the cross as for the worst crime, not always, looking at the history.

But there is a reference in the Old Testament, which I found kind of interesting. Let's look at Deuteronomy 21, 22, and 23. And that would have antedated Herodotus by probably 500 years. And I found this kind of curious. And let's, whoever gets that first can read that.

And if a man hath committed a sin worthy of death, and be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him that day. For he who is hanged is accursed by God, that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Now in terms of the Israeli history, apparently not everyone who was stoned was put on the tree. And at some of this, what I read further was some of the people put on a tree were already dead from stoning. They were hung on the tree more from a sense of humiliation.

But I think this is interesting because it antedates what the world system views as the history of the cross. Is that in Deuteronomy we have evidence that some who were put to death for sin, and the sin not overly specified, could be hung on a tree also.

So it was not only a secular tradition of the Assyrians and the Greeks and then the Romans, but ultimately had a history in Israel, apparently under some circumstances. That's the only reference I could find in the Old Testament for this. Any other biblical scholars have any knowledge of the cross in the Old Testament? All right, now, the cross was always, in history, used to judge.

It was not some plaything. It was used to judge some behavior, some crime, or some sin. Now, the epitome of Christ's humiliation was the cross. Was it not being made lowly and submissive? It was the eternal covenant that the cross was the only way to get this done. And so, when we think of the cross, what was judged at Calvary? Well, there were three things that were judged at Calvary. Let's start with the first. the sin of the world. And let me give verses around the room.

So, Fonny, could you do John 1.29?

And Ingrid, could you do John 3.16?

And Roy, Hebrews 2.9?

And Wayne, 1 John 2.2, please.

Now keep in mind that the distinctions of the sin of the world from the sin of the believer from Satan himself. These are the three things that were dealt with at the cross, and it's really important, I think, to dissect these three distinct purposes of the cross. So go ahead, Bonnie. John 129. The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Oh boy. John says the sin of the world. Not my sin, not his sin, but the sin of the world. Okay, John 316. that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Okay, that kind of relates to the believer more so, but I think it does pertain.

Hebrews 2.9. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Ooh, every man.

Okay, and then 1 John 2.2, the one we think of most often here. He himself is a propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for those of the whole world. Boy, okay.

So, John 3.16 maybe could have been left out here a little bit, because that could relate to the second component, those who believe. But yet, the other three verses unequivocally, the sin of the world has been paid for. Our responsibility is to believe that, right? That's a simple gospel, 1 Corinthians 15. Okay, the second reason is the believer's sin nature. So all the sin of the world has been taken care of, but only the believer's sin nature has been taken away and made righteous, a believer made righteous before God.

Let's look at a few verses there. Romans 6, 1 through 10, we're not going to read entirely, but let's read Romans 6, 3 and 4, just a hint. And Doris, could you get that for us? Romans 6, I think 3 and 4 are good. Ruth, I mean, Galatians 5, 24. Margaret, Ephesians 4, 21-24 and Peter, Colossians 3, 9 and 10 please. So Galatians, I'm sorry, Romans 6, 3 and 4.

Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. That's what the Bible says. It's just not, our sins have been forgiven.

And I think that's one of the, as Roger, you know, we had the Lord's Table two weeks ago and I think the bread really, I think, relates to the sin nature and the cup to the sins. And I think we do the bread first because until you crucify the sin nature, you don't want to relieve the sins if the source isn't taken care of. I think that's an aspect of the Lord's Table we don't think about enough. It's the sin nature and the sins that were both taken care of at Calvary. So, next verse, Galatians 5, 24. Gail? And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. The flesh, the old man, the sin nature. Ephesians 4, Margaret?

If so be that ye have heard him and never been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that ye put off concerning the former conversation of the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. That's new man, old man.

The interesting thing about those verses that sometimes we miss is in Ephesians 4.22 it says the reason your behavior is such as it is, is that you've not learned Christ. Verse 22. They fell short because they've not learned Christ. And what does it mean to learn Christ? Does that mean Christ died for me and forgave my sins? No, it's the old man and the new man learning Christ is learning our identification with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that's what Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Ephesians. Okay, now, let's see, Colossians 3, 9 and 10. I think, who's... Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds. and have put on the new man that is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Okay, so it's, you know, not kind of working on the old man here, but it's putting on the new, which implies, and other scriptures support this, that the old man has been crucified.

We're made righteous before God, not just because our sins are... He's died for the sins of the entire world. We're made righteous because the sin nature itself has been crucified, and the sins have been forgiven. All right, the final part of the cross is Satan, and we often underestimate this, but I think Satan's already been dealt with. We just don't experience that yet because Satan remains alive and well, but positionally, he's been taken care of. John 12, 31. Donna, Colossians 2, 14 and 15. Let's see, Roger, would you do that? Hebrews 2, 14. Ingrid?

Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Now. Christ is on his way to the cross. Colossians 2, 14-15. Having cancelled out the certificate of debt, consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us, he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, when he had disarmed having triumphed over them through him.

Okay, and the Hebrews, my favorite passage is Hebrews 2.14. I love this one.

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity, so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil. Okay, so even though Satan remains alive and well, our sin nature remains alive and well. But it's not like Christ has to do something more than he's already done to ultimately You know, Satan's been judged. It's just that God's timing is different for ultimately Satan's terminal destruction.

But for the believer, his power is canceled before God. Now, you can say, well, gee, that's not what I'm experiencing. Well, our whole nature is canceled before God, too. But yet we still respond to it, don't we? But yet positionally, is the beginning of identification. By God's great grace, we can look at the righteousness we've been declared in and look at the three purposes of the cross and see them all accomplished before God. The stress is off. That doesn't mean life is easy. It simply means before God, everything's complete.

So how do we experience humiliation? I think we've at least, maybe I've done more of the talking here, but the daily humiliation, what's that look like in our lives? Is it biblical? Is it the same? Humiliation? The second question is, and as we proceed in our walk in the Lord Jesus Christ, how do we identify with His humiliation? So two related questions.

Don't you think we experience humiliation because we're still here, which is not our home? True. And until it's our time, we remain here. And I think as we grow in the Lord, the less we want to be here. We want to be in our home. Yeah, that's not suicide. No. Okay. But I think it's a desire. realization of what the earth is and how it's not going to get any better. It's going to continue to get worse. Somebody told the president this. By the way, Paul said it best, didn't he?

For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. I mean, what more can you say from a believer's perspective? For me to live is Christ. I'm identified. I'm spirit led. I have the mind of Christ as we talked about. But to die is gain. I mean, think of all the people we know who are in heavenly places, including Art, including Hal, including so many others, friends and family that are with the Lord, my first wife. I mean, the point is your mom. I mean, we all identify to be in heaven where the Lord is gained. So Margaret's right. I think the more we realize the circumstances that surround us here, heaven looks even better all the time. Okay, so a couple of additional questions.

How is it relevant in terms of the humiliation we face? And then secondly, what does it look like? Would you agree that most of the humiliation we experience is really in the flesh? Don't you think? But don't you think we can identify with his humiliation thinking that we really are citizens of a different kingdom and that we've been placed here?

Remember, our names are eternally written in the Book of Life. We've been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. So our humiliation is God has put us here for a time to bring glory to himself, as Donna indicated. And that's the walk of humiliation. And pride, human pride, has no place here. lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, pride of life. That pride is human, fleshly pride. It's part of that humiliation too when we're talking to people about the Lord and it's just like they either laugh sometimes or they just totally don't get it at all.

I mean, He was misunderstood, so I think we are too. We are. And we often reflect, how many opportunities do we have that are really Spirit-led? And it seems that sometimes we, in the flesh, ultimately are a negative example of the Gospel. But then sometimes I guess we have opportunities that it appears the Spirit has opened a door, and maybe we're reluctant in the flesh to move through it. So we've got to just trust the Lord's bringing those people before us that ultimately allows the door to be open enough that we have a conversation. The way I kind of condense this very simplistically is, if the issue of the Lord Jesus Christ comes up in a conversation, and they're asking questions, and the door increasingly opens. But if they're asking no questions, the Spirit often should maybe tell us to step back a bit. It seems to me that when questions are coming from them is when the door increasingly opens.

That's simplest. It doesn't always have to be that way. I think most people too, you know, the pride of life gets in the way. People don't think they need a savior. If something hadn't happened that the door, the Lord has opened the door, the Holy Spirit has opened the door, that's when the door is really slammed because, you know, I don't need a savior. What are you talking about? Boy, isn't that pride though? Isn't pride the greatest stumbling block of keeping the world from a saving relationship? That's what Satan did when he fell.

Excellent point. You know, my brother, who knows, maybe he is with the Lord now, as I was reminded at his service. He said, look, I've lived a good life, I've done a lot of good. He said, you know, the Lord will have to judge me based on that. But this idea of, I need a substitute, I don't buy it. We'll see. So, remember, verse 9 begins with, therefore. And we'll be looking at verse 9 next week. So, Wayne, close us in prayer, will you please? Father, thank you for your truth in the word and fellowship that we have together and learning and growing in your grace. Thank you, in Jesus' name. Amen.