Jesus Our Example
Three Key Takeaways
Living counter-culturally requires God’s help—we can’t do it alone. Paul commands, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but with humility regard one another as more significant than yourselves.” This is like driving the wrong way down the M25—every force of human nature, city philosophy, and cultural pressure goes the opposite direction. We need dramatic intervention from God to live this way.
Jesus goes first, revealing what God is like. Jesus didn’t just tell us to humble ourselves—He modelled it. Though He existed in the form of God, He emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, humbled Himself to death, even death on a cross. This isn’t just good news for individuals; it’s good news for the whole world. We don’t live in a meaningless, random world—we live under a God of love willing to sacrifice Himself for us.
The path to true glory runs through humility and service. We’re designed to desire glory—we’re made in God’s image to be glorious. However, the path isn’t grasping and self-promotion (empty glory). It’s the J-curve: Jesus humbled Himself down to death, then God exalted Him to the highest place. Death comes before resurrection. Thus, when we humble ourselves and serve others, God lifts us up with real glory, not fake glory.
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Jesus Our Example
We’re continuing our journey through Philippians. To focus our thoughts, remember Paul’s main concern for the Philippian church was unity—how they lived together.
A Command That Feels Impossible
Philippians 2:3-4 says:
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Living this way is like driving against traffic on the M25. Every instinct and all cultural pressure push in the opposite direction. The other traffic is focused on going this way—hundreds of thousands of cars moving fast in that direction.
Human nature, from the beginning of time, has been to protect and guard yourself first, to think about yourself, to have ambition, to climb and succeed. Looking to your own interests first is human nature.
Cities like London often reward ambition, achievement, and self-promotion. This reinforces our natural tendency to prioritise our own success. London’s done really well out of it. The culture often encourages people to pursue success, sometimes at others' expense.
Our natural instincts, cultural values, and social pressures all push us toward self-promotion. They oppose self-giving love. Even many modern worldviews emphasise competition and self-preservation over self-giving love.
Some people have argued over the centuries that the big problem with Christianity is this idea that we should be concerned for others, because that’s going to hinder our progress as a race, as humanity, as a society.
Anyone who attempts to live this way quickly discovers how countercultural it is. Recognising this, we see that this command is far beyond what we can accomplish through willpower alone. Paul calls believers to adopt a radically different way of life.
God transforms us so we can live this way. This requires more than moral advice; God must work in us.
The Most Dramatic Intervention
In the next verses, God intervenes dramatically to make this reality possible for humanity.
Philippians 2:5-11:
"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.”
This passage captures the heart of the Christian message: the incarnation, death, and exaltation of Jesus Christ. Building on this, let’s explore what it means that Jesus goes first.
Jesus Goes First
Paul says, “Don’t do anything out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Instead, think of others first.”
Paul points us to Jesus, who perfectly embodied the humility He commands.
This isn’t just God's wisdom telling us how to live. This has been lived out by God Himself in the person of Jesus.
Paul emphasises its dramatic nature, describing it as descending a ladder. Jesus started at the very top of all things: fully God, above all creation. For all eternity, He has existed as the one true God. But it says He didn’t count equality with God as something He should hold on to. Jesus emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
The first stage of Christ’s humility was His incarnation. That was a big rung on the ladder. The magnitude of this descent is beyond our full comprehension. He existed for all eternity as the creator of all things. Yet He was born as one of us. He experienced life as we have—being born, our brains slowly forming comprehension of the world, language, relationships, and understanding. Jesus went through the same limited human experience that we did, even though He’s the creator of the world.
He humbled Himself, becoming like one of us—He made Himself nothing. Being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Having become one of us, Jesus humbled Himself even to the point of death. The author of life accepted death, allowing the people He created to take His life.
The Son of God humbled Himself first by becoming human and then by submitting to death. Even death on a cross. His descent continued all the way to death by crucifixion. In biblical thought, for Jesus as a Jewish man, the Bible says in the Old Testament (quoted in the New Testament), “Cursed is the man who’s hung upon a tree.” Crucifixion represented not only death, but also the bearing of a divine curse.
Jesus in His death didn’t just die a normal human death. He died a death under a curse. He submitted Himself to being under the curse of sin—the sins of the world, all the stuff we have done, all our failure to act without selfish ambition or vain conceit, all of that from millions of others who have done the same thing. Jesus died under the curse of that.
The perfectly holy One who created all things stepped down to become like one of us. He humbled Himself even to death. He went under the ground—lowering and submitting Himself, even to death on a cross. There He took on the worst of humanity. Not just the flesh and bones of humanity, but its darkness and sin. He lowered Himself to that, making it part of His story and experience.
Paul’s command is grounded in the example of Christ, who has already walked this path.
Jesus Reveals God
When Jesus came and humbled Himself to become human, something quite remarkable was revealed to us about the world we live in.
Many people see a chaotic, divided, and discouraging world. Conflict, division, and uncertainty dominate. Society suffers from a disease it cannot heal.
It’s particularly heavy if you think that’s all there is to see. Most people are looking around, seeing what’s going on, and that’s all they’ve got to see. It’s quite depressing. It conveys a sense of life's meaninglessness and of our attempts to make the world better.
The gospel breaks through this darkness, bringing sunlight through heavy clouds.
Instead of the world being only what we see, we discover something greater. Above and beyond it, there is a God of love. He not only created the world, but is willing to humble Himself and become like one of us. He humbles Himself to death, even becoming a curse for us. He does all this in love.
That wasn’t an unusual act. It wasn’t out of character for God to act that way. It reveals His character to us.
Every time we read a passage like this, sing about it, or are reminded of the gospel, remember this is good news. Gospel means “good news.” This is not just good news on an individual level (“I’ve had my sins forgiven”). It is good news for the whole world and all creation.
We do not live in a meaningless world. We do not live in a world of pure random chance. This is not a world governed by cruelty, where the strong eat the weak, and that’s just how things go.
We actually live in a world governed ultimately by a God who is willing to sacrifice Himself out of His love for people like you and me.
This truth brings hope and dispels the despair that often accompanies the news of our world.
Just as sunlight transforms a grey day, God's love transforms our view of the world.
When we read this, remember it, and sing about it, we’re not only rejoicing in an individual sense (“this is good news for me”). This is: the whole world I live in is better than I thought it was if this wasn’t true.
This truth needs to shape our perspective each day, because we’re going to be bombarded with bad news very often. As often as we can, we need to be reminded of this.
New Testament scholar N. T. Wright summarises the gospel this way: “Good news: God is becoming King, and He’s doing it through Jesus. And therefore God’s justice, God’s peace, God’s world is going to be renewed. And in the middle of that, of course, is good news for you and me.”
God is becoming King through Jesus. This brings profound hope and reassurance, because what we’re reading about in Jesus—in His coming and exaltation—is God saying, “I’m still in control, and I’m still working out my purposes.” And the God who’s in control of everything is a God of love and goodness, willing to sacrifice Himself for us.
This is the heart of the Christian message and the source of enduring hope.
Jesus Shows the Path to Glory
Verse 3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty conceit.” In Greek, the literal translation would be “empty glory.” Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty glory.
The world often offers a form of “empty glory.”
Jesus, being in the very nature of God, didn’t consider equality with God something to be grasped. He didn’t need to try to grasp it.
That language is probably quite deliberate, because it’s in contrast to Genesis 3. Adam and Eve, having been created by God, decided they would grasp. They grasped the fruit from the tree because the promise from the deceiver was that they could become like God. They weren’t like God, but they tried to grasp so they could be.
Jesus was like God but didn’t need to grasp and humbled Himself to become like them.
The contrast between Adam and Jesus is striking.
We get drawn into empty glory—we want to look better than we actually are. This tendency appears throughout everyday life. Social media often amplifies our desire to project an idealised version of ourselves. In many interactions, we instinctively try to shape how others perceive us.
This tendency affects our work, relationships, and social interactions. We’re constantly drawn into this temptation to look good on the outside and look better than we actually are on the inside.
Scripture addresses this tendency directly: don’t do things out of empty glory—things with no real validity, meaning, or substance.
Jesus shows us the alternative: the J-curve. Jesus, starting in glory, humbles Himself, then gets lifted up at the other end. Starting in glory, humbling Himself down to death, then, therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place—He gets drawn out the other way.
Jesus models for us what the path to true glory actually looks like.
This matters because we are designed by God to desire true glory. We’re designed to be glorious. We were made in the image of God. The Bible says that about humanity—male and female made in His image. We’re made to represent God. We’re actually designed for glory, to be glorious, to represent God’s glory. That’s what we’re made for.
Yet the path is not about grasping ourselves and lifting ourselves higher. The path is actually the opposite. The path is to follow Jesus, who doesn’t try to grasp at it but instead humbles Himself and serves others’ needs first. As He lowers Himself, God exalts Him and gives Him the name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The Bible says again and again: “God opposes the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.”
If we try to lift ourselves up, we find that God resists. If we humble ourselves and serve the needs of others first, we find that God wants to lift us up.
In the Christian life, we’ll often find that we have to follow this same path—that death comes before resurrection and glory.
But what we would find if we skipped the humbling and went straight to glory is that by bypassing humility, we would miss the transformative work God intends to accomplish. So that when God lifts us up, it’s not a fake glory, it’s not an empty glory—it’s real.
God has actually worked His own character in us as we’ve gone through seasons of feeling like “this feels like death.” We find that God actually works the weight of glory into our lives so that, as we come out of it, we emerge increasingly shaped into the likeness of Christ.
Our ultimate goal for all of us who are believers is that we’re going to be lifted to be with Christ forever in glory. So God is taking us on this journey of sometimes feeling like we have to humble ourselves and walk through seasons that feel like death, so that ultimately He can lift us up to be with Him forever.
God is not trying to keep glory away from us. He’s actually trying to lift us, to lead us into it. God leads His people to glory through the path of humility and resurrection. There’s a whole journey He’s going to take us on that will get us to glory, but it’s going to involve some death and resurrection along the way.
Jesus Shows the Path to Glory
Paul says, "To live is Christ."
Circumstances could be whatever they are, but to live is Christ. Even in prison, he's okay. Why? Because his identity is secure. His purpose is clear. His joy is unshakable.
In London, everything tells you: "You are what you achieve. You are what you've done this last year."
The gospel says: "You are in Christ."
That's your identity. Not your job title. Not your salary. Not your relationship status. Christ. Christ is your identity if you choose to live in Christ.
At Redemption
As a church, we are learning to follow Jesus on this paradoxical path: the way down is the way up. Humility leads to transformation, and service leads to lasting glory. We’re reminded that we don’t live in a meaningless world, but under a God of love willing to sacrifice Himself for us. That sunlight dispels the gloom.
We’re learning that true glory doesn’t come from grasping and self-promotion, but from humbling ourselves and serving others. God works His character in us through seasons that feel like death, so that when He lifts us up, it’s with real glory, not empty glory.
The God of the universe humbled Himself from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. And now God has exalted Him to the highest of highs. That’s the God we know and love and serve.
