Identity in Christ by humility

“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (1st Peter 2:21)

Most people think Jesus came to the world just to save sinners. Well, it is true in some sense, but Christ’s incarnation was not just only for dying for the sin of the world. On the cross Christ declared, “it is finished” – In the fullness of time come christ purchased the the people who were under the Law. All human beings are under sin and under the dominion of sin. All are declared sinners by God because of the disobedience of Adam in the garden of Eden. God made one man, Christ, who become the representation of sin of man.

It was God’s plan to have a humanity saved by his son Jesus Christ. As the sin of Adam was imputed by God on humanity, the righteousness of Christ is also imputed to man. By one man death came to all and by one man’s righteousness life came to many.

All humanity were slaves to sin. But the saved ones become slaves to righteousness. A sinner has no automatic desire nor the ability to get out of their sinfulness. He rejoices in his sinfulness. The law of God exposes and gives the knowledge of sin. Law cries out to men and declares they that are sinners.

God sent His son Jesus Christ to this sin cursed world to bear the responsibility of the sin of the man. Why was this necessary? It was necessary because it was part of the will of God as it was planned before the foundation of the world, even before God created heaven and the earth.

His coming to the world was not only for salvation of man, but also to identify with man. Jesus took the form of a man. He bore flesh and blood. He was identified with man everything but sin. The perfect lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world and become the sin bearer of man. His 3.5 years of ministry in the the world changed the world. His coming to the world and the mission was carried out precisely as planned by God. When the fullness of time come, God sent his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem the ones who were under the law” He saved men and left them in this world to continue the ministry through them by the power of the Holy Spirit to gather the elect complete God’s plan in the fullness of times.

For the past 2,000+ years this ministry has been going on in the world. Many gave their lives for this cause. The message of the cross is uncomfortable to man. Because man thinks he can reach to God by his own will. The knowledge of good and evil in him became and instinct for his pride and rebellion against God. The mission for the gathering of God’s elect started off with the disciples of Jesus Christ. They could not believe everything Jesus told them when He was on the earth. But once he was a scented to heaven to His Glory, to the very same glory He had with God before the foundation of the world, He sent the 3rd person of trinity the very Spirit of God to bring to the world the true conviction. Christ gave gifts to men (Ephesians 4:7-8). His apostles have seen him, lived with him, and had experienced the pulse of his life were baptized with the power of the Holy Spirit when He breathed on them.

The very same breath of life once Adam received from God. The life-giving breath of God. On the day of Pentecost, when Spirit of God dissented to the world, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and become witnesses, and the work of the Holy Spirit began on that day and continues through generations to be completed the on the day God has appointed.

As we read in Psalm 22: 30-31 “A seed shall serve Him: it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that He hath done this.

Now we are the people who are born into the household of God. God saved us through Jesus Christ by His will as planned for us before the foundation of the world by His foreknowledge and by His intimate love towards us in Christ. Jesus Christ is the core of our existence in God. He made us to be His people. “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10).

Well, this privilege come with responsibility that are do be done on earth in heavenly standards. A life to live by faith. Jesus Christ, whom is the author and finisher of our faith set the standard for us to follow as we live on earth. The life of a Christian is challenging on earth. He must live in His flesh with a transformed life inside of him. That is how God planned it for him. In his flesh he has the fleshly desires still be present, but he ought to put to death the flesh and grow in the Spirit.

First, he will realize his own identity in Christ by his earnest desire to know God through the word of God. As he grows in the word, his inherent nature of pride will be reduced, and he become conformed to Christ. His pride give way to humility. He will have the desire to be like Christ. How can a man be like Christ without humility.

The one thing every human being inherited by birth is pride. It is not necessary to give a lesson to man to a man to grow in his pride. It is his instinct and most of his decisions and actions are out of pride. Though man is so fragile and having an unsecured future, he still thinks he is all all-sufficient.

As a believer, through the working of faith and the desire of the word of God, consider God as his father gives a man the ability to think about the necessity for his heavenly standard of life. He will realize that God set a race for him, and he must run it with endurance to its completion. He also knows that it will not be by his ability, but his eyes will be set of Christ who is the Faith of his live.

This man will take the chastening of God with joy and never be discouraged by the rebuke of the Father in heaven. He knows that God does it out of his abundant love that He has in Christ towards the ones God receives (Hebrews 12:3-6). This discipline is vital for the removal of pride and to develop christ like humility. He becomes a true imitator of Christ.

1. The Humility of Christ Revealed

a) His Eternal Descent

Philippians 2:6–7 — “Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”

John 6:38 — “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

2 Corinthians 8:9 — “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

b) His Lowly Incarnation

Luke 2:7 — “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Micah 5:2 — “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”

c) His Life of Service

Mark 10:45 — “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

John 13:3–5 — “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”

Matthew 11:29 — “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

d) His Obedience in Suffering

Isaiah 53:7 — “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.”

1 Peter 2:23 — “Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.”

Hebrews 5:8 — “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

e) His Exaltation

Philippians 2:9–11 — “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

f) His Present Ministry

Hebrews 7:25 — “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

2. The Child of God Practicing Christ-like Humility

Philippians 2:5 — “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”

Luke 22:42 — “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.”

Luke 22:27 — “For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.”

Matthew 11:29 — “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

John 3:30 — “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

1 Peter 2:23 — “Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.”

Hebrews 5:8 — “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

Philippians 2:9 — “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.”

3. The Servant’s Attitude

Luke 17:10 — “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”

Matthew 6:24 — “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Psalm 119:105 — “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Galatians 2:20 — “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Colossians 3:4 — “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

Philippians 3:14 — “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Conclusion

The humility of Christ is both the foundation of our salvation and the pattern of our service. From eternity to the cross, from His present priestly ministry to His coming exaltation, His humility reveals the heart of God. For His children, to walk in humility is to live as unprofitable servants who trust in His promises, serve without seeking reward, endure suffering with patience, and rest in the life of Christ within. There is no greater peace, no deeper satisfaction, than to bow under the Lordship of Christ and find our joy in serving Him.

May the name of our Lord be glorified!