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His Life and Death

October 3, 2019 by Lauren 24 Comments

Photo by Diana Vargas on Unsplash

Who, being in very nature[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!  Philippians 4:6-8

 

During my personal study of God’s Word this week, I spread out two different versions of the Bible and a commentary to look at different aspects of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  In the passage above from Philippians, we see the culmination of His time as a man – death on the cross.  This single act saved me and continues to save me from sin and destruction.  And this same salvation is available to anyone who seeks Him and receives His gift.  Jesus’ death remains the most important and beautiful occurrence in history.  What a gift.  His death changes everything.  And yet His life caught my attention as I studied.

 

If we back up to verse 7 in the text above, we see the first sacrifice Jesus made.  “…he made himself nothing”.  That’s a huge demotion for the creator of the universe.  One commentary I read said He, “willingly girded Himself with the apron of a slave.”  Mark 10:45 says, For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.  He chose to give up all that heaven is and all He was entitled to so He could walk as one of us.  Francis Chan put it this way, “He emptied Himself of all of His glory” to come down to this.  I’ve been sitting with that this week.

 

Matthew 8:20 quotes my Savior as saying, Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.  At the height of His ministry, He had nothing.  Nor was He welcomed or accepted in His own hometown (Luke 4:24).  In heaven angels worshipped and attended to Him, but here, He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. (Isaiah 53:2) Toward the end of His life, He was betrayed by one in His inner circle (Matthew 26).  Those in authority spat on Him, beat Him and mocked Him (Mark 14:65). Jesus hung on the cross to make a way to God for us.  But He relinquished so much before he ever made His way to Calvary.  

 

I am eternally grateful for Christ’s death in my place.  But today, I wanted to thank Him for His life.

 

Sharing is caring! If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of sharing it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!

 

And look up these great writers I link up with every week:

InstaEncouragements, Literacy Musing Mondays, Hello…Monday,

Dream Team link up, The Good. The Random. The Fun.

BloggerClubUK, Tea and Word Tuesday, Purposeful Faith,

GraceFull Tuesday Link-Up, Different Dream,

Let’s Have Coffee, Welcome Wednesday, Recharge Wednesday,

Worth Beyond Rubies, #TellHisStory Link Up, Porch Stories,

Encouraging Word Wednesday, Tune In Thursday,

Stories of Hope, Moments of Hope, IHeart Verse Link Party,

A Blogging Good Time, Fresh Market Friday, Feature Friday Time,

Friendship Friday Blog Hop, Faith on Fire, Traffic Jam Weekend,

Faith ‘n Friends, Dancing with Jesus, Grace & Truth, Booknificent

 

Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links. If you purchase anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

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About Me

I love Jesus, my husband and caffeine. The order of these can change depending on how tired I am. When my two daughters, stepson, and 4 grandchildren get to be too much, I practice yoga. God graciously allows me to share our adventures, victories and flub-ups from my laptop. May He be glorified here.
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