“Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”
As we discussed in yesterday’s post, these verses are helping us understand what it means to be like Jesus. He considered his God-status unimportant and his attitude was unaltered by it. Today’s verses tell us what he did instead of lording power over people. It is here that we will find some great wisdom for how we should live. Knowing what not to do is important, but knowing what to do gives us a picture of what freedom could truly look like.
So how did Jesus surrender his right to God-power while on earth? Let’s make a handy step-by-step guide for how to follow Jesus:
Step 1: Humble yourself
Step 2: Become a slave
Step 3: Obey God when it costs you everything
Step 4: Be willing to die
When I was in Sunday school at five years old and was presented with the choice of being happy with God forever in heaven or burning in hell with Satan, I naturally raised my hand at the heaven option. No where in there were these steps made clear until much, much later. When I look at this list, I am immediately discouraged and I think, “Wow, being a Christian is kind of an awful plan…” But because I know that the Spirit brings total freedom, I have to start with that and read these steps with that mindset. How does humility set me free? Doesn’t becoming a slave make me a captive (which last I checked was the opposite of free)? How can I obey God in the really hard moments? And um, did you say die? How exactly does that make me free?
Humility is simply embracing your smallness. Weight is lifted from you when you realize his power is the only kind that is real. His power works best in you when you serve others willingly — this kind of attitude is like a kick in the gut to Satan who thought he had you all wrapped up in yourself for good. Obedience to God becomes the only logical choice as you watch his power work through you when you do things his way. Even if that required death, it really wouldn’t matter because Satan can’t steal you back. And that is exactly how Jesus found his freedom.