The Joy of Glory

Philippians 2:5-8 (click here)
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant… (Philippians 2:5-7)

Reflection
Jesus Christ is God.

All power, all wisdom, all present, all everything… all the time… God.

Yet, in his equality with God the Father, he did not consider is “all-ness” something to be “grasped,” or used for his own advantage. His power, wisdom, and glory was not something he used to abuse…no…he used his all to serve…to love.

He emptied himself…by taking the form of a servant. He poured out his “all-ness” for us, used all his power, wisdom, and glory for us.

He came in power, in wisdom, in might, in love, but not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). The fact that Jesus emptied himself, doesn’t mean that he gave up being God… it doesn’t mean he gave up a single ounce of his divineness (if we can speak in such human terms)… no… it means he used all his divine power to serve… to love.

He poured himself out in love for his Father and in love toward us.

But perhaps the most amazing thing Philippians 2 has to say about this wondrous servant-hood of Jesus isn’t actually about Jesus, but about us. In verse 5 we read, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”

We, the church, are to have the very mindset of Christ. The mindset that takes everything within me that I could possibly seize and use for my own advantage, and pour it all out in service and love of others.

We are empowered by Christ, to show the love of Christ, by loving others in the same way he loved us… by humbling ourselves to serve.

Jesus Christ is God…and he emptied himself to serve, to love, to save.

If I truly know that Jesus, it shows as I empty myself to serve, to love, to show others I have been saved and they can be to…by Jesus.

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Hebrews 1:3, 8 (click here)
[Christ] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power… (Hebrews 1:3a)

Reflection
What keeps your feet on the ground at this moment? No…I mean literally.

Gravity. That’s the logical answer isn’t it? But…is it the ultimate one?

What keeps the planet spinning… or the wolf howling… or the rivers running? We could give all sorts of technical, scientific answers to these questions… but if we act like an insatiably curious toddler and keep pushing with the simple word “why” what ultimate answer will we find?

Why does gravity work? Why do animals behave as they do? Why does anything in the universe function at all.

Scripture gives one ultimate answer… Jesus.

Jesus Christ upholds the universe by the word of his power.

Gravity works because he wills it. The wolf howls because he wills it. The river runs because he will it. For all things were created by him and FOR him!

Think about the implications of this all encompassing reality. Nothing you encounter is natural! Every millisecond of your life experience is supernatural! It is all upheld, undergirded, made possible by the power of Christ!

You would breathe, think, or speak unless Christ upheld the universe by his power, out of his great love! And yes… such realities cause us to wrestle with very difficult questions concerning all the evil that takes place within our world… but even amidst those questions we can clearly see Christ’s sustaining love! In unexplainable love, he sustains even those who hate him in word and deed so that they have an opportunity to repent and know his grace!

His sustaining of all things is grace! Nothing and no one deserves to be upheld by the word of his power… and yet here we are… being freely upheld at this moment. We are swimming in an ocean of grace every second over ever day.

Take a moment, look around, breathe, think, taste, see, and know that everything you are experiencing is the result of the miraculous, gracious power of Jesus Christ.

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Colossians 1:15, 2:9
[Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily…

Reflection
How do you see God?

Scripture is clear that God the father is “invisible” at least in the sense that he has not been seen, nor can he be seen by humans. He surpasses all description and the best the Biblical authors can do is scrape for words as they experience fleeting visions.

So how can we see God? How can we know who he is and what he is like?

What if this God made himself visible? What if…instead of us trying to figure out a way to approach him, he came to us? What if this God took on flesh and dwelt among us?

Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God! He has made God known to us! He has made him seen, because he IS God!

The whole fullness of deity dwells in Christ bodily! Jesus is part of God. He’s not 33% of God and you need to add him to the Holy Spirit and the Father to get the whole… no… he is God in all his fullness in flesh!

The Father is God! The Spirit is God! And Jesus is God! How? This is simply the mystery we are taught by Scripture and that we confess in faith. Our God is three distinct person, yet one divine essence! If that sounds confusing, like a mystery beyond understanding…the join the club!

But this mystery is not without point or purpose! The beauty of it is that we have been given a way to see God through Jesus Christ! And not only that…but we have been given a way TO God through Jesus Christ!

We have access to God the Father, through God the Son, in the power of God the Holy Spirit! The invisible God has not only made himself known through Jesus, but he has made himself knowable through Jesus!

How do you see and know and love God? Through Jesus!

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.