Over the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at the signs in John’s Gospel that show who Jesus was, and the statements that Jesus made about Himself to prove who He was. Philippians chapter 2:6-11 is believed to be a hymn sung by the early church, which shows the amazing love God has for His people. Here it is in the International Standard Version:
In God’s own form existed he
And shared with God equality
Deemed nothing needed grasping.
Instead poured out in emptiness
A servant’s form did he possess,
A mortal man becoming.
In human form he chose to be,
And lived in all humility,
Death on the cross obeying.
Now lifted up by God to heaven,
A name above all others given,
This matchless name possessing.
And so, when Jesus name is called,
The knees of everyone should fall,
Wherever they’re residing.
Then every tongue in one accord,
Will say that Jesus the Messiah is Lord,
While God the Father praising.
This hymn of worship encapsulates everything that Jesus has done for us. He left the majesty of Heaven, took upon Himself the form of a man and lived a poor man’s life. He suffered death on the cross (a torturous and humiliating death) so that anyone who calls upon His Name may be saved for the penalty due for their sin. One day every person who has ever lived will bow their knee to Him as they acknowledge that he is God. Some will bow in abject fear, knowing that they will now suffer eternally for rejecting this great offer of salvation, and some in adoration and worship as they know that they will spend eternity safe in the centre of his love.
We have this life to consider these things. Death is the end of thinking time. Open your eyes to the evidence of God’s love for you now, before it is too late.