The Humility of the Incarnation

"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philip 2:1-7).

As I meditated and prayed about the implications of the incarnation I was overwhelmed with a sense of numinous awe over the profound humility that was displayed when God became flesh—when deity was clothed with humanity.
My prayer is that the Holy Spirit would allow us to see the wonder of the humility of the incarnation in a way that we would be in awe of God—that we would bow before him in worship and humble adoration. And in the light of the humility of the incarnation I pray that we would learn as followers of Christ why and how we must strive in the power of the Spirit to emulate that humility.

I. The Personification of Humility:

In verses 1-4 of our text Paul was encouraging unity among the believers of the church at Philip. In order to encourage that unity Paul points to the humility of the incarnation (v. 5-8). Why? Because the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ personified humility. The incarnation (when God became flesh) is the pinnacle of the humility that true followers of Christ are to strive to emulate.
In a moment we are going to see why humility is our best friend and pride (the opposite of humility) our worst enemy. But before we look at that I want us to know that we will not reflect the humility of Christ, we will not desire the humility of Christ and we will not strive to be humble unless we appreciate—unless we are first gripped by the humility of the incarnation.

Paul desired for the Philippians to see the wonder of the incarnation. Therefore he wrote concerning Christ in verses 6-8, “Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” What is Paul saying here? He’s saying that God, the creator and sustainer of the universe set aside his divine privileges to become a servant to man—to take on the likeness of man. Understand what the bible is saying here. God didn’t quit being God to become a man. God put on the robes of human flesh and being fully God and fully man he subjected himself to man, he became a servant to man—he suffered as a man—And He died as a man on a Roman cross for you and for me.

Do we really appreciate fully the humility of the incarnation? Have you been humbled—has your pride been shattered—have you fallen on your knees in awe at the mystery and humility of the incarnation? The fact is that words are not adequate enough to express this mystery of the humanity of Christ. But thankfully God made the universe in such a way that it helps to declare to us the glory and greatness of God. (Psalm 19). In doing so they help us to better appreciate the humility of the incarnation.

In Psalm 8 the Psalmist wrote, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:3-4).

When the Psalmist considered the wonders of God's creation by gazing at the night sky he was greatly humbled. And as he looked in awe at the amazing beauty of the stars and moon that God created he declared, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest (cares for) him?" David was humbled because he saw himself in the light of the glory of God’s creation. He thought, “Why would such a great and powerful God care for and be mindful of such, insignificant and tiny specks in his universe like you and me? What's even more incomprehensible is not only that God would think upon and care for man on the planet that he fashioned for us, but that the creator of the starry skies humbled himself and became a man that he might give his life as a ransom for you and for me.

The God who created the sun that warms our planet, the God who created the beautiful stars and galaxies and billions upon billions of more stars like them, is the God “who made himself of no reputation and took upon himself the form of a servant, and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death even the death of the cross.”

II. The Promise of Humility:

After Paul’s describes the humility of Christ in his incarnation he writes in verse 9-11, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philip 2:9-11).

The word “wherefore” in verse 9 connects the humiliation of Christ with the exaltation of Christ. In his humanity Christ demonstrated for us that the path to greatness in God’s eyes is humility. And of course this doesn’t only apply to Jesus but to us as well. There are great promises of God that are breathtaking and that are only realized in our lives through humility. In 1 Peter 5:6 we read, “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6-7).

In Isaiah 66:1-2 we find another amazing promise that ought to motivate us to seek humility: “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”

Notice that in this scripture we find motivation and purpose for humility and that is the promise that it gets the attention of God or as one author put it, “Humility draws the gaze of our sovereign God.” What does this mean? This means that humility draws God’s gracious, undeserved, supernatural strength and assistance. James wrote, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

We will not experience unity in our churches, we will not experience more of the grace and strength of God, we will not experience answers to prayer, God will not use us in any significant way, we will not be granted any more influence from God apart from clothing ourselves with the robes of humility. This is why I said earlier that humility is our best friend and pride our worst enemy. Pride is our enemy because God resists and opposes the proud. But humility is our great friend because it draws the divine grace of God into our lives.

III. The Practice of humility:

How do we put on this essential virtue of humility? First of all we must know what
it is? Like the word love humility is not easy to define. Humility is best described and understood as it is applied in our everyday interaction with God and others around us. But before we look at how Paul describes what humility looks like in our relationship with others let me give you a simple phrase that helps me not only to know what humility is but that God’s uses to put me in my place. Humility is remembering that it’s not about me. When I shared that with my friend Mark this week he added, “even when I right.”

Do you know what pride is? Pride is making it about me. Pride (making it about me) is as I already said our greatest enemy—it’s the greatest enemy of unity in the church—to marital relationships—family relationships, relationships in general and most of all our relationship with God. Thomas Merton wrote, "To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect upon myself is to live on the doorstep of hell."

Now Paul describes the kind of humility that we are to exemplify as Christians: “Let nothing be done through strife (insisting on your own way, seeking to be first) or vainglory (To bring glory to self,); but in lowliness (humility) of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. (put others before yourself) Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Don’t just do things when there is something in it for you, but look out for the interest of others) (Philip 2:3-4).

The bottom line is that when we are walking in humility we recognized that it’s not about me, but it’s about living our lives in a way that glorifies and emulates the one who it is all about. And our motivation for practicing humility is recalling to mind, that although it is all about Jesus, He set aside his divine rights and privileges and humbled himself to look out for our interest—to save us from our sin.

Now that we have an idea of what humility looks like, how do we live it out? Reflect deeply on the humility of the incarnation, Renew your mind daily in God’s word, Rely upon God, and lastly Repent of all areas of pride in your life.


In Isaiah 66:2 we read, “For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word” The person that trembles at God’s word is

How many of you need God’s grace, God’s strength, God’s forgiveness? God’s says, “to this man will I look, event to him that is poor (humble) and of a contrite spirit…” God hears the cry of humble hearts.