Philippians 2:6 - Let go

"...Who, in [the] form of God existing, did not rule the to being equal to God something to be grasped..."

-Christ Jesus did not hold on to His rights, His wants, His status, what He deserved, what He had always been, the way things had always been.  it was not about Him.  it was not about self.  it was not about Me. 

-the context makes this lowering even more significant.  Jesus in fact was God incarnate.  He had always been God, always co-existing and co-equal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  all things were made through Him.  every single thing in the universe came into existence by Him, thus He was above all things, including every single person on planet earth.  as God, not only was He above all things and people, but He was worthy of all honor and glory and blessing and praise and love and devotion from every thing and everyone.  He deserved all of that.  but He chose to not hold onto it - He chose to not put Me first.  the incredible irony here is that it WAS all about Him.  all of history had pointed to His coming.  God’s great plan was the summing up of all things in Christ (ephesians 1.10).  He was the Way, the Truth and the Life.  and yet He chose to make it not about Him (and even in doing so He made it even more about Him, as we will see in verse 9...).

-what are you holding onto today?  what am i holding onto today?  in what ways am i living into me-first?  what rights am i grasping at others’ expense?  what privileges or status am i holding onto at all costs?  what is it that i feel i deserve?  paul reminds us here that Jesus deserved to live as God and be treated equally with God the Father, but He let it all go and lived into others-first.

-in our case, it might be helpful to remember that we actually deserve two separate outcomes, and both are different than what we get in this life.  for those who are in Christ, we simultaneously 'deserve’ both heaven and hell.  we were designed for and are now once again destined for paradise - and it is instinctive for us to feel that life for us should be perfect.  at the same time we really deserve something far worse than what we ever get in this life - we deserve to pay the penalty for our sins by being forever separated from God and excluded from paradise.  these polar extremes create a context that can and should inform how we think and how we hold onto various expectations and the things that we think we deserve in this life.  

-do i think i have the right to my privacy and my own time and to not have to mess with the messes and complexity and warts of others?  the right to a perfect job or boss or spouse or kids or church or place to live?  the right to live in a clean home and have my food ready for me whenever i want it?  the right to justice and equal treatment while driving a car or when purchasing something?  the right to paradise?  do i deserve to not be sick or hungry or have things break down on me?  do i think and act as though i deserve some kind of paradise here on earth?  as we will see, all complaining and grumbling is actually rooted in this reality.  we grumble and complain when things aren’t right because we were designed and are destined for paradise.  so there is an understandable instinct in play, and yet this life will never live up to those expectations, and we are in fact called to lay aside all those expactations for the sake of others and for the Gospel, just like Jesus.

-at the same time, living into me-first and expecting life to be perfect fails to take into consideration that what i actually deserve is hell.  yes, i was designed for paradise, and it is perfectly understandable that we want and feel like we do deserve life to be perfect, but what i really deserve is to be forever separated from anything and everything that is Perfect and breathtakingly Good and able to thrill and satisfy my deepest needs and desires.  living into others-first and letting go of my expectations and what i think i deserve will be a challenge, to be sure, but it will never be as hard or as bad as getting what i ultimately deserve.  so i must let go of my expectations today.  let go of my perceived rights and the things i think i deserve.  live into and embrace a life of others-first.  i have a long way to go...