Becoming Reflections Of Jesus

Philippians 2:1-13

It has been 2000+ years since Jesus was physically on earth.  If we are believers, we have Jesus dwelling in our hearts.  We can be reflections of Jesus to others by our lifestyle, actions, behavior, and attitudes.

What kind of reflection are we giving?  Paul, as he records in our Scripture reading today, wants us, as believers, to reflect Jesus Christ’s attitude throughout His life.  Our mind, our thoughts, beliefs, and thinking, are to be patterned after the mindset that Jesus had (vs. 5).  That way, when people observe us in our daily life, they can be seeing a pattern of Jesus reflected through us.

Jesus is God, the second Person of the Trinity.  He does not have a more inferior position or role than that of the Father.  When He came to earth, He chose to lower Himself in order to bring salvation to us (vs. 6 - 8).  He chose to become a man to die for our sins.  What was Jesus’s mindset throughout His life?  First, He had an attitude of humility.  He left His throne of glory to come to earth as a man, and a poor man at that.  He is God, yet He endured the mocking, jeering, and ridicule from the Jewish religious leaders.  Jesus took the role of a servant, healing and ministering to the world’s outcasts.  And He, the sinless Son of God, was willing to offer His life as a sacrifice to pay the penalty of our sins.  That death was not a gentle or easy one, either.  It was a brutal death of crucifixion, after having been savagely scourged.

How do we respond when we are mistreated?  Do we have the same mind as Jesus does?  More often than not we likely respond back in the same manner as those who attacked us, or worse.  At best we think nasty thoughts against those people.  That is not the mind of Christ.  Paul reminds us in verses 2 - 4 of the type of attitude and mindset that is a good reflection of that of Jesus.  

Among fellow believers, we are to be like-minded, not squabbling and fighting among ourselves (vs. 2).  The unsaved world is watching and observing us Christians.  Is that what they see?  Sadly, too often that is not the case.  What kind of reflection of Jesus does that give?  Are we looking out for other’s interests and needs, or only our own?  (vs. 4)  Jesus put everyone else’s needs before His own.  He gave up His throne in glory for us, but are we willing to put someone else’s needs periodically before our own?

Paul tells us in verse 1 to show affection and mercy to others, both believer and non-believer.  Does our behavior reflect that, or are we quick to figuratively clobber them?  Jesus forgave those who had mistreated him.  Is our ambition out of check, and are we conceited?  (vs. 3)  Paul admonishes us to show humility in our dealings with others.  We shouldn’t be so conceited and think so highly of ourselves that we think others are beneath us.  Jesus was the model of humility.  What does a humble person look like?  As the Christian author and philosopher C. S. Lewis said, a man who is truly humble will not be thinking about humility, and thinking he is a nobody.  He is not thinking of himself at all.  Again, as Christians, this mindset which Jesus had, should be ours as well.

Paul closes up this passage by encouraging the Philippian believers, and us as well, to be diligent in obeying all that God commands throughout Scripture (vs. 12 - 13).  God is not like an overindulgent older relative, one who overlooks our faults, thinking we’re just cute, beloved youngsters.  No, He has given us His Word for our own good, and even though we are His born-again children, He expects us to strive to obey Him.

As we meditate on this passage, let’s see how well we are doing by being a reflection of Jesus to those we have contact with in our daily life.  As the old-time hymn by Kate Wilkinson says, “May the mind of Christ, my Savior, live in me from day to day, by His love and power controlling, all I do and say.”