The Christ Hymn

It truly was a joy to engage with The Christ Hymn as a church family this past Sunday! What a wonderful time of unity we shared in The Holy Spirit as we reflected on the humility of Christ Jesus in his journey to the cross, and exaltation by The Father.

Though our time had a different end that I originally planned, I do feel it is necessary to share some more thoughts that I prepared over the past week, as well as some links to the version of The Christ Hymn we sang.

The Christ Hymn by Austin Stone Worship

A Quote from Alec Motyer

“[Philippians 2:6-11] allows us to enter into the mind of Christ. We tread, therefore, on very holy ground indeed. We do well to remember that this privilege is given to us not to satisfy our curiosity but to reform our lives.

• J. A. Motyer, The Message of Philippians

Notes From Sunday’s Sermon

These are taken from my sermon notes, and give some theological insight to The Christ Hymn. You’ll notice that there is no ending or conclusion, that is because often times I leave that space for the Holy Spirit to lead. Also, there may be some grammatical errors or misspellings. These notes are typically for me, so I don’t really edit them well.

A Hymn of Belief

As we marvel at the wonder of these words. As we continue in worship of this Lord of humility and exaltation, let’s go further with understanding what this hymn communicates to us. Hymns were a way of teaching in ancient times. How did you learn your ABCs? Song. Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Song. So, this hymn was a part of the church before Paul wrote this letter to help the church understand who Christ is, but even more it shows us modern readers how the early Christians were trying to grasp and understand exactly who this man from Nazareth was that rose from the grave. It is a hymn of their beliefs.

The depths of the lyrics in this song has sparked theological debate for centuries, even millennia. And so for us to do a deep dive into this hymn, would require more out of us than the time we have and more so, I’m not sure would produce much good in the end. But there are a few definitive things I’d like us to see from this song that teach us about the character of Christ and give us a peek into the early beliefs of the Church on Jesus, The Messiah. 

1. Jesus is God

At the beginning of the song and at the end, we see Christ as God. His very nature was God. He was equal to God. He is exalted to the highest place. His name is above all other names. Every knee shall bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This song is using creation language and the prophetic voice of Isaiah to demonstrate Jesus as Lord. These images and words were familiar to the Jewish community, and thus became connected to Jesus Christ as they were working out who this Messiah is in the revelation that he is Lord as Yahweh is Lord, too. They are connecting that God, The Father, and Jesus Christ the Son are one. Listen to the words from John 17:

John 17:1-5 NIV
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

2. Jesus humbled himself

In the story of the fall, the man and the woman both eat of the fruit hoping to become more equal to God. The temptation of the serpent was that if they ate of the fruit, they would get something that God had that they didn’t – the knowledge of good and evil. They sought to make themselves equal to God. Yet, here we see the exact opposite! Jesus, who was equal to God, made himself nothing… to do what? Not just be a man, but by taking on the nature of a servant, more literally a slave. Jesus said of himself in Mark 10

Mark 10:45 NIV
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

And in this hymn are clear statements of his humility as a man. Emphasis on man. We read, “he took on the very nature of a servant, was made in human likeness, and was found in appearance as a man.” Jesus wasn’t some ethereal spirit posing as a man. No, he was all human, and a human that came humbly to serve the very ones who were made to serve him. But his humility wasn’t done there…

The hymn continues he became obedient to death, even death on a cross! – a Roman device created to torture criminals. Was Jesus a criminal? No, but he took it on. Did the Messiah deserve to die? No, but he took that on too. Was Christ a slave? No, but he took it on? And why?

Here’s where you expect me to say… he did it for you! He did it for me! And I’m going to tell you that is NOT what this hymn says. It actually doesn’t mention you or me as the motivation at all. The very last line of this song tells us… he did it to the glory of God the Father. Essentially, Jesus humbled himself out of obedience to the Father. 

John 6:38 NIV
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.

Or think of Jesus’ words as he was praying in the garden of gethsemane before his arrest, trial and crucifixion. 

Matthew 26:39 NIV
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Why would Jesus humble himself? He did it out of obedience to the Father, and his glory! Do you and I benefit from his obedience, you bet! But that was not his motivation. His motivation was to honor and bring glory to God the Father.

3. Jesus is exalted as LORD

And this is where we will close our time this morning.

READ vv.9-11

Isaiah 45:22-24
“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone are deliverance and strength.’ ” All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.

Our salvation is in Jesus alone, because God exalted him back to equality with him. The words of knees bowing and tongues confessing are taken straight out of Isaiah 45. But notice who Isaiah 45:22-24 is about. This is God speaking of himself! Yahweh, The Lord of Israel. He even states, “I am God, and there is no other!”

This hymn powerfully attributes the acknowledgement of Yahweh as LORD to Jesus as LORD. It takes us back to what was communicated in John 17, that the Father and the Son are ONE. What I find so amazing about this is that you can see, before this letter was written by Paul the earliest Christians were developing their theology of The Trinity! They were just starting to wrap their heads around The Triune God, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit!

Even as amazing as that is, we can also see that this song is also calling for a response! Knees bowing and tongues confessing are actions. It’s one thing to believe in God and know he exists, it’s a whole other thing to bow down to him and confess that he is Lord! Because in order for that to happen, we must HUMBLE ourselves first.