The Suffering God

In the book of Philippians, Paul addresses some disputes that had been taking place in the church at Philippi. In the beginning of chapter 2, he mentions some of the problems: selfishness, conceit, disunity, lack of love, and false pride. In order to address these issues, Paul uses what is now known, creatively, as the “Philippian Hymn” beginning with his introduction in verse 5. A form of this hymn would have been well known among the people of his time.

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, because he was in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Not only is this hymn beautiful, but it is also powerful, still today. Verse 6 begins by giving us a description of God. Because Christ was in very nature God, because he was God, he could do nothing other than make himself a servant. Instead of reaching for some kind of superior and elevated status, Jesus humbled himself, taking on the very nature of a servant and became obedient to death because he knew nothing else; he was God. Because of this, he was exalted above all things.

This is the attitude, the very mind of Jesus. He is perfection; where Adam failed, Christ prevailed. Even further than that, this is the very heart of God, the same God we serve. He is not some scary figure looming over us in the clouds waiting to catch us doing wrong; he is not out to get us. Rather, he is a God who got on his knees to wash the feet of others; he is a God who ate with sinners and spent his time with lepers, the outcast of society. He is the God who left his throne in order to become one of us, suffered with us, and gave wholly of himself on the cross in order that we may have life.

As we wake up each morning and live out each day, remember that it is to this God, a God who has suffered alongside us and endured even much greater pain, that we pray and worship. This is the God we serve, the suffering God.

-Matt