Sunday, March 18

Philippians 2:5-8a

Prophecy FULFILLED: In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man…

Devotional:

This Scripture from Philippians brings even more light to the truth we saw yesterday. Yes, we often desire to have certain right attributes. Understand though, Jesus desired to be what His Father valued. Jesus desired to be the right Servant. Jesus desired to be the final Sacrifice. When we surrender our life to Jesus, that means we give up our right to have it all together as normal people on this side of heaven. We belong to Him now–no matter what. The moment we become His (because He first loved us), our identity is established in Him. The beautiful good news is this: from then on, the Father sees us as the perfect righteousness of Christ.

None of that would’ve been possible unless Jesus became a person; taking on humanity and becoming like us. Salvation would be unattainable if Jesus had never taken the very nature of a servant. We could not have ever loved God had He not loved us first. Christ became a man, made Himself nothing, gave His life as a ransom, and was resurrected so that we might “be found in him, not having a righteousness of [our] own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ” (Philippians 3:9).

Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Whether you are a Christian already or are receiving God’s saving grace for the first time, choose Christ today. Be saved from a now and forever apart from His presence. Choose Christ with your mouth, in your heart and with your actions today. Surrender to the One who made Himself nothing so that you could become everything you were made to be–to be His.

-Melanie Dickinson