Sermons on Philippians 2:6
The various sermons below converge on reading Philippians 2:6–8 as an assertion of the Son’s eternal deity coupled with a voluntary, staggering humility. All speakers treat the language of “form/of God” and “not counting equality with God a thing to be grasped” as the hinge between ontology and ethic: Christ’s preexistence and full divinity are affirmed (often by appeal to Greek grammar and parallel texts) and his “not grasping” is presented not as loss of deity but as a willing condescension that makes true servanthood possible. Across the pieces you’ll find the same exegetical moves — cross-reference to Colossians/John/Isaiah, insistence on eternal status against subordinationist reads, and careful attention to the verbal aspect — paired with pastoral analogies (foot‑washing, manger‑throne, Abraham/Babel) that translate the doctrine into calls to worship, trust, unity, and imitation. Practically, these sermons rotate the same kernel into different pastoral colors: corporate unity and preferring others, baptismal participation in Christ’s “emptying,” and a triadic pastoral lens of presence/condescension/compassion.
Where they diverge is strategically instructive for sermon planning. Some prioritize technical defense — close philology, historical-council context, and an explicit polemic against Arian or Unitarian reductions — aiming to secure the Son’s eternal status before moving to application; others treat the verse as the narrative hinge of incarnational obedience, using Abraham/Babel and baptismal imagery to make emptying a pattern congregants embody. Another strand situates the line within cosmic Christology (the Son as exact image and agent of creation and reconciliation), which drives a theology of worship and preeminence rather than primarily moral imitation; yet another reframes the passage around a threefold pastoral catechesis (presence, poverty, passion) that shapes worship, trust, and pastoral solace. The pulpit choices here are thus whether to foreground ontological defense and doctrinal clarity, the narrative‑pattern of covenantal leaving and baptismal participation, or a pastoral triad that makes the kenosis immediately usable —
Philippians 2:6 Historical and Contextual Insights:
Embracing Christ's Humility: A Call to Unity(Alistair Begg / Truth For Life) supplies extended historical context: Begg recounts early Christological controversies (denials of Christ’s deity and humanity, Arianism, docetism, the idea of Christ as a highest creature) and the church’s use of councils (notably Nicaea/Chalcedon) to fix language like “being in very nature God”; he argues these controversies help explain why Paul’s present?participle and the language of equality were so theologically explosive and why later creedal formulations insist on “consubstantial” and the preservation of two natures.
The Supremacy and Majesty of Jesus Christ(Desiring God) gives contextual-linguistic exposition related to Colossians/Philippians: the sermon explains how “firstborn of all creation” was understood in Jewish-Greek contexts (can denote highest status), shows how the genitive can be “of”/over rather than “part of,” and connects that to widespread early misunderstandings (and modern misuses) that read “firstborn” as implying createdness; these points are used to situate Philippians 2:6 within the early church’s struggle to safeguard both Christ’s deity and the meaning of incarnation.
The Deity of Christ: Understanding His Dual Nature(Beulah Baptist Church) situates Philippians 2’s language within first?century Jewish monotheistic sensitivity and Johannine background: the sermon highlights the Jewish covenantal name “I AM” and how claims of divine titles (e.g., “Lord” in the Septuagint/Yahweh usage) would have been culturally and religiously explosive, explaining why Paul’s and the Gospel writers’ claims about equality with God and “I am” language carried high stakes in that milieu.
Mighty God | Isaiah 9:6 | 12/8/24(Calvary Vista) offers cultural color tied to first?century practice (how names carried prophetic calling and were given after watching the child), and uses that custom to illumine the paradox of titles like “Mighty God” applied to the infant in Luke/Philippians — the cultural note functions to make Paul’s claim about Christ’s divine form and voluntary non?grasping feel both historically rooted and pastorally disorienting in its day.
Philippians 2:6 Illustrations from Secular Sources:
Embracing Christ's Humility: A Call to Unity(Alistair Begg / Truth For Life) uses a range of secular and scientific images to make sense of Philippians 2:6: Begg draws on elementary chemistry/physics (the anomalous density of water/ice) as an extended analogy to show how counter?intuitive truths (ice floats though solids usually sink) mirror the counter?intuitive truth of divine humility; he also uses everyday domestic analogies (a father quietly emptying the dishwasher when siblings bicker) and sporting/team analogies (the unlikely sight of a co?equal team member stooping to wash teammates’ feet) plus a cultural example (the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” used to criticize sentimental relativism) to portray how shocking and practically demanding the non?grasping of equality with God is for communal life.
The Deity of Christ: Understanding His Dual Nature(Beulah Baptist Church) employs common secular metaphors to clarify theological claims surrounding Philippians 2:6: the preacher repeatedly uses a “Xerox/express image” analogy (the Son is the Xerox/express image of the Father) and everyday occupational metaphors (coach over the team) to explain genitive relationships and the idea of preeminence versus being part of a group, thereby making Paul’s language more accessible to a modern audience.
The Supremacy and Majesty of Jesus Christ(Desiring God) uses simple secular analogies while interpreting Christ’s status in Philippians/Colossians: the preacher uses the “coach of the team” and family?firstborn status analogies to explain how “firstborn” can denote rank or status rather than biological priority, and he appeals to ordinary social categories (coach vs. team, family honor) to show how the genitive and cultural sense of “firstborn” function in Paul’s vocabulary.
Mighty God | Isaiah 9:6 | 12/8/24(Calvary Vista) grounds the Philippians/Incarnation teaching in detailed popular?science illustrations: the preacher cites Louis Giglio’s widely known “if the earth were a golf ball” sequence and then inventories astronomical facts (number of galaxies/stars, size comparisons like Betelgeuse and Canis Majoris, distances measured in light?years) to produce the striking secular contrast — the star?making Creator who numbers and names the stars is the same “Mighty God” who lies in a manger — and he narrates how these scientific scale images make the paradox of Philippians 2:6 (divine majesty + voluntary humility) emotionally and cognitively vivid.
Philippians 2:6 Cross-References in the Bible:
Embracing Christ's Humility: A Call to Unity(Alistair Begg / Truth For Life) groups Paul’s hymn in Philippians with John 1 and Romans and appeals to Chalcedonian readings: Begg repeatedly cross?references John’s prologue (“In the beginning was the Word… the Word was God”) to back up the present participle claim, appeals to Romans/1 Corinthians on Adam and Christ (second Adam motif) to explain the saving purpose behind the emptying, and points readers to John’s miracles (stilling the storm, walking on water) as pointer?proofs that the man seen in Galilee was more than a mere man.
The Deity of Christ: Understanding His Dual Nature(Beulah Baptist Church) uses an extended cluster of biblical cross?references to buttress Philippians 2:6: Colossians 1:15–19 and 2:9 (fullness of deity in Christ) and John 1:1–18 (Word made flesh) are brought as textual parallels to show Christ’s ontological equality with the Father; Hebrews 1:3, John 8:58 and John 20:28, Romans 9:5, Titus 2:13, and 2 Peter 1:1 are cited to show New Testament usages that call Christ “God,” “Lord,” and “the one who shares divine prerogatives,” and these passages are used to argue that Philippians’ claim of non?grasping equality fits a wider biblical witness.
From Babel to Blessing: Humble Walk of Faith(Dunntown Advent Christian Church) marshals Paul’s hymn in Philippians together with Genesis 11–12 and Acts 2/Pentecost: the sermon reads Philippians 2:6–11 alongside the Abrahamic promise (Genesis 12) and Peter’s Pentecost sermon (Acts 2) to show that Christ’s humility is the mechanism by which the Abrahamic blessing becomes universal — Christ’s emptying enables the promised blessing to all families, and baptism/communion make believers participants in that Pauline logic.
The Supremacy and Majesty of Jesus Christ(Desiring God) tightly cross?links Colossians 1:15–18, John 1, and Philippians 2:6: the sermon treats Colossians’ “firstborn of all creation” and John’s “Word… was God” as complementary to Philippians’ “form of God” language, and uses Colossians 1:16–17 and 2:9 to argue that the power to create and to contain the fullness of deity corroborates Paul’s statement that Christ did not regard equality as something to be clung to.
Mighty God | Isaiah 9:6 | 12/8/24(Calvary Vista) connects Philippians 2:6–8 with Isaiah 9:6, Luke 2, Psalm 19/139, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 2 & 4, and Revelation 4–5: the preacher uses Philippians to explain how the “Mighty God” title of Isaiah is fulfilled in the incarnation recorded in Luke (the angels, the manger, shepherds), cites Hebrews and Revelation to move from the lowly manger to the throne?room paradox (lamb who is worthy/king who reigns), and uses Psalm texts about creation to underline the contrast between cosmic majesty and the manger’s poverty.
Philippians 2:6 Christian References outside the Bible:
Embracing Christ's Humility: A Call to Unity(Alistair Begg / Truth For Life) explicitly appeals to later Christian interpreters and resources while treating Philippians 2:6: Begg cites J.B. Phillips’ paraphrase (“he did not cling to his prerogatives as God’s equal”) to highlight the nuance of “did not consider equality… to be grasped,” and quotes Phoebe Palmer/Wardfield’s (theologian Phoebe Palmer Warfield) observation that “the Lord of the world became a servant in the world,” using these modern paraphrases and theological judgments to shape pastoral application about humility.
Mighty God | Isaiah 9:6 | 12/8/24(Calvary Vista) names several Christian writers and artists while reflecting on Philippians 2 themes: the preacher quotes A. W. Tozer on the necessity of incarnation and mercy (“If God had not been merciful… no babe in the manger”), references Charles Spurgeon in a pithy saying (“He that made man was made man… that we might become the sons of God”), and uses contemporary worship/songwriter Phil Wickham’s “Manger Throne” to shape devotional response to the paradox of divine majesty and humility.
Philippians 2:6 Interpretation:
Embracing Christ's Humility: A Call to Unity(Alistair Begg / Truth For Life) reads Philippians 2:6 as a carefully worded Christological claim — Begg emphasizes the Greek present participle translated “being” to insist on Christ’s eternal deity (“he was already God”), insists the phrase “in very nature God” precludes any Arian or Unitarian reduction, and treats “did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage” as an ethical and theological paradox: Jesus held divine prerogatives without clinging to them, a voluntariness shown not by subtraction of deity but by addition of humanity; Begg supports this with historical-scholarly context (early councils) and illustrates the theological point with vivid analogies (God washing feet, the Creator stooping to use water) to show how stunning and practical the divine humility truly is.
From Babel to Blessing: Humble Walk of Faith(Dunntown Advent Christian Church) interprets Philippians 2:6 as integral to Paul’s narrative of self-emptying: the preacher reads “though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” as the hinge between Christ’s preexistence and his deliberate descent, and then gives a fresh pastoral reading that ties the verse to the Abraham/Babel contrast — Jesus’ leaving divine glory is parallel to Abraham’s obedient departure (not the self-exalting tower builders), so Christ’s “emptying” becomes both representative obedience and the pattern believers follow (baptism as participation in that emptying).
The Supremacy and Majesty of Jesus Christ(Desiring God) uses Philippians 2:6 to reinforce the thesis developed from Colossians: the Son is the visible image of the invisible God and the preeminent, creative Lord; the sermon treats Philippians 2:6 not merely as a statement of deity but as a textual partner to Colossians and John that clarifies what “form/of God” and “equality” mean, arguing against readings that would turn “firstborn” or “form” into subordination by insisting on linguistic and contextual cues that show Christ’s eternal status and voluntary humiliation.
Mighty God | Isaiah 9:6 | 12/8/24(Calvary Vista) reads Philippians 2:6–8 within a paradoxical frame: the preacher highlights the shock of “being in very nature God” yet not grasping equality, and develops a distinctive threefold interpretive move — presence (incarnation), poverty/condescension (emptying), and passion/compassion (sympathetic suffering) — using the evocative image “manger throne” to interpret the verse as the decisive proof that God both retains divine worth and chooses humble servanthood.
Philippians 2:6 Theological Themes:
Embracing Christ's Humility: A Call to Unity(Alistair Begg / Truth For Life) presses a distinctive theological theme that the full force of Christ’s humility can only be apprehended against the backdrop of his eternal deity: because Christ “was” God (present participle) his voluntary non?grasping of equality is morally and theologically prior to human humility, and Begg insists that corporate unity in the church depends on adopting the same pattern of preferring the good of others to one’s own uninterrupted glory — humility is thus both Christological truth and ecclesial ethic.
From Babel to Blessing: Humble Walk of Faith(Dunntown Advent Christian Church) frames Philippians 2:6 as the theological model for countering societies of self-exaltation (Babel/Babylon); the sermon’s distinct theme is that Christ’s voluntary renunciation constitutes a covenantal “leaving” that believers echo in faith (Abraham’s obedient departure), and that Christian initiation (baptism/communion) is to be read as participation in Christ’s emptying and the means by which God fulfills the Abrahamic promise to bless the nations.
The Supremacy and Majesty of Jesus Christ(Desiring God) articulates a theological theme that links Philippians 2:6 to the doctrine of God’s revelation in the Son: the Son’s “form of God” and equality is not an abstract metaphysic but the basis for the Son being the exact image and agent of creation and reconciliation — the sermon’s distinct angle is the exegetical defense that “firstborn of all creation” denotes status and preeminence (not creaturely origin) and therefore secures Christ’s right to be both worshiped and the one who redeems.
Mighty God | Isaiah 9:6 | 12/8/24(Calvary Vista) develops a theological triad as an exegetical lens on Philippians 2:6–8 that is less common in technical commentaries: the paradox that the “Mighty God” (El Gibbor) is at once incarnate (presence), stoops in poverty (condescension), and suffers in compassion (passion), and each aspect becomes a theological category for pastoral response (worship, trust, and appropriation of God’s empathy).