People sometimes have a gentle nature. But this is
not the same as the humility of the great and powerful God-person that is
Jesus. Natural people don’t have the ability to represent our humble Savior
when worldly forces are humiliating them. Then how is it possible for us to
humbly go and represent the humble Gospel of Jesus to the world? The secret of
course is contained in a new life that is provided by the power of the Spirit.
God’s nature is pure love, among other things. A
human can humble themselves when they have a pure love for someone. The Bible
tells us: Always be humble…because of your love. Make every
effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together
with (love and)
peace. Eph 4:2-3 (NLT). The powerful
new covenant that God has given has the purpose of changing our old nature to
give us love for others.
The
reality is, that compared to God, we are nothing and serving others is a lofty
goal. The Scripture says: …all of you,
serve each other in humility, for “God opposes the proud but favors the
humble.” So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God. 1 Peter 5:5-6
(NLT). Peter also says that there will be great reward for those who humbly
accept their place. Adhering to Jesus is not about logic but our faith in God.
Our
reasoning might say that humility will not work in this world. But Jesus said: Whoever wants to be a leader among you must
be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your
slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others
and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matt 20:26-29 (NLT). We must
accept that God’s goals are far above any human capability.
Jesus came
to earth for many reasons. One reason was to be an example to every human of
the way God is. The night before the Son of God died, He got down on knees
before the twelve disciples and did the unthinkable. Since I, your Lord and
Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I
have given you an example to follow. John 13:14-15 (NLT). God’s son did
this and yet we refuse to do the same?
True
humility is rare and is only possible by the power contained in the new
covenant. The old covenant people could never reach the place of true humility.
This is because they did not have the crucified Son of God. The Bible says: He took the humble position of a slave and
was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself
in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Phil 2:7-8 (NLT).
Humans had
never seen such humility. Most of them could not even understand what had
happened. In fact people today cannot really understand until the Spirit
reveals the truth to them individually. Each Christian must allow the
humbleness of Jesus to be our priority as we go into the world with the Good
News. The Savior has done so much for us that our thankfulness should humbly
shine forth as the Spirit directs our daily life.
