Glory: Glory in Humility

Overview

Glory in Humility

A true theology of glory is rooted in the theology of the cross. The world, and our own hearts, chase a counterfeit glory built on self-promotion. Scripture calls us to a different kind of glory—one that begins where Christ began: in humility. And humility, we should confess from the start, does not come naturally to us. The fall in Genesis 3:6 was driven by sinful pride—Adam and Eve trusting their own judgment above God's word. That same pride still lurks in every heart. Psalm 101:5 reminds us that "a haughty look and an arrogant heart" are intolerable to the Lord, while 1 Peter 5:5 urges us to clothe ourselves with humility, "for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

The Mind of Christ

The clearest portrait of true humility is found in Philippians 2:1–11. Because there is real encouragement in Christ, real consolation from love, real sharing in the Spirit, and real compassion, Paul calls believers to be of the same mind, having the same love, in full accord. This is far deeper than positive thinking or worldly optimism—it is the mindset of those whose lives are hidden with Christ Colossians 3:2 and whose minds are set on the things of the Spirit Romans 8:5.

That mindset takes shape in concrete ways: "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves." Christ Himself is the pattern. Though He was in the form of God—truly, fully God—He did not exploit that equality. He emptied Himself, not of His deity, but of the prerogatives of His deity. The transfiguration in Matthew 17:1–2 reveals the glory He veiled throughout His earthly ministry. He took the form of a servant, was born in a feeding trough, and humbled Himself to death on a cross—the most humiliating death Rome could devise. He emptied Himself precisely because we are so often full of ourselves.

Living the Servant's Life

The contrast between Christ's humility and our pride shows up everywhere in Scripture: the mother of James and John seeking prime seats in the kingdom Matthew 20:21, the disciples arguing about who was greatest even as Jesus walked toward Calvary. We wear the "number one" jersey by instinct. The world reinforces it—"look out for yourself"—and the result is a culture of conflict, even in marriages and homes. But where two people each strive to out-serve the other, where each asks "what do you want?" rather than "it's my turn," there is the foundation of unity.

The church is meant to put this servanthood on display every day, then carry it into a watching world. Encouragement rooted in Christ's presence and promises is far richer than the world's empty "things will get better." A Christian asks of every encounter: how can I leave a blessing here? How can I serve? That kind of life is appealing precisely because it is so rare.

Pastoral Application

We will not arrive at perfect humility this side of heaven. The old Adam and old Eve keep resurfacing, which is why God continually draws us back to confession and absolution, to Word and Sacrament, where the blood of Jesus washes away our pride and His perfect humility is counted to us as righteousness. From that secure place, we ask God for the desire and the power to live unselfishly—to count others more important than ourselves. So consider: who can you serve today, with no strings attached? That is where we glory in humility, and where the cross of Christ becomes visible through our lives.

Transcript

Good morning. 2s

Let's join in prayer, please. 4s

Grant us forgiveness, O Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ. 7s

For our stubborn sinful pride and false humility, 12s

Jesus' humble willingness to lay aside the glory of divine equality 16s

has brought us the eternal glory of salvation. 22s

Give us strong faith in his humble service. 26s

Then by your spirit fill us with the humble willingness of our Savior 30s

to serve others unselfishly. 35s

Make Jesus our only pride so that we may glory in a life of Godly humility. 39s

Amen. 47s

Well, we continue on in our study with regard to glory, 49s

living under the cross of the Lord Jesus. 54s

And last week we talked about our glory that is ours in our union with God. 57s

We talked about how God creates this invisible union with us 65s

and how that union is expressed in unity with others. 71s

Remember Jesus talked about the unity that he has with the Father 76s

and also the call for us as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ 82s

to have unity with one another. 87s

We talked about how we misunderstand the church if we do not understand 89s

the concept of family. 94s

That term, as we've talked about, can be so overused these days. 97s

But with the church it is so appropriate, profoundly. 102s

So we talked about the qualities that help maintain this oneness, 106s

that is the gift of God, and that is humility, gentleness, patience, 112s

loving tolerance, efforts to keep the peace, 118s

putting the best construction on things. 121s

And so the underlying main point of this entire series is coming up with a theology of glory 126s

that is rooted in the theology of the cross. 135s

So we're abandoning the theology of glory that is so prevalent these days, 139s

as it was in Luther's day, and we're saying, what is a true theology of glory? 146s

And that has to be rooted in the cross of Jesus Christ. 152s

We glory in our union with God, and that union has implications for us. 157s

Well, today I'd like to study with you that we can glory in humility. 164s

We can give God praise for the humility that He births in us. 170s

Humility does not come naturally, right? 178s

Humility does not come naturally. 183s

Let's go to Genesis the third chapter. 187s

Genesis chapter three, verse six. 191s

And here, of course, is the fall into sin. 209s

And verse six of chapter three says, 213s

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, 216s

and that it was a delight to the eyes, 222s

and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, 225s

she took of its fruit and ate, 229s

and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, 232s

and he ate. 235s

What lay behind their disobedience, 238s

their sinful disobedience, was that they felt that they knew what was best for them. 244s

And so they ran it through the limited computer that we have of the brain, 252s

and thought this is a glorious thing that we should be doing, 256s

instead of following the way of the Lord. 260s

Behind that disobedience, then, was a sinful, sinful pride. 264s

Let's go to the picture that's given in Psalm 101. 271s

Good way to find the Psalms is just to turn to the middle of Scripture, 275s

and you'll land on one. 278s

Psalm 101, verse five. 280s

And the second part of that verse, 293s

A haughty look and an arrogant heart, 300s

I will not tolerate. 304s

With sinful pride, there's oftentimes that attitude, 309s

that outward attitude, that swagger, 314s

but sinful pride starts in the heart and is expressed outward. 317s

Let's go to 1 Peter, chapter one. 326s

Good way to find 1 Peter is to, over in the New Testament, 328s

turn to Revelation, and slowly work your way backwards. 332s

You're going to cross over the Johns, then you hit the Peters. 336s

1 Peter, chapter five. 339s

1 Peter, chapter five, verse five. 342s

In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. 359s

And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another. 367s

For God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. 375s

Clothing, of course, covers ourselves. 381s

And so the scriptural call here is for us to be covered with, clothed with, 383s

the humility that comes through Jesus Christ, Jesus's humble attitude. 389s

So when we look at the subject of humility, first thing we have to say is, 398s

it does not come naturally. 401s

It does not come naturally. 403s

Our sinful pride is always, always lurking. 405s

And God calls us and empowers a different way. 410s

Well, let's look deeper into that different way by going into Philippians, the second chapter. 415s

Philippians chapter two, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Romans, 421s

first and second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and then Colossians. 426s

Philippians chapter two, verse one. 433s

The Apostle Paul writing under the Spirit says, 442s

if then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, 447s

any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy. 455s

Make my joy complete, be of the same mind. 463s

Now, it starts out with if actually a better translation would be because I'd advocate for that, 471s

that changes the sentence structure just a little bit, but because I think is actually a better translation of that. 480s

So because, and for the sake of having to translate here into a different sentence structure here to make the because work, 489s

I'm going to stick with the if, if, but understand it is because, if you would. 498s

So if then there is any encouragement in Christ. 503s

We are people that have encouragement in the Lord Jesus Christ, His presence, His power. 509s

His guidance, His goodness, His comfort, His correction of us. 519s

That is a deep and abiding source of encouragement, is it not? 527s

One of the great encourages, of course, in Scripture is Barnabas, and we all have that call to encourage, to encourage. 534s

In fact, that's a mindset, isn't it? 543s

That when, when one has an interaction with someone, a mindset of saying, 547s

how can I leave a blessing with this person? 553s

Because we all have those, those exchanges, right, with folks where you go away and you kind of feel like, 559s

oh, doesn't make me feel too good, right? 566s

Where maybe a dart is thrown or maybe something is said, but it could be said in a different, different way, you know, on and on, we can just fill in that list. 572s

But how is it that we can, we can encourage the other person, so that, when we, when we come into contact with them, 583s

that which comes into our mind is to say, how is it that I can leave a blessing with them? 592s

That is an incredibly appealing thing to do, when you do that for people, right? 600s

After the exchange with someone, they then feel, you know, I'd like to spend more time with that person. 608s

Why? Because they've been blessed in the process. 616s

That, the encouragement of a Christian is a different kind of encouragement that the secular world can give. 620s

You see, the secular world can, can simply say, you know, things are going to get better. 628s

Well, we don't know that, right? We don't know that. 635s

Or I'm sure everything is going to turn out. We don't know that either, right? 639s

Because sometimes things don't turn out, right? But when we come with the encouragement of Christ, of communicating His presence, His power, His guidance, His goodness, His comfort, His correction, 645s

you see, that is a glorious thing to leave with someone. 659s

If there's any encouragement in Christ and we have a boatload, any consolation from love, 666s

we have the consolation that is ours of the forgiveness of sins and the assurance of Christ's presence with us. 674s

What a great word to share. What a great word to share. 682s

If there's any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the spirit, what's sharing in the spirit? 689s

Well, the spirit sanctifies us. In other words, he makes us holy. 697s

He moves us to be more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ. 705s

We are holy through the merits of Christ and the spirit is the one that continually assures us of that reality. 711s

He intercedes for us. He gifts us. If there's any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 721s

we are ministers of Christ, we are ambassadors of Christ. 736s

And we then go forth and say, what is the opportunity for ministering in this exchange, in this conversation with this person? 742s

How can the focus be on them and not us and how can we bring the ministry of encouragement that comes through the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ? 756s

We've got an incredible word to share, right? So far better than what the secular world can offer. 767s

So far better than a world that says, oh, just pull up yourself by the bootstraps there and get tough. 775s

You see, we have a whole different word that we can share, where we can say, thus say if the Lord. 783s

It's not some kind of encouragement that is born out of a hope of just telling somebody what they want to hear, but it's an encouragement and rooted in sharing of the great Word that is ours. 791s

If there's any encouragement in Christ, any consolation, any sharing in the spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 807s

make my joy complete, be of the same mind. 815s

That verb there means to think the same way, to think the same way. 825s

It's to have the same type of attitude. It is to think God's way and not humans way. 833s

Let's go into Colossians, the third chapter. 845s

Very next book, Colossians chapter 3, verse 2. 850s

Set your minds on things that are above and not on things that are on earth. 867s

For you've died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 876s

Or Romans, the eighth chapter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Romans. 885s

Romans chapter 8, verse 5. 890s

For those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh. 906s

But those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 913s

What are the things of the Spirit? It's the truth of God's holy Word. 920s

You see how this is so far beyond positive thinking? 924s

So far beyond that. 928s

It's so far beyond being optimistic. 932s

It is so far beyond that. 935s

This has a gravitas and a depth to it where our minds are set on the things of the Lord Jesus Christ. 938s

And we are communicators then of that which God has given us, His truth, to communicate. 944s

It is so far beyond what the world can say that says, you know, chin up, chin up, things will get better. 951s

Hear the triteness in that. 963s

Or the triteness in that. 964s

Just think positive. Just think positive. 968s

You hear the emptiness of that. 972s

And then we come to, these are the promises of God Almighty for you and what Christ has done for you and His abiding presence in you. 975s

And the richness of the encouragement, consolation, sharing, the joy by being of the same mind, 983s

to where we have the same attitude and mindset of the Lord Jesus Christ. 993s

So much better. 1001s

And that mindset then, Paul reveals in what the mindset looks like. 1004s

So here's the basis for the mindset. 1014s

Have the same attitude as Christ. 1018s

And now here's what that looks like. 1021s

Here's what it looks like. 1023s

We go on. 1026s

Second part of verse two. 1027s

Having the same love. 1030s

Having the same love. 1034s

By God's grace then, through the Spirit, one of them is love. 1037s

We are acting with the love born of God. 1042s

Acting with a love born of God. 1049s

That is unconditional. 1054s

That is love. 1058s

That continues to communicate. 1060s

Value. 1064s

And who Christ is. 1065s

And to say, Lord help me to love as you love. 1068s

That doesn't mean that there isn't correction. 1075s

Because the Scripture calls for when correction is needed. 1079s

One needs to correct according to the Word, when there's false teaching, false theology, etc. 1083s

Love does not mean acceptance of that which is untrue, scripturally. 1090s

To say that love is equated with tolerance. 1098s

Which is how the world looks at it. 1103s

That's far too simplistic. 1105s

Are we on the one hand to put up with one another? 1108s

Yep. 1113s

The church is encouraged of that. 1114s

That when people come together, there's going to be some rubbing there. 1117s

That can get uncomfortable in terms of we just kind of all put up with one another to a certain degree. 1123s

In certain circumstances, we're putting up with one another. 1132s

But that kind of biblical tolerance and love is different than a world that says love is equal to tolerance. 1137s

Which means acceptance of all. 1145s

God never says that. 1151s

God never says that. 1153s

So this love then is love how God defines love. 1155s

Goes on. 1161s

Be in full accord and of one mind. 1165s

That means here, the instructions here for the church, be soul brothers and soul sisters. 1170s

There's that type of bond. 1178s

This is the understanding of family now and now we're getting into a soul brother and a soul sister. 1182s

One mind, literally minding one thing, agreement with what our purpose is and that is to glorify God. 1191s

Practical ways to live it out. 1204s

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. 1207s

But in humility, regard others as better than yourselves. 1211s

Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. 1217s

So here's the same attitude and that attitude expresses itself in humility and where there's humility, there is oneness. 1228s

To count the other is more important than yourself. 1239s

You look at challenges in marriages and you can apply this principle and say what is the mindset that you have, husband and wife with one another? 1247s

What's the mindset? 1265s

If the mindset is my right, my turn, that can be a problem. 1268s

But if the mindset is I exist to serve you. 1281s

There you've got the basis for unity. 1289s

I like how one author puts it. 1293s

The first fight that a couple should have is trying to out serve the other. 1297s

When you say my turn or my rights, then you each go to your corner, the bell rings and then you come out verbally. 1306s

And there you go. 1316s

And somebody is going to be conquered in that situation and it's not going to be me. 1318s

That can be the mindset. 1325s

When each person says it's not going to be me, then the whole servanthood falls apart. 1328s

What I'll work with in couples in premarital counseling is we have a tool called prepare, we see where there's agreement and disagreement. 1337s

We take little issues and I say now I'm going to sit like a birdie and a tree. 1345s

We're going to have a conversation. 1349s

And the first couple of times they go through that, it's a little bit awkward because someone's just sitting there taking notes as you're having a conversation. 1352s

But then they absolutely forget I'm even there until we bring the conversation to a close. 1361s

I say here's your goals. 1367s

Your goal is, is you want to be able to find why it is that the other person said what they did, why they believe that. 1369s

And then your goal is to say how can I live out the servant role to the other one. 1376s

You see when both the husband and wife and humility bow to each other and count the other is more important than themselves. 1380s

And are willing to say what is it that you want and the other person saying what is it that you want. 1389s

There's the basis for unity, right? 1398s

Because now you've got servanthood going on. 1402s

Now you've got servanthood where the other person is counting the other person as more important than themselves instead of saying. 1406s

Well it's really my turn to have the remote because you got the last show. 1417s

Right? 1425s

And you know, and then you know that's just not a good evening. 1427s

Right? It's just not a good evening. 1431s

Right? 1433s

But when there's servanthood, there's the humility, counting the other. 1434s

It's turning away from the self and the perfect example is Christ. 1439s

Perfect example is Christ. 1447s

The church should be the place where that is put on display every single day. 1451s

As we gather together and we're sent out and the church infiltrates everything. 1464s

And the servanthood is put on display. 1475s

Have you ever served somebody in the world and they say what do you want? 1482s

What do you want? Have you ever done that? I don't know anything. 1489s

I just want to serve you. 1492s

Really? 1495s

See when the church leaves and infiltrates the world with that servant's heart, that is so appealing. 1497s

That is so appealing. 1504s

When we look not to ourselves but to the other. 1507s

And what is it that the world teaches but watch out for what? 1512s

Number one. 1520s

And who's number one? 1521s

Right? 1523s

We're all number one. 1526s

Well if we're all number one, that's a recipe for disaster, isn't it? 1528s

I mean if we think that the world exists to serve our selves and we've all got the jersey on and say, 1535s

look I'm number one, I'm the first out of the tunnel here. 1543s

If we view the world like that and everybody else views the world like that, 1549s

is there any wonder why the world is like how it is? 1555s

And Jesus says, there's a whole different way, a whole different way. 1561s

It's the way of humility. 1566s

What comes natural to us? 1569s

Simple pride. 1574s

What comes natural to us is, how come nobody washed my jersey? 1577s

Where's my number one? 1585s

God says, not that way. 1588s

He calls us to confession, keeps raising us up and transforms the heart. 1591s

Okay, let's keep with this then. Verse five. 1600s

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. 1604s

The same mind, in other words, think the same way as Christ. 1609s

Who though he was in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited. 1614s

That word, their form, it means the underlying reality of something. 1625s

It doesn't mean that Jesus appeared to be God. 1631s

No, the underlying reality is that Jesus is God. 1634s

As we studied last week with the Athanasian Creed, 1640s

all three persons are in themselves co-eternal and co-equal. 1643s

And notice here, it says that this is not an exploitation here. 1649s

But the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. 1656s

Who though he was in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited. 1658s

But he emptied himself. 1665s

He emptied himself. 1669s

Well, what does that mean? 1671s

Let's go to Matthew the 17th chapter. 1673s

Matthew chapter 17. 1676s

Verse one. 1685s

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John, 1699s

led them high up him, high mountain by themselves. 1705s

He was transfigured before them and his face shone like the sun. 1708s

His clothes became dazzling white. 1713s

Suddenly, they appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with them. 1715s

Here, of course, is the account of the transfiguration. 1720s

The key point to keep in mind here is that for the most part, 1725s

Jesus concealed that glory as he walked the earth. 1730s

This was an episode here where he showed them his post-Easter glory. 1735s

For most part, Jesus concealed that glory. 1741s

There is not an uninterrupted expression or showing of his divine nature prior to the resurrection. 1746s

Jesus didn't empty himself of his deity. 1759s

He emptied himself of his prerogatives to use the deity. 1765s

He didn't empty himself of his deity, but he emptied himself of his prerogatives. 1771s

That's what it means where it says, Jesus emptied himself. 1777s

There you have the picture of Jesus emptied himself. 1782s

What's our temptation? 1788s

It's to be full of ourselves. 1791s

Jesus empties himself. 1794s

Our temptation is to be full of ourselves. 1796s

Look at Matthew chapter 20 verse 21. 1801s

Here's the mother of the sons of Zebedee. 1810s

Jesus said to her, what do you want? 1814s

She said to him, declare that these two sons of mine will sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your kingdom. 1818s

She wanted the prime real estate for her boys. 1826s

That's not the humble nature of the servant, but how can I get these guys in the prime spots? 1832s

What was it that the disciples argued about, that we see them arguing about, in Scripture? 1843s

Don't you love it when the disciples argued amongst themselves about which one of them was the greatest? 1853s

Really? 1862s

You've got the Savior here who says, I'm going to go to the cross. 1863s

I'm going to be mocked, scourged, crucified on the third day. 1867s

I'm going to rise again. 1870s

The Lord Jesus who says, I came not to be served, but to serve. 1872s

Lord Jesus who says, this is what true greatness is, true greatness is in servanthood, and there are the disciples saying, you know in the end I really think I'm the greatest. 1879s

Don't you all agree? 1892s

You see it's that sinful pride that continues to pop up. 1894s

Let's go back to Philippians chapter 2. 1900s

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, 1918s

being born in human likeness. 1933s

There's the understanding of the absolute reality here of God in the flesh, taking the form of a slave. 1937s

He is submissive to do the will of the Father, and being found in human form here it comes. 1947s

He humbled himself. 1956s

What's the humbling? It's the humbling of the incarnation. 1962s

This is the second number of the Trinity. Scripture says through whom everything that is has been created, and he humbles himself, and he is born and placed in a feeding trough in the stench of a stable. 1966s

That's humility, isn't it? That's humility. 1985s

It becomes a slave obedient to the Father. 1989s

He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 1995s

He dies as a supposed criminal, the Roman here, the form of execution, you would be crucified by the main entry roads, so that it could be visibly put on display, and it was done to humiliate. 2004s

He emptied himself the Lord Jesus Christ, why? Because we're full of ourselves. 2023s

And he takes all of the sin of our sinful pride, all of the sin of our being full of ourselves, and he bears it on the cross, and God says forgiven, and God says, 2031s

and I'm at work, every day, transforming you to be more and more like Jesus Christ. 2046s

Do we ever arrive? No, not this side of heaven. It's when we are in glory that the old Adam and the old Eve falls away. 2058s

And we will see examples in our life of our selfishness, in our dawning of the number one jersey continually. 2070s

That's why God continues to pull us into confession and absolution and continues to use the means of grace, word and sacrament to transform us to be more and more. 2084s

And we are like Christ. The blood of Jesus washes away our sin, and his perfect humility is counted by God as our righteousness. 2098s

We ask him then, we ask him for the desire and the power to live unselfishly as he did. 2111s

To say, how can we count the other as more important than ourselves? How can we count the other as more important? 2127s

The truth theology of glory then is rooted in the theology of the cross, and who Christ is. 2142s

May we glory in humility, give praise to the God's gift of humility, and may we have the same mind as Christ. 2151s

Who is it today that you can serve, serve with no strings attached, serve. 2166s

We'll continue next week. We'll look at the subject, glory in tribulation. Glory in tribulation. 2181s

You 2197s