Christ-Like Serving

You've probably heard of the mass killings that have been written about for some time. Individuals who are stuck in hopeless situations where in their young lives, their futures are really at risk and in fact, they are failing. Right before their eyes, you have a leader that doesn't care about his people. This individual comes in and slaughters them, kills them, not thinking about them. A dictator who is cruel and doesn't care about people's hopelessness, doesn't care about snatching their future, doesn't care about terminating the precious life that God has given to them. Well, we received some good news. There is a leader, a prominent figure, that has arrived and is saving people, men, women, and children. Each person having a precious life, the potential of a wonderful future, potential dreams, all the five senses, and what this life can be and the world around that God has created for them. And so today, we find that instead of this random killing of everybody, some, men, women, and children, person after person, are actually being rescued, as we speak. It's very encouraging. And you are one of those people that are being rescued. You and I, you and I, in the mass murder, the mass reduction of potential, the attempted genocide of the human race, is taking place. Now, you might think of some of the limited genocides that are taking place and skirmishes around the world. That is on the physical plane. But the spiritual lives, the eternal lives, are being snuffed out wherever possible, ripping and tearing the young children of God from their parents and dashing all future opportunities for them to live forever, wherever possible. And yet, there is a Savior. Christ is intervening. And He's trying to save your life from the one who's trying to kill you. He's trying to give you a future. Today, in the sermon, I want to talk about His devotion of service to you. His devotion as a Savior, sacrificing Himself to help you, to raise you, to ultimately give you a life that you cannot have, if it is snatched away. And what does that mean to you?

And really, what does that prospect of Christ serving you hold for you? In this two-part sermon series on Christlike serving, we're going to take a look at, first of all, Jesus Christ and His serving. We're going to examine in Part 1 here how Christ serves. Really take a look at what He is doing, what He's done, why He's doing it. Take a look at His phenomenal motives and actions. They're just unbelievable. It's very important that we comprehend them and that we understand them. Through them, we can glimpse what He does and then we can see what we must be doing.

The greatest example of serving anywhere that we have knowledge of is the one we know as Jesus the Christ. Serving is a major purpose of His life. You could almost say He was born to serve, but then that would be negating the fact that before He was ever born, He was serving over the top, going back before the foundation of the world He was serving and planning to serve and the whole creation was serving. God the Father and Jesus Christ have serving as a major purpose of their very lives, their very being.

When we think of the Savior that is riveted on you and on me as a purpose of saving you from the destruction, the burning up that will take place at the end of time on earth, when we look at that, we have to back up a little bit. Let's go back to Isaiah 42 and verse 1. Let's see here why the Father sent Him. Isaiah 42 will begin in verse 1.

Often times we come to the New Testament and we see Him arrive and we see what He did. Let's see why His Father wanted Him to come.

Isaiah 42 verse 1. This is the Father speaking. Behold, My servant. Look at that capital S on there. That's what He calls Him. My servant. What was Jesus Christ doing? He was serving the Father. He's My servant.

Whom I uphold. Whom I uphold comes from the Hebrew, ethmakbo. It means, on whom I lean. According to Adam Clark, it's alluding to the custom of kings leaning on the arm of their most beloved and faithful servant. So you have this important king and he's just leaning on the arm of his most trusted, beloved, faithful servant. And this is the Father saying, Here behold is My servant who I trust. I lean on him. I depend on him. He is wonderful. My elect one in whom my life, my soul delights. I have put my spirit on him. Everything for the plan of God, everything for the kingdom of God, everything for the family, the divine family, is resting on this servant. When we talk about Christ-like serving, we're not talking about a deed that somebody does. We're talking about something that someone is. He is a servant.

He's faithful, beloved, trusting. What work did the Father assign him to do? Drop down to verse 6. Notice the capital Y there. Talking about the one who would be Jesus Christ. The word, the logos. It's kind of a mix here of covenant, old with Israel, new covenant, old times, new times, first coming, second coming. All wrapped up into this one or two verses here. I will give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles. He came as the light to the world in his first coming. But then the next verse refers to his second coming. To open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. Those are millennial prophecies from Ezekiel and Isaiah.

So God sent Jesus as his servant to do an important thing. To process and make processes and be part of a process whereby you and I can have life and have life more abundantly. Now, drum roll, mission impossible theme, hands it over to Jesus Christ, the logos. Your mission should you decide to accept. See, it wasn't pushed on him. He didn't have to go. He didn't have to do this.

Your mission should you decide to accept would be to serve and to save humanity. Let's go to Philippians 2, verses 7-11 and see what happened.

Did he accept? Was he successful? Philippians 2, and beginning in verse 7. It says, we're referring to Jesus Christ, he made himself. Oh, he made himself. It was a choice.

He made himself. He chose to have no reputation. Taking on the form of a bondservant. It's important that we understand when we come up to looking at Christ and his service and his sacrifice. He didn't do it as a slave, born into it, forced into it, but rather a bondservant. That is a choice. It's a chosen profession, not dictated. Coming in the likeness of men. He was in the form of God.

He was in that spiritual state. Now he comes in the likeness of men who are created in the likeness of God. Kind of curious, isn't it? Adam and Eve were created in the image of God and the likeness of God. And now the one who created them comes in the likeness of men, which is in the likeness of God. It's a very humble, lowly level to place yourself in. When you think of the thoughts of God and the power of God being higher than the mind can even think, higher than the heavens are above the earth, and to reduce yourself down, that is what was required of him to serve us in the way that was needed. But it was an extreme choice, making himself of no reputation. Verse 8, In being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and he became obedient. Now we tend to think, well, he became obedient to dying because he had to do that. No? He became obedient. If you look at his whole life of service, it was a service to the Father. He didn't speak his own words, only that which the Father told him. He didn't do his own will. He did only the Father's will. He was obedient to all the laws of God. He was obedient in every way. He humbled himself, and he was obedient. And it culminated in being obedient to the point of death. Even the death of the Greek word is poros, which means post or steak.

That's an incredible humbling of oneself. Looking at verse 7, the last half of that verse again, He was in the form of God, now he's in the form of men. And being found in the appearance of a man. What is that like? Compared, God compared to a human would be like man compared to what? A flea? Probably not that high. Maybe an amoeba? A one-celled amoeba? Probably not even that high. That is really, really something. Just incredible. You couldn't imagine it. Try this on a human sometime. Go up to human and say, Look, I know that you're serving here, you're serving there, but we would like you to go clean the toilets with your bare hand.

You know, not even a scrub brush. Would you mind? You might say, Well, no, wait a minute. I don't think so. You know, no. You know, I draw the line somewhere. I mean, come on. I do this and I do that, but I've got to draw the line somewhere. That's what we as humans do. Sometimes in the ministry, you know, get the call. We need you to go there. What? No way! Sin Joe! I'm not going there. That's different than the servant who said, Oh, we need somebody to go there and save these people, and to give them a future, and to give them a life, and to raise them up equal with us, in a sense of family.

Oh, let me. Let me dig. Let me go down. Let me do the worst of the worst of the worst. So I can save them. Now humans are often, Yeah, I'll save you. Here, I'll throw you a life ring.

That's not getting in the water, is it? There was a man years ago when that plane landed in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. and went right into the icy river and plunged in, and he saw a woman out there. You know, the water was so cold, and she was one of the passengers on the plane, and she kind of bobbed up, I guess. And he just dove in. It's one thing to throw the ring and say, Hey, you know, you could die out there in that water.

It's another thing to just peel off your jacket and dive in and swim in and get her. That's what we're talking about here. Somebody who would really risk his own life in order to give someone else life that couldn't have it on their own. Why was he humbled even to death on the post that he was put on to, nailed on to? For what reason? Why did the guy jump into the Potomac? They asked him later, Why did you jump in there? You see the cameras rolling? You're some kind of hero?

He says, I'm no hero. I was a woman in need. I didn't think I jumped. What did Christ get for leaving Heaven as a bright being and coming to Earth, living as he did, going through what he did, and then getting nailed to a post? What did that accomplish him? What did it earn him? What was the reasoning behind it? He says about this, he talks about this, almost as if we were to interview Jesus Christ. Why did you do that?

John 6, verse 51. He says, I'm the living bread which came down out of Heaven. Without the food, the people are going to die. They're dead. They're going to starve to death. They're going to have a miserable death, and they're dead forever. But I've got some bread for them. And if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And I've got it.

I am it, but I've got it, see? If I don't go do this, they will die. If I do it, they'll live. What does he have to gain from this? Nothing. Nothing at all. And he goes on to say, the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.

That's what he did. That's why he did it. He gave it for us, not for himself. He just gave it. So we see deep humility. We see just a focus on doing what needs to be done, and nothing for oneself.

It's the ultimate serving. And that's the term Christ-like serving. There's no other like you could put serving with. What else would you compare Godly serving to? He is the standard. It's huge. It's large. It's total. I know when we come to the Passover service, we're kind of numbed and stunned.

It's just not like anything humans would do. Not like anything we could really understand. He came saving us from destruction. Now that's heroic, but it's far more than that. He didn't just come to be a hero. He came to not only save us from destruction, but to give us life and give us life more abundantly in the spirit realm. Now that is priceless. Absolutely priceless. You can't buy it. You can't earn it. You can't touch it. You couldn't even think about it. He said it hasn't even entered in the hearts of men what God has planned for us.

So it is more than priceless. It is just...it's unheard of. Unthinkable. In Isaiah chapter 52 and 53, there's another prophecy about our servant, Lord. Not just Jesus Christ our Lord, but we're talking about Christ-like serving, and we have to see that he is really wrapped around serving.

Isaiah chapter 52 verse 13, Behold, my servant...here's God the Father again... My servant shall deal prudently, shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. I think there's probably a couple of different ways of looking at that. Ultimately, he would be returning to the Father in heaven, but at the same time, he would be lifted up on that post. Verse 14, Just as many were astonished at you, so his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. He went through that as well. That was part of the necessity of saving us from eternal death. And he took that on. Verse 15, So shall he sprinkle, or the Hebrew primary word means to spurt, spatter, or startle many nations. Not sure, and I don't think the commentaries are really sure what exactly that's referring to. Either because he lost all of his blood, he bled to death, the spurting of the blood, ultimately he would save the nations. Or the visage being so marred as we just read would startle people. That God, the Messiah, would undergo that. But we find in chapter 53 and verse 5 why. He was wounded for our transgression. That didn't net him anything. Just a lot of pain, a lot of disgrace from those around him. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him. And by his stripes we are healed. It didn't do anything for him, but it sure did a lot for us, didn't it? It really got us through the death penalty phase. It opens the way through the death of the Red Sea, which we would drown in and made a way towards the kingdom, towards our promised land. Verse 11, he shall see the labor of his life and be satisfied. What was the labor of his life? It was for us, for our, for our, and we are. It was all about us. He'll look at that and he'll say, you know, it was worth it. Those people can now live. Those people can have a real abundant life now, if they choose to, with our help. By his knowledge, my righteous servant, the Father says, shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. That's what he was doing. His servant was justifying others, bearing their iniquities. Now, when you stop and think about Christ-like serving, this is the root. This is the foundation. This is the core. This is where it starts from. This is where he started from. It's not some finishing little, you know, cherry-on-top thing that doesn't, you know, really relate to the whole. It is the core. It's not like some whitewashed sepulcher he talked about, nice on the outside. It's the genuine deal, all the way through. It's kind of like ugly, you know? Ugly is all the way through. That is what he wants us to be, is the real deal. Not some prissy, outward show kind of thing, but godly to the core.

Unleavened bread that pictures the body of Christ at Passover is pure. It doesn't have any corruption from the yeast, that brewing corruption that spreads its way through and so is all manner of stuff in there that's growing and fermenting. Unleavened bread is pure. Wine, which symbolizes his blood at the Passover service, is pure. You know, we don't tend to think about it, necessarily, but when you sip wine, you say, oh, that's good, or it's not so good, or whatever, you know, whatever, you sip a little bit of wine.

But you don't ever think of, oh, I don't know if I should drink that wine because I might get sick off of it, or it might be carrying some disease. That thought never enters our head. Why? Well, because wine is so antiseptic, you know, it's incredibly antiseptic. In fact, I believe there's five or six different acids, different types of acids, that make up wine, that are part of wine. Now, we might think, well, yeah, wine, it's disinfectant. It's antiseptic because of the alcohol. Actually, the alcohol retards the antiseptic qualities of wine. Scientists have found, if you take the alcohol out of wine and just have those acids that are not dulled and knocked down by the alcohol, it would be akin to drinking mouthwash that kills germs on contact, you know, by the billions or whatever.

You know, that real strong old mouthwash that people used to put in their mouth is horrible. It's the alcohol that knocks that down and actually makes it flavorful and palatable. This wine that symbolizes his blood has no impurities in it, and bad things don't exist in wine. We are looking at that perfect sacrifice that he gave. It is totally sinless. It's not self-centered. It's not self-promoting. It is out there to serve, 100% genuine. Let's take a look at another example of our Master and Lord as a servant. It's found in John 13, verses 4 and 5. John 13 and verse 4. Another unthinkable thing that he did.

Unthinkable from the human perception. Unthinkable by the disciples in the room. Peter actually said, I'm not going to let you do that. That is just wrong. That's not what we humans do here on earth. John 13 and 4. Jesus rose from supper and laid aside his outer garments and took a towel. He took a towel. He went over and got a towel, a servant's towel, and girded himself like a servant, looking like a servant. It's one thing to dress up and close your comfortable in.

It's quite different to put on somebody else's uniform. I don't wear that uniform. I don't do that job. I don't do that duty. But he went and did this himself. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and wiped them with the towel with which he was girded. I had an opportunity some years ago with my wife to do a passover in a very rural part of Kenya.

The people came up, unbathed as was their custom, just living, into this little room. They walked up dirt roads, and some of them didn't even have shoes. Some of them wore flip-flops, but the bottom of the flip-flops was worn out, so it was kind of more of a stylish-looking flip-flop, with the foot actually touching the ground. It comes time to wash feet. You're washing some real feet.

They didn't really have all the roads paved. In Roman days, they were in Jerusalem. The whole point of having the basin was because feet were dirty. The whole body wasn't dirty. It tended to bathe, but you know, you get down to the traveling of the day, you had some dirty feet. Jesus was looking at some of these real feet with real dirt, and he started washing them.

He began to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. This is not typical. This is really not typical for the Master, the Teacher, for the Messiah. I think we can understand that little bit of context comes from 1 Samuel 25, verse 41. You don't have to turn there, but this refers to Abigail. In Abigail, there in the Near East, it says, A rose bowed her face to the earth, and he said to those who had come for her, Here is your maidservant, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord.

Or in Near East Jargon, I am ready to perform the humblest of possible services. That's kind of what she was saying in the language of the day, the commentators feel. I will wash the feet of the servants of the servants. She got down on her knees and said, I am ready to do that. Now, it's one thing to say it. It's another thing to actually put your life towards doing it.

Not just as a one-time deal, but actually put your whole life towards washing the feet of the servants of the servant and making it a calling, as it were. That means to serve others for making their life better, for embellishing their life, somehow benefiting their life. But we say, well, what about me?

And human nature will always say, well, what about me? How come I always have to be the giver? How come I always have to be the one doing the helping and the serving? What about me? Did Jesus ever say that? You know, when everybody was sucking Him dry for things and then took His life, did He ever say, what about me? When do I get a break? When do I get to have a little fun?

It didn't really come up, nor did Abigail say that. Jesus Christ was determined to serve and to serve us all the way, no matter what. That's what He was here for. Let's look in Luke 9, verse 51, and see the resolute determination of Him coming to serve, dedicated to serve, all the way to being nailed on the post, all the way to having His visage marred by more than any man.

Luke 9, verse 51, Now it came to pass, here comes the end, as it were, came to pass, that when the time had come for Him to be received up, time come to be received up. You know, you got that day and maybe you're hoping it doesn't come. Well, the day is coming, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. Steadfastly set His face. I am going to do this.

He came to service with His life-giving, life-saving, life-enhancing gift. And that is love. And that is self-sacrifice for others' lives, for others' abundance. In Luke 22, verse 14 and 15, When the hour had come, He sat down and the twelve apostles with Him, and then He said to them, With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. See how resolute He was about serving and being the ultimate servant, the ultimate Savior, saving us from death? Determined, absolutely, set His face. He got to Jerusalem and He said, With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. He knew what was involved. You know, the prophecies were there. He inspired the prophecies.

It is also important to realize He couldn't do it alone. He had a certain humanity here on earth, coupled with His divine roots, His divine connection. Back in Isaiah chapter 50, verses 6-7, we see where He drew His strength. It's important to know it because that strength came from a servant like Him. Now, we don't think of God the Father as a servant, but if you stop and think about it, He is the ultimate servant. And His servant came and served us because the Father has been serving us. It was the Father who created the heavens and the earth through His Son and served us. It was the love of the Father. In Matthew chapter 16, it loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us. This is the family they serve, they give, they sacrifice, they do all to lift up others. And so what Jesus has to do is draw on the strength of the Father of the family when times get tough. Isaiah chapter 50 verse 6. This is prophesied in advance, but He knew He would go through this.

Therefore, I will not be disgraced, and therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed. That is a strong trust and a reliance in God. And Jesus, when He came, had that. He said, God will help me, and I will set my face like a flint, and I will be successful, and I will not be ashamed. So today we've looked at Christ-like serving by looking at the ground-root core foundation of serving. The one, the servant, with a capital S, and His Father very much involved in that serving. And in conclusion, when we see this Logos, who would become the Son of God, he first came down and became the Son of Man. He really humbled Himself. He gave His all to serve us with agape, with the godly type of love. And as the Son of God today, He is alive in heaven, and He continues to serve, and the Father serve. He is the firstborn of many brethren, and they are in the process of bringing many sons to glory.

They continue their serving. They do it through living in us, through the Holy Spirit, inspiring us, leading us. They and their angels fighting for us, saving us physically, as well as ultimately spiritually. This agape is a family trait, and it's the motivation for serving. It's the catalyst by which serving takes place, as a deep love for others.

And God is the ultimate love. It's so much love that in 1 John, He is called love. God is love. It says twice. Let's conclude today with a couple of statements by Jesus on serving. The first is found in John chapter 15 and verse 13. John 15 and verse 13. In verse 13, greater agape, greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life to save his friends. That's what's happening. Lay down your life to save your friends. Nobody has more love than that. That's what He did for you and me. It's wonderful. In fact, be careful in using the term wonderful just for any and everything, because in the Bible, believe it's in Isaiah, it says, Wonderful is His name. Wonderful. Counselor. Mighty God. You know, that really is wonderful that He did that and that He is doing what He's doing. It's unheard of. It's incredible. And the blessing that comes from that is ready to lift us to heights that we never dreamed of. We shouldn't even be here as humans to start with. That's an incredible miracle and a blessing. But He wants to come and save us from dying from our human state and raises up to the divine state with Him and His Father. And so Passover is a celebration of that event, the celebration of His gift. He says, Do this in remembrance of Me. Remember this. This is quite a deal. Remember this. Not just because it glorifies Him, but remember this because there's a connection with what He expects you to do as well. See, Christ-like serving now comes down to us. If we're going to be children of God, sons and daughters in the family of God, and ultimately be in the family of God, we have to become like God. And we find in 1 John 3, almost the counterpart to John 3.16, which is, God so loved the world, He sent His Son. Let's go to 1 John 3.16, and it says, By this we know love because He laid down His life for us. Just like it says in John 3.16. But there's an addition. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Next time, in Part 2, we'll look at Christ-like serving, how to serve like Christ.