Humility and submission marked the life of Jesus our Lord in His incarnation. He Who is God the Son humbled Himself to be found in the likeness of a man, and submitted Himself to the will of the Father to sacrifice Himself in the Father’s purpose to the ignoble death of a criminal on the cross out love for the Father and you and I. Paul captures it succinctly in his letter to the Philippians as he exhorted the church to be like Him.
[Philippians 2:5-8 NASB95] 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped (tightly held onto), 7 but emptied (poured out) Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
This is our example and our goal in Christlikeness. It is sacrificial love.
[John 15:13 NASB95] 13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
The good news is that, in God’s purpose, humility and exaltation go hand in hand, and suffering and glory go hand in hand. This exaltation and glory, the reward, is not the reason for, nor should it be the inspiration for, moving in humility and sacrifice to the point of death. It is, however, a foundational understanding as to why God may, and I would say does, ask it of you.
Again, Jesus is our example and model from Philippians 2:
[Philippians 2:9-11 NASB95] 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The resulting reward (exaltation and glory) is not the issue at hand when humility and submission is asked of us. Obedience from love is! As I have shared before many times; Humility and exaltation go hand in hand, and suffering and glory go hand in hand. The third part of the trilogy is that obedience and seeing the fulfillment of God’s plan and purpose (in whatever it is He has spoken to you about or asked of you) also go hand in hand. These principles can be traced from Genesis, and the initial instruction you shall not not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, to Revelation, and the bride, the wife of the Lamb revealed as the holy city, Jerusalem,coming down out of heaven from God, having the Glory of God. You cannot experience the fulfillment of His purpose without obedience from love. And, obedience will usually require laying down your life, and picking your cross, to follow after Him, in His model outlined in Philippians 2. So, humility and suffering will be followed by exaltation and glory. But, not often in the task itself.
[John 14:21 NASB95] 21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.“
Make no mistake, we are saved by His grace in Jesus! But, seeing/comprehending His grace and love in Christ is to draw out of us love expressed through obedience. We aren’t saved from something only, but unto obedience/good works (see Ephesians 2:8-10). To the degree that you comprehend the fullness of God’s love for you in Christ Jesus; to that same degree will you bow the knee and submit in humility to His LORDship in obedience
Humility and submission come hard for us, until we love. Then the sacrificial nature of love draws us to functioning in humility and submission. In the Kingdom, submission is not gained by intimidation, submission is gained by love. God loves us into submission to His LORDship in Christ.
Anyone that becomes a parent understands this. I am not looking for my children’s obedience to not run in the street, or touch the fire, simply because “I said so!” or to be a tyrant. I am looking for an obedience to what I tell them, whatever it may be, out of an understanding that I love them, and I am always considering their ultimate good.
Consider Peter’s exhortation to humility and submission even when the government and overlords are unjust.
[1Peter 2:12-25 NASB95] 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe [them,] glorify God in the day of visitation. 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether toa king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16 [Act] as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but [use it] as bondslaves of God. 17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. 18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. 19 For this [finds] favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer [for it] you patiently endure it, this [finds] favor with God. 21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting [Himself] to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
Tough instruction from Peter! But then he knew well the balance between a zeal that cuts off a man’s ear as a self-appointed defender of the Lord (John 18); and the grace extended by the Shepherd to one that had denied Him under pressure, and then was called to be a shepherd himself to tend my lambs and tend my flock (John 21). He had learned the dichotomy of being shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves through humility and submission to the LORD and the Spirit.
[Matthew 10:16-20 NASB95] 16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 “But beware of men, for they will hand you over to [the] courts and scourge you in their synagogues; 18 and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. 20 “For it is not you who speak, but [it is] the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
Through the humility it takes to be unjustly accused and dragged before governors and kings, and submission to the Spirit the Father brings forth a testimony. He did with Jesus, with Peter, with Paul. He will do so with us. It makes little sense in a world where strength is shown, and submission gained, through intimidation rules. But then, He Who is Almighty displays and perfects His power through my weakness, and gaining my submission by love, and teaching obedience through the things I sometimes suffer.
Paul would write a direct word form the LORD to him regarding this to the church a Corinth:
[2Corinthians 12:9-10 NASB95] 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
Humility and submission come hard, but the fruit of learning and displaying them, through an obedience founded in loving Him and others at His command, is exaltation and the glory of God. May we grow to have this attitude in ourselves that was also in Christ Jesus!