Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind in you that, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God and thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:4-8)

Christmas is a time to celebrate humility and grow in humility. If we’re honest, humility doesn’t come naturally to us. One thing is clear though. Humility is crucial for Christians. The bible has nothing kind of say about proud people. So, how do we get humility? These verses says we get humility by seeing and loving the humility of Jesus Christ at Christmas. Two phrases make the humility of Jesus clear:

• "he emptied himself"
• "he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross"

Jesus emptied himself. This should not be taken to mean that Jesus became less than God or that he was emptied of his divine attributes. The next two phrases explain for us what this emptying involved. He “took the form of a servant” and was “born in the likeness of men.”

Jesus isn’t humble for the same reasons we should be. We should be humble because we are limited and sinful. But Jesus isn’t limited by anything and he never sinned. So humility is displayed in Jesus as he deliberately put himself in a servant, lowly, sacrificial position for the good of others.

Jesus explains why he came to earth, “The Son of man came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45). The God of the entire universe came down from heaven not to be served by us, but to serve us. That’s glorious humility!

Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross. The point of these words is to communicate the ultimate reason Jesus came and his supreme display of humility. Jesus came to do more than just model humility for us. He came to die for our pride.

Jesus came to condemn the sin of pride on the cross so we wouldn’t be condemned (Romans 8:1-3). He came to bear our sins in his body so that we might die to the sin of pride and live in righteous humility (1 Peter 2:24). He came to give is a brand new heart that is humble and fears the Lord (Ezekiel 36:26). The humility of Christ reached its climax as he was obedient to the Father’s will and died on the cross for proud, sin-sick people. What boundless grace coming through our humble Lord!

So Jesus Christ coming down on Christmas in lowly, sacrificial service of others is the ground and foundation of our salvation as well as our lowly, sacricial service of others.  Christmas is about humility - God's and ours.

Lord, this Christmas, grant us the gift of open eyes to see and love the majestic humility of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And as we see and love Christ more, give us the ability to forget about ourselves, placing ourselves in a sacrifical, lowly, servant position for the good of others.  In Jesus's Name.  Amen.