...enfleshing

philippians 2

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 
 6Who, being in very nature^[a] God, 
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 
 7but made himself nothing, 
      taking the very nature^[b] of a servant, 
      being made in human likeness. 
 8And being found in appearance as a man, 
      he humbled himself 
      and became obedient to death— 
         even death on a cross! 
 9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place 
      and gave him the name that is above every name, 
 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
      to the glory of God the Father.

it floors me every time i try to read and understand this passage. that God, being fully God, came and while being fully God was also fully man; choosing to limit Himself of His "GOD" attributes and abilities in order to fully experience humanity - why? so that a full and complete sacrifice that would be found as good before Himself could be made up. 

a sacrifice by Him, for Him, on our behalf. 

God enfleshed Himself to be one of us, while still being Himself the whole time. 

why? so that when i'm in my corner dealing with my sin, i could have the assurance that i don't need to be worried about being separated from Him. because He knows to the fullest extent the difficulty of sin without succumbing to it. that's why He's good enough; God enough.

how do you explain this? 

ah...selflessness.

as of late, many of my conversations have been occurring around the word 'selfless.' fun to talk about, difficult to act upon, unmistakable when you see it...selfless.

these are the people that make impacts in life. the ones that understood that they gave up their rights when they came to Christ. i find myself wanting to hold on to some of my rights; the ones that i truly enjoy the most. not to selfless of me. the areas that God asks me to sacrifice in are often the areas where it hurts the most; the areas where i have most to lose. i've never seen it any other way - maybe it's just me.

outside of Christ and His sacrifice on the cross...

what's the most selfless action you've ever seen?

why was it so selfless?

what's holding you back from following in those foot steps?

here's one of my favorite verses of all time - a call to selflessness:

1 peter 2:21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.