CHRIST IS LORD 

Philippians 2:1-30

Key Verse 2:9-11

1. Read v. 1-4. What does this passage indicate about: 1) the good the saints at the church of Philippi tried to do to others; 2) the "problems" that surfaced in their so doing; 3) the cause(s) for such problems; and 4) Paul's solution to the problems? 

2. Read v. 3 again. Why is it not always easy for one to regard others as "better" than oneself (1)? Yet why is it that one must consider others as better than himself? 

3. Read v. 4 again. What does the expression "not only...but also" suggest to us about: 1) what we are naturally good at doing; and 2) what we are not always good at doing? What does the word "should" tell us about the amount of effort we need to exert in looking to the interests of others?

4. Memorize v. 5. What does "attitude" mean? What is the significance of an "attitude" (Gn 1:26-28; 1Ki 11:11; Mt 20:16)?

5. Read vs. 6-7. What does the word "consider" tell us about the beginning point of maintaining a right attitude? What does the verb "made" tell us about the kind of decision Jesus made despite his identity as God? How do you think Jesus could make such a decision (1Jn 4:16; Jn 14:10; 2Co 5:14)? 

6. Read vs. 7-8. What was it like for one to live as a "servant" in Jesus' day (Lk 17:7-10)? What might it have been like for God to be made in "human likeness" for good? What must it have been like to obey the command that you (an innocent man) sacrifice even to the point of dying on a cross? Yet how was Jesus able to obey the command? 

 

7. Read vs. 9-11 and describe the way God blessed Jesus' humble obedience. What does this passage, especially the expression "Christ is Lord", tell us about the blessedness of the life that curbs one's own pride and serves others as Jesus did? 

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