Philippians "Jesus Shaped Life"

Ever since I was a teenager, I wanted to be more like Jesus.

Grow my hair out, try to look intense.

I wanted to call out hypocrites, flip over a few tables, shut down powerful people with one-liners.

Hang out with twelve close friends even after my 20s, walk around dropping deep thoughts, and always have the perfect comeback for every situation. Jesus was my hero.

I’ve even prayed, “Lord, make me more like Jesus.”

But then…

I get mad when people misunderstand me.

I get sad when people don’t like me.

I get discouraged when they reject me.

And God’s like, “Oh, I thought you wanted to be more like Jesus?”

But that’s not what I meant!

Not the bad parts!

Not the hated and crucified bits!

I want the joy that comes from faith without it requiring me to be faithful through hard times.

But that’s not how it works—we don’t get to skip the cross part.

The Jesus-shaped life isn’t just about being saved—it’s about being conformed. Changed.

And today, as we look at the Book of Philippians, we’re going to see just how joyful and painful that can be.

As we’re working our way through the Book of Acts, I thought it’d be cool to occasionally jump ahead to some of the letters Paul wrote to the churches he helped start. We’ve already done this with Galatians, and this week we’re looking at Philippians—because in Acts we just saw Paul and the gang leave Philippi after launching the church at Lydia’s house, getting thrown in jail, singing hymns, and being miraculously set free by an earthquake.

This is part of our ongoing Making Sense of the Bible series that we kicked off back in 2021. It’s a flyover of entire books of the Bible—one book, one message—and so far we’ve done 19 of them. Still got a long way to go, but we’re making progress! You can check them out by going to NewChurch.Love/Bible.

So, the Book of Philippians is a letter St. Paul wrote to the church he planted in Philippi. He wrote it from a Roman prison, waiting to either stand trial before Caesar—or be executed. He didn’t know which way it was going to go, maybe both. Most likely written around 60 AD, which would be about 10 years after that first visit to Philippi—everything we talked about last week in Acts 16.

Of all the churches Paul planted, Philippi was about the only one that actually supported him financially. They sent money to keep his ministry going. And that was a big deal—because if you ended up in a Roman prison, it wasn’t like modern jail. No three squares a day, no rec time, no A/C. If someone didn’t send food and money from the outside, you starved. 

What’s wild is this letter—written while Paul was in chains, not knowing if he was going to live or die—is often called the “Epistle of Joy.” It’s his most positive and joy-filled letter. Waiting to possibly be executed… and all he wants to do is encourage other people. 

This is like someone sending you the most uplifting, encouraging note you’ve ever read—from death row. They’re in the worst way possible but they want to cheer you up. That’s the Book of Philippians.

So let’s walk through this letter together—the way Paul wrote it—a collection of mini messages, all hovering around one massive central idea: that Jesus, who had everything, gave it all up to serve us and save us.

This is the heart of Christian theology—that God came to earth, humbled Himself, and died so we could all have life. But it’s also a pattern for how we’re supposed to live these new lives He gives us—a selfless pattern and an example to follow. And that’s where we squirm.

So, let’s squirm together. 

Chapter 1:1–11 – The Prayer That Hurts a Little

Paul starts by thanking God for them—they’re obviously some of his favorite people in the world. He considers them partners in the Gospel. He prays they’ll continue to grow into people who know what really matters—loving each other. He assures them God is going to finish the work He started in them. Make them the people He wants them to be.

It’s the same for us but we tend to be stubborn. We don’t want to grow. We don’t want to change. We want the benefits of faith—peace, identity, heaven insurance—but without that whole, “being pure and blameless—filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ” parts. Because growth is uncomfortable. Growth means we have to change. And we’d rather not. 

But Paul wants them to know how thankful he is for them. He’s dictating this letter through his young apprentice Timothy—it was going to be read out loud when the church got together for worship. Kind of like what we’re doing right now.

1:12–26 – Joy in Prison? No Thanks.

He lets them know he’s in jail again—just like when he planted the church in Lydia’s house all those years ago. But he’s not really bummed about it, he says it’s actually helping to advance the Gospel. Just like that night when the earthquake set them free, the same thing is happening again—the guards are hearing about Jesus—and others, even members of Caesar’s household. He even jokes that the Christians who don’t like him are stepping up and preaching even more now that he’s in jail. Not everyone loved Paul—especially the Jewish Christians who wanted to bully the Gentiles into doing all the Jewish stuff (circumcision, feast days, memorizing Leviticus as a cookbook). He’s like, “Hey, at least they’re talking about Jesus—even if they’re doing it for selfish reasons and hoping I rot behind bars.” He was just glad the Gospel was being preached. 

Pretty good attitude for a guy who might be executed in the morning.

But he knew he’d be delivered either way. “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” He’s not afraid of dying—he says if he dies, he gets to be with Jesus. If he lives, he gets to serve Jesus down here. Win win.

Bit of an attitude check for me.

I get upset if the Wi-Fi runs slow.
I think a flat tire is spiritual warfare. I’m sure you’re all much more high-minded than me.
I’m sure you don’t complain when you’re mildly inconvenienced. Mm-hmm. 

Paul says suffering is our best opportunity to show what our faith in Jesus is actually for. That’s when people will notice. There’s no better evangelism than faithful suffering.

Instead of immediately thinking God has abandoned us—we need to understand it’s an opportunity to show people we trust Him. When things suck, Paul says to rejoice.

1:27–2:18 – Live Worthy of the Gospel

To live like citizens of heaven. He wants them to understand their primary identity isn’t Roman—it’s Christian. Philippi was a very patriotic city. It’s where retired military went to live out their days. It was all about the glory of Rome. “Merga!” Make Rome Great Again.

Had to be confusing for these new Roman Christians. “What do you mean our primary citizenship is in heaven?” “What do you mean Caesar is not Lord? That Jesus is Lord?”
These were the kind of things that could get you locked up—or at least make things with your centurion uncle a little tense.

Paul says the church needs to live worthy of the Gospel of Christ. That they need to stand together as the church! Not to be afraid of the culture—the people who don’t have faith in Jesus. If you’re following Jesus you’re not supposed to fall into the trap of dividing over politics. You’re not supposed to fall into the trap of fighting over the cultural things that divide.

He doubles down, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

In other words, “If Jesus means anything to you, if your faith means anything at all to you…

Stop arguing. Be unified. Be humble.”

Of all the impossible, difficult things the Bible tells us to do—commands us to do—this is the most impossibly difficult of them all. Do nothing out of selfishness. Think of other people as more important than you. More important. Not just as important. 

This takes the Golden Rule to a whole new level.

Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself. That sounds hard but most of us don’t really like ourselves that much so—kind of doable.

But Jesus also said to “Do to others what you would have them do to you.” Which is different because it’s proactive. We have to go first. He didn’t say, “Be fair—if they’re nice to you then you be nice to them.” That might be how most of us play it but that’s not what He said.

Also, how do we love ourselves? We love ourselves by taking care of ourselves. By breathing. By eating. Ephesians 5:29 says,

“Everyone nourishes and cherishes their own body.”

Jesus says to do that for other people. Give them what they need. Before they ask. You go first. 

This is the central command of what it means to do what Jesus says. Philippians says it like this, “If Jesus means anything to you at all then start treating the people in your life as if they’re more important than you are.”

Live in unity with the people in your life. In as much as it depends on you. Especially in church.

We fight over all kinds of stupid petty things.
We treat church like a fast food drive through: we want it our way, hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, and you better not upset us—or we’ll stop showing up. We’ll go somewhere else.
We think humility is optional—kindness is weakness. Empathy is bad for business.

No. Jesus showed us exactly what He expects of us. 

2:6–11 – The Hymn of Christ (This Is the Center)

Paul gets to his main point. The gravitational center of the letter. He pulls back the curtain and shows us Jesus. It was probably an early hymn they sang in church… 

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a 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. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus is equal with God, He is God—but He didn’t hold onto His power and lord it over us.
Instead, He emptied Himself.
Took the form of a servant.
Obeyed the will of the Father to the point of death—even the humiliating, cursed death on a cross—at the hands of the people He came to save.

And then He was exalted above everything. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is LORD—to bow before Jesus is to bow before God. Straight from Isaiah 45:23.

But Jesus is not only our God, our King—our Lord. He is our pattern. Our example for how to live our life. Obedient to the point of death, even dying to ourselves and humbling ourselves to serve other people—considering whatever they need as more important than what we need.

But we don’t like that at all. No thank you!
We want to be exalted, too—without the cross part.

Paul knows it’s not going to be easy to follow Jesus’ example so he gives us a few down to earth role models.

2:19–30 – Real-Life Examples: Timothy & Epaphroditus

First, there’s Timothy, Paul’s protege, who genuinely cares about others more than himself (how rare is that?), and Epaphroditus, so selfless he nearly died helping Paul in prison.

These guys aren’t just inspirational. They embody the Jesus-idea.

So let me ask a painful question:
If someone was writing a letter and needed an example of someone who lives for other people like Jesus, would anyone think of you?

It’s one thing to trust Jesus as your Savior. It’s another thing entirely to trust Him as your Lord—and actually do what He says.

That’s what this is getting at. The salvation that God has given you through Jesus, you need to do something with it. It won’t be easy but the salvation that’s been worked into you by grace needs to also lead to works that come out of you for the sake of other people. That’s what it means to “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” And He says to do it without grumbling or disputing. This is how you’re to be the light of the world.

I ain’t making any of this up. It’s all right here in Philippians. And Paul keeps reminding us to do all these things with a happy heart. To rejoice.

I'm a Lutheran pastor. If you've spent any time talking with Lutherans, then you know every theological conversation almost immediately becomes about soteriology (which is the study of how we are saved and how we are not saved). Lutherans are always careful not to confuse Law and Gospel.

I get it. We are saved by grace through faith. Not works.

BUT THEN WHAT? What are we supposed to do with these new saved lives?

Applying God’s word is not legalism. Obedience is not legalism. Legalism is inventing your own salvation. Doing what God said to do the way that God said to do it is not any kind of “ism.”

It’s like—Jesus bought me a new furniture set from IKEA. I didn't pay for it—I didn’t work for it. But if I don't follow the instructions, it's just a bunch of useless boxes of wasted potential.

We’re supposed to do what Jesus says to do. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It doesn’t buy our salvation but it is what we’re supposed to do with it.

There have always been people who get this backward—people who want to add a bunch of shoulds to the Gospel. In Paul’s day, they were the Jewish Christians that he called the Circumcision Party or the Judaisers. They hated Paul. Hated that he preached grace. They were glad he was rotting in jail. And these were church people! Christians. It’s crazy!

Apparently a bunch of these guys had shown up in Philippi and were causing trouble because Paul goes on a bit of a tirade against them—says all their Jewish Law keeping is wrongheaded. 

He says he was a better Jew than any of them.

3:1–4:1 – Paul’s Resume Goes in the Trash

He flexes his credentials—Hebrew of Hebrews, law-keeping machine, persecutor of the church before persecuting the church was cool—and then says, “It’s all garbage.” Actually, he uses a much more colorful word in Greek—if brown is colorful. It’s the word skubalon—it’s the not-very-nice word for poop. As in “skubalon happens.”

He throws out everything he used to be so proud of—his pedigree—all the things those circumcision loving Christians were so into. 

He tells them to do the same thing, don’t fall into the traps of people who are really enemies of the cross of Christ. Stay on the path of humility. Live as citizens of heaven. Get their minds off earthly things. Jesus is coming back—the countdown started the day He ascended to heaven. 

In the meantime we need to do what Jesus told us to do. 

He calls out a couple of the ladies in the church who were apparently not getting along. Euodia and Syntyche—probably not how they wanted their names to be remembered in the Bible. Paul says their names are in the book of life, too, so they ought to start acting like it.

We all need to stop trying to be right all the time and try to be humble instead.

4:2–9 – Time to Live Like It

He reminds them to rejoice again. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”

He tells them to stop being so anxious about everything, to pray, to fill their minds with good things—not garbage.
Concentrate on good things instead of staring at what makes you mad. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Of course…
We’d rather do almost anything than pray.
We’d rather argue than get along.
We just want to listen to bad news and doom scroll all day.

4:10–23 – Thank You and the Secret of Contentment

Paul ends with a thank you for their generosity—they had sent gifts and took care of him in prison. But then he drops this bomb…

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

It’s one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. “I can do all things through a verse quoted out of context!”

He says,  “I’ve learned the secret to being content—whether I have a lot or nothing. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

That verse isn’t about achieving your life goals. It’s about surviving the hard times without losing hope and staying faithful in the good times without forgetting to trust God.

We think contentment comes from being in control.
Paul says it comes from surrender.
We think well-being is about having “enough.”
Paul says it’s about trusting that God will provide.

LOTS O LAW

Every section of Philippians gives us a snapshot of what the Jesus-shaped life looks like.
And in every single one—we fall short.

We want peace without prayer.
Joy without suffering.
Community without conflict.
Faith without change.
Resurrection without death.
And to follow Jesus without becoming like Him.

LOTS MO GOSPEL

But here’s the promise God makes you…
Jesus didn’t wait for you to get it right.
He didn’t wait until you were perfectly humble, unified, and content.

While you are still selfish, He emptied Himself.
While you are still a sinner, He took the form of a servant.
While you’re grasping for worldly status, He let go of His glory.
While you’re still fighting to be right, He chose to be crucified.

The truth is, none of us can even come close to living a life that’s worthy of the Gospel.
That’s why He did what He did—to make us worthy.

And because of what He did—because of who He is—your salvation isn’t in question.
Your worth doesn’t have to be earned.
God’s not waiting for you to finally become like Jesus before He loves you and saves you.
No, the One who was obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross—did that for you.

So God wants you to know…
The name that is above every name calls you by name.
              He writes your name in the Book of Life.
The One that every knee will bow before—
                is the same One who knelt to wash His disciples’ feet.
He is the Lord who came not to be served, but to serve—
                and to give His life as a ransom for many. For you.

So yes, Philippians gives us a pattern for how to follow Jesus.
But the Gospel is that Jesus did it first.
He lived the life we could never live.
He died the death we deserved.
He rose from the dead and because He lives—we get to live with Him.
He provides everything we need to live the Jesus shaped life.

This is why Paul could rejoice in chains.
This is why he could write the most joyful letter of his life from a Roman prison.
Because Jesus had already set him free.

This is why no matter what we’re facing in this life, we can rejoice, we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength, because we’ve already been set free, too.

So, we joyfully bow in worship now or we wait until the day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. There’s no promise of salvation for those who wait until Christ returns to bend the knee.

But when we bow now, it’s not under judgment—it’s under grace.
Wrapped in His mercy. Protected by a good Lord who loves us and cares for us.

Which is why we can say, no matter what… “Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice.” Amen.