Christ, the Son of God, willingly emptied Himself to become a created man; He learned obedience through the things which He suffered, and He became the representation of submission to authority (Phil. 2:6-8).
Our pattern in our Christian life is not merely a man but a God-man, our God-man Savior who emptied Himself and humbled Himself and who has been exalted and glorified by God. This pattern is now in us, and He wants to live the same kind of life in us today on the earth.
He was equal with God, but He didn’t consider this as a treasure to be grasped and retained, so He emptied Himself, laying aside the form and glory of God.
He didn’t lay aside His divinity but only the form, the manifestation, the expression of His divinity, and He became a man; though He was a God-man, most people did not realise this.
He changed the outward expression from the form of God to the form of a slave; He became from the highest form and position to the lowest form and position – not just a man, but a slave.
When others saw Him, they saw the likeness of men; outwardly He was just a man, but inwardly He was God, having the divinity in Him. Though He became a man and appeared as a man outwardly, He as God had the reality of deity inwardly; He was God becoming flesh, and the divinity was concealed within the shell of His humanity.
He humbled Himself, He emptied Himself, and He was found in fashion as a man. He didn’t resisted others neither did He insist; He was obedient unto the cross.
It is impressive and inspiring to see how Christ willingly emptied Himself to become a man, and as such a man He was the representation of submission to authority. Let this mind be in us, the mind which was in Christ Jesus as He went through all these processes and things.
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross; the death of the cross was the climax of Christ’s humiliation.
What a beautiful picture and wonderful pattern we see in the Lord Jesus as He emptied Himself and humbled Himself, and learned to obey God through the things which He experienced as a man!
Such a pattern is now in us, and He wants to be reprinted and reproduced in us in all the local churches all around the world!
Christ willingly Emptied Himself to become a Man as the Representation of Submission to Authority
In this universe there has been a rebellion; angels and then all men rebelled against God, so the Lord Jesus became a created man to be the representation of submission to authority.
When God became a man, when the Lord Jesus came down to earth, He emptied Himself of all the glory, position, power, and image in His deity and, as a result, those without revelation did not recognize Him and would not acknowledge Him as God.
Most of His contemporaries considered Him as an ordinary man. In the Godhead there’s harmony and equality, none being higher or lower; however, the Son voluntarily chose to submit Himself to the authority of the Father.
Christ willingly emptied Himself to become a man as the representation of submission to authority; He said that the Father was greater than He (John 14:28), and He took such a position as a voluntary choice.
It is wonderful to see that it is happily arranged in the Godhead that the Father is the Head and the Son submits to the Father; the Father is the representation of authority and the Son is the representation of submission to authority.
It was not easy, however, for the Son to submit; it’s easy for us as human beings to submit, for we only need to humble ourselves, but the Lord’s submission was not a simple matter.
In a sense, the Lord’s submission was even more difficult than His creation of the heavens and the earth, for when He submitted, He had to put aside and empty Himself of all the glory, power, position, and image in His deity, and He had to take the form of a slave.
Therefore, Christ created submission, real submission. Christ and the Father formerly shared the same glory, but when the Son came to the earth, He “dropped His authority” and “picked up submission”; He created submission to authority and became the representation of submission to authority.
He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the Father and to the environment He has arranged over Him.
Because He was God and He willingly emptied Himself to become a man, being submissive to authority, this obedience in the Godhead is the most wonderful thing in the universe.
Many times we may ask, Why do I have to obey this person or that person? And even in the church life we may ask, Aren’t we all brothers? Why do I have to obey this brother or submit to that brother?
We do NOT have the right to ask such questions, for we have the pattern of Christ as the representation of submission to authority in us; He never had such a thought, for He represented submission, even a perfect submission to authority.
May we learn from Him; may we take Him as our pattern, and may we allow Him to live the same kind of life in us.
When He was on earth, the Lord Jesus set His heart and His face to subject Himself to the way of submission, even unto death. In Isa. 50:7 we see how He set His face like a flint to submit to God, and in Luke 9:51 and Mark 10:31-34 He set His face to go to Jerusalem, knowing what will happen to Him there.
He knew He was about to be arrested, scourged, beaten, mistreated, and eventually put to death on the cross, but He set His heart to subject Himself to God and His will. What a pattern He is to us!
Lord Jesus, we thank You for willingly emptying Yourself to become a man and be the representation of submission to authority. Thank You Lord for putting aside Your majesty, glory, form of deity, position and image of deity, and humbling Yourself to the uttermost. Wow, Lord, You created submission, real submission to authority, and as such a One You are in us. We open to You, Lord, and we allow You to work in us and even more live in us. May Your submission to authority be infused in us and wrought into our being so that we may live it in our daily life.
Salvation brings in Submission, for Christ’s Life of Submission is in us Today
Even though Christ was the Son of God, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered (Heb. 5:8).
Many think that it was so easy for the Lord Jesus as a God-man to live the human life, because He could do anything and everything; however, what the Bible shows us concerning Him is that He suffered all His life, and He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
God ordained that Christ should die – and Christ obeyed this in full, even unto the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8). Christ learned this obedience through the suffering of death.
Our going through suffering is for us to learn obedience and submission; our usefulness in the Lord’s hand is not measured by how much we suffer but whether we learn obedience in suffering. If we are softened and learn obedience in suffering, we are useful to God.
We cannot avoid sufferings; sufferings is our portion in our human life, and if we yearn after ease and enjoyment, we are not useful to the Lord.
We must all learn to be obedient in sufferings, learning from the Lord Jesus, our pattern of submission to authority.
When we were saved, we entered into much joy; salvation brings in joy. However, salvation also brings in submission, for Christ has given us His life of submission, and we need to live this life today. The only way we can experience salvation is by being submissive, just as the Lord was submissive.
Christ became the source of our salvation through obedience; He learned obedience through the things He suffered, He established a pattern for us, and He infuses Himself into us as such a pattern to live such a life in us.
When we meet God’s authority, submission is automatic, for we cannot but obey God’s authority; however, we need to daily cooperate with the Lord’s life in us to submit to God and to the environment He has allotted to us.
The Lord, who was submissive throughout His life, has given us – His believers – His life of submission; the divine life we have received through regeneration is a life of submission. Our obedience as believers is a consequence of taking Christ as our pattern of obedience (Phil. 2:8; Col. 3:4).
We need to take Christ as our pattern of obedience and live by His life of obedience in us. He humbled Himself to the uttermost, but God exalted Him to the highest peak and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name (Phil. 2:9).
Christ as a God-man was glorified by God because of His utmost obedience and submission to Him, and a man was brought into glory!
He became a man, lived a perfect human life on earth, was submissive to God in everything, became obedient even unto death, died on the cross and shed His blood for our redemption, and after three days in the grave, He was resurrected and was ascended.
Hallelujah, this obedient One was uplifted to the heavens, and He brought His human nature into divinity, into Godhead! Wow!
He is our pattern in what He chose to do, and when we follow His pattern by living His life of submission, God will also bring us into glory with Him.
Thank You Lord for giving us Your life of submission; now our obedience is a consequence of taking Christ as our pattern of obedience. Lord, in ourselves we are rebellious and not willing to submit, but Your life of submission is in us, and we want to live by this life daily! Amen, Lord Jesus, may we learn from You and may we learn obedience through the things we suffer, having Your attitude of submitting to God in everything. Save us from choosing a life of ease and enjoyment. May we take You as our pattern, learn from You, and live by Your life of submission in our daily life and in the church life.
This article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, Cristos este reprezentarea supunerii față de autoritate; viața Sa de supunere este în noi.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ricky Acosta for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” ch. 5, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Experience of Christ (2019 Memorial Day Conference), week 2, Knowing and Experiencing Christ as the Pattern.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Thou even art a lowly slave, / A slave of God to serve for us; / Obedient to the cross’s death / That we might be delivered thus. (Hymns #190)
# God in Him on earth was humbled, / God with man was domiciled; / Man in Him in heav’n exalted, / Man with God is reconciled. (Hymns #132)
# In my knowledge and experience / I would not exalted be, / But submitting and accepting / Let the Body balance me; / Holding fast the Head, and growing / With His increase, in His way, / By the joints and bands supplying, / Knit together day by day. (Hymns #840)
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