Downward Mobility

We use the term 'upwardly mobile' to describe someone who is going places in their career or life. And although we should strive to make the most of our God-given lives, heaven has a different perspective. There is nothing wrong with succeeding in life as long as you build your life around the perspective of heaven. The best example to follow is Jesus...

Christ set the example by which we live when He parted glory and stepped into time in human form. He said, “… the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” Matthew 20:28. Imagine that. The God of all creation is serving His creation.

Philippians 2 is the ultimate countercultural chapter in the Bible. It contains the profound truth of the mystery of Jesus’ great power and ability as a Man. Here it is: Philippians 2:6-8a “(Jesus) who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God but made Himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death…”Jesus emptied Himself of His divine glory and His God form and took the form of a servant. His earthly life required Jesus to temporarily make His attributes and His divine glory of no effect while on earth and rely totally on the Father.

In other words, He left all of His God abilities and became fully man when He stepped into time. He experienced life as a flesh-and-blood man. Jesus considered the surrender of these attributes necessary to express fully His love for creation in redemption and His love for the Father by restoring His creation to ‘very good’. 

Isaiah 53:11 “He shall see the travail of His soul and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.” Jesus alone is fully righteous, and He alone can receive this title of Righteous Servant mentioned only here. Being the Righteous Servant, Jesus is ‘Jehovah Tsidkenu’, ‘the Lord our righteousness’, the One who alone can make righteous. He is the all-knowing God who made humanity to live in restored perfection. 

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” When humanity was marred by the turning away from God’s beauty, we lost the ability to identify with God. Wrong thinking and wrongdoing are outside of God, and He cannot experientially know or identify with something opposite to all He is. God found a way to restore a relationship with humanity by becoming a Man and yet remaining God. 

Downward mobility from His God form, taking on the form of a servant, led to exultation for Jesus. And through Him, as our High Priest, He has brought exultation for us.  As our High Priest, Jesus now knows what we experience living here, and He gave His blood as covering and testimony before the throne of God.

This is the knowledge of the righteous Servant that justifies many. It took humbling to get to exaltation. Philippians 2:9-11a “God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…” Because Jesus was obedient by taking the body His Father prepared for Him and following the plan to redeem humanity by death on the cross, Jesus, the Perfect Man, now has the name and worship of all creation as Redeemer. 

As Jesus prepared to fulfil His earthly mission, He prayed in John 17:5 “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” He returned to the Father after His resurrection with a fully glorified flesh-and-bone body (Luke 24:29). 

Jesus gave up His God-form and His earthly body. This is an eternal statement of the love of God the Father toward the creation He made. Jesus gave all of His blood and the life it contained and laid it on the Mercy Seat as eternal testimony and witness that His sacrifice was enough forever. Galatians 4: 5-6 “… to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father.” Jesus humbled Himself so He could exalt us in adoption. We are children of God and joint heirs with Jesus. 

Jesus became a little lower than the angels because we are a little lower than the angels, and He was the substitution to buy back, as a Man, what humanity lost through wrong living - our dominion over the creation God left in our care and a close familial connection to God. 

All of heaven follows Christ’s example: Moving down is the only way to become great in God’s eyes. Jesus stepped into time and, in the flesh, lived and showed us how to live by fully identifying with us in all ways as a human being. Yet He remained utterly different because He never did anything wrong in any way. Then He had to offer all the life of God in Him that was untarnished by broken living and pour it back into those who wanted it so that we could be just like Him, and we could “bear the image of the heavenly Man.”

You must descend into greatness. To be great through God you must go down. 

As God’s servant, be obedient, and He will raise you up. Christ set aside the power to use His divine characteristics, having laid aside His God form and voluntarily given up His glory which He had with the Father before the world was John 17:5. And He took on the form of ‘servant’, ‘doulos,’ one without rights who’s owned - a bondslave subject to another’s will and be obedient to the master. 

Bondslaves are: 

• Subordinate. Assume the lower position, Luke 14:10-11. God will raise you up. 

• Humble. Let go of your personal profile, glory, gain and promotion, Luke 17:7-10. Serve where God directs. 

• Always ready if He needs your service in some way. A picture of this is Psalm 123:2. 

• Vulnerable. Leave your defence to God, make no excuses for doing what’s right, John 15:18 & 20. Keep your eye on your prize.

• Accountable. Not hiding in religiousness, your anointing, Christ or your faith. Jesus, who was God in the flesh, was accountable to the Father in all He said and did. Ask, ‘Does this behaviour, action or word make God desirable and appealing?’ Be accountable to God and have those around you speak truth to you and hold you accountable for your actions, life and relationships.

• Trustworthy. Be worthy of the trust of God and others with everything, including the things you know about others. Jesus knew the hearts of men yet chose not to expose them but to work to change them.  

• Measure Success in Service. Instead of trying to be successful, try to be of VALUE. Find the place where your passion meets the world’s NEED, that will give you value.’  Aim to have your significance in God by investing your time instead of spending it.

• Totally Forgive just as Jesus did on the cross. He let humanity off the hook so that redemption could come to us. Forgiving is not forgetting. But, like God, you choose what you will do with the remembering. God chose to send Jesus down to us so we could come up to Him.

I have several books that can assist you in growing in the mindset of heaven so you can experience the exaltation God has planned for you. 'A Life of Purpose' explores what purpose is by debunking the myths and hype around purpose and giving you a sound basis to live a purposeful life. The second book is 'Gifts for Destiny and Life.' It answers the deep questions like 'who am I?' and 'why am I here?' and gives a clear answer on how to embrace who you are and enjoy what God gave you with heaven's perspective.

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