HE BECAME LIKE US

Bible Studies In The Christian Library

HE BECAME LIKE US
Philippians 2:4-8

INTRODUCTION: The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is more than a man. He is God come in the flesh (John 1:1- 2, 14) He had the power to heal the sick, make blind people see, the lame walk, raise the dead, and even have power to command the winds and the wave to be still. Anyone who denies that Jesus is divine is departing from God's Word.

But this morning we are going to examine the other side of Jesus. When he came to earth he emptied himself and became a man. He became like us. He walked, talked, breathed, ate, slept, drank, and did everything else that man would do upon the earth. He became like us!

BODY

I. JESUS BECAME LIKE US IN HIS LIABILITY TO HUMAN INFIRMITIES.

A. He suffered all the human frailties that we all suffer.

1. Matthew 21:18- "Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry."
2. John 4:7- "A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink.""
3. Luke 8:23- "But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy."

B. Jesus could be tempted through the means of satisfying his physical needs.

1. Matthew 4:2-4 "And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3) "Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." 4) "But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'""

II. JESUS BECAME LIKE US IN THE LIMITATION OF HIS KNOWLEDGE WHILE HERE ON EARTH.

A. Jesus had to develop in His knowledge.

1. Luke 2:40, 52- "And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. 52) And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."
2. Mark 9:21- "So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood."
a. It seems from the passage that Jesus was asking for information and did not know how long this young man had a mute spirit.

B. Jesus was limited as to His knowledge of the future.
1. Mark 13:32- ""But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

III. JESUS BECAME LIKE US IN HIS DEPENDENCE UPON OTHERS.

A. As a child growing up he learned to depend on his parents.
1. His mother and earthly "father" provided for all his physical needs. It is certain that Joseph taught him his trade, just like every other Jewish father did for their son.
2. They undoubtedly provided for his spiritual training.

B. When he was working in his earthly ministry he depended upon others.
1. He depended upon his disciples for assistance, just as they depended on him.
2. He depended upon such individuals as Lazarus, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, and other disciples, to help him with shelter, clothing, food and drink, etc.
3. The self-existent one learned what it was like to depend on others.

IV. JESUS BECAME LIKE US IN HIS LONELINESS.

A. While he worked he had no place to call his home.
1. Luke 9:58- "And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.""
B. He felt the pangs of being abandoned by his disciples.
1. You can feel that loneliness in his statement to his apostles after many of his followers had abandoned him.
a. John 6:66, 67- "From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67- Then Jesus said to the twelve, Do you also want to go away?'"
2. You can feel that loneliness in Jesus wanting to take Peter, James, and John with him in the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.
a. Matthew 26:37, 38- "And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38- Then He said to them, 91My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.'"
3. You can feel the loneliness in his sad remarks to his sleeping disciples.
a. Matthew 26:39, 40- "He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, 91O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.'" 40- Then He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, 91What? Could you not watch with Me one hour?'"

C. Jesus even felt the pain of loneliness when he suffered alone on the cross.
1. Matthew 27:46- "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?""
2. Even his Father left him alone, as he was bearing the sins of mankind.

D. Jesus' loneliness should not surprise us. It was foretold in God's Word.
1. Isaiah 53:3, 4- "He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4- Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted."

V. JESUS BECAME LIKE US IN HIS LIABILITY TO TEMPTATION.

A. Jesus was subject to temptation, just as we all are.
1. Hebrews 4:15 "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."
B. The Gospels record how Jesus was tempted by the Devil.
1. Matthew 4:1ff
2. Just as the Devil does with us when we win a victory over him, he only depart for a time.
a. Luke 4:13- "Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time."
3. The Devil even used Jesus' own disciples in an effort to tempt Jesus to sin.
a. Matthew 16:23- "But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.""

VI. JESUS BECAME LIKE US IN HIS NEED TO BE OBEDIENT TO THE FATHER WHILE ON EARTH.

A. Jesus knew that he needed to do the Father's will while on earth.
1. John 9:4- ""I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work."
2. John 4:34- "Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work."
3. John 5:30- ""I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me."
B. Jesus "learned" obedience.
1. Hebrews 5:8, 9- "though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9- "And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,"
2. Jesus learned what it was like to bend his will to that of his Father.
a. Matthew 26:39- "He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.""

CONCLUSION: During the long war years a boy looked frequently at a picture of his daddy on the table. He had left when the boy was a young infant. After several years the boy had forgotten him as a person but he would often look at the picture and say, "If only my father could step out of that picture and be real...." On a sad day of sin when man had almost forgotten God, He stepped into the world in the form of His Son. Our Lord became a man so that we might live with God someday.

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