Rabbi Schneider - What's Under Your Feet?
Just a few days ago, I reached out to an old friend of mine from high school another Jewish guy like myself. And he's not a believer. In fact, he's a hard core atheist. Personally, I don't believe that anybody's really an atheist because I believe at the bottom of their heart, they know there's a God, this is what the word of God teaches. But for some reason, they become angry at God. And so in order to try to hurt Him, they deny His reality and deny that He exists. So this friend of mine, again, he claims to be a hardcore atheist. You can feel the hatred he has towards God and towards God's moral structure that He's built into His creation. And I sent my friend a song on the recent Holy day of Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles. A Hassidic Jewish song just a beautiful, great song, beautiful words. It talks about how God chose His people out of the world and put the seed of eternity within us and gave us a doctrine of truth. But it's just a fun song and it has a real Jewish feeling to it.
So I felt that maybe my friend might be moved by it because he is a Jew. Instead, what happens, he immediately texted me back some type of toxic political statement, you know, all that political stuff that's gone on in our country here lately. And then I say to him, no more politics. I said, my kingdom is not of this world. He said to me, fine, no more religion then, I find it odious and intellectually offensive. And the reason I bring that up with you today, beloved one is because people that consider Jesus as intellectually offensive and odious to them, they're denying the truth and they don't have insight into the revelation of God's word. I'm going to read now from the book of Philippians today, just a few verses and I'll continue here next week, but listen to the word of God, the deep mystery of the Godhead in this, you can't just make this stuff up.
This is not intellectually offensive. In other words, he was saying, this is beneath my intellect, but rather this is so deep. Only those that have revelation, which comes to us as a gift from the Father can even begin to touch it and grasp it. Hear the word of God. Therefore I'm beginning in Philippians 2:5, have this attitude in yourself, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant and being made in the likeness of men.
I'm going to continue here next week, but beloved, this is so deep and so beautiful and those that have revelation only these ones can begin to see into it. But I want you to hear this. Jesus took the form of a servant before the Father. In other words, He gave up his own will. He gave up his own desire. He gave up his own rights to serve the Father. And this call is the call on your life as well. God is asking you and I to give up our personal preferences to put Him first Jesus said to the Father, not my will, but Thy will be done.
My challenge for you today, beloved friend is, will you do the same? You give up your own rights, your own desires and your own preferences? Will you put those under your feet and instead say yes to the Father to follow Him? The Bible says Jesus became obedient to the point of death by being crucified. He said, "Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me, but not my will, but Thy will be done". Therefore God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name above every name, at the name of Jesus. Every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. There's a great reward for those of us that will put our own desires under our feet and choose to obey Him instead.