Four Rights Jesus Gave Up

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A world obsessed with winning, suing, and asserting runs on the fuel of rights. We went another way today, opening Philippians 2 and tracing how Jesus willingly laid down four divine rights—living like God, acting with unrestrained power, appearing in obvious glory, and being treated as a king—to give us something we could never earn: the right to become children of God.

We begin with the cultural mirror: headlines about lawsuits and entitlement that make humility feel foreign. Then we move into the gospel’s counterintuitive center, where the Son “emptied Himself.” Not of deity, but of the independent use of it. The hands that formed the cosmos took up tools in a carpenter’s shop. The One who could command angels borrowed beds, boats, a room, and even a tomb. Isaiah’s portrait reminds us He didn’t arrive with royal sheen; He came as an ordinary man whom many missed, and some despised.

Finally, we face the cross—a punishment designed to humiliate. Before Pilate, Jesus chose silence over self-defense. He accepted injustice without calling down fire, because love had already chosen the path to our rescue. That voluntary surrender reframes Christmas and our lives. Adoption into God’s family is the right that outlasts every claim and counters every insecurity. Worship, then, is not coerced; it’s the fitting response to a King who came low so we could be lifted.

If this message moved you, share it with a friend who needs hope, subscribe for more gospel-centered teaching, and leave a review to help others find the show. And if you’re ready to respond, take a quiet moment and tell Him so—He still welcomes those who come.

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Stephen's latest book, The Disciples Prayer, is available now. https://www.wisdomonline.org/store/view/the-disciples-prayer-hardback

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:06):
So you look at him as you read the gospel accounts,
he stood before Pilate, and whatdid he do?
Absolutely nothing.
He gave up the right to a fairtrial.
And as you read that story as Idid this past week, I'd like to
jump in that story, and whenPilate asks Sim those questions,
I want to say, Lord, tell him!You know, call him fire! Do a
miracle! Speak up! Why?
Because that's the way I'mwired! That's the way you are

(00:28):
too in this society.
We've standed up for our rights!Here is someone who came and he
gave it all away! Before thefoundations of the world, I've
already decided to die this way.
I gave up my rights.

SPEAKER_02 (00:53):
When's the last time you heard a person demanding his
rights?
Having certain rights is ablessing from God.
But let me change the question.
When is the last time you hearda person or group voluntarily
give up their rights for someonewho doesn't have any?
Well, as Christians, we know atleast one person.

(01:17):
When you had no right to be atpeace with God, Jesus gave up
all of his rights for you.
Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart.
Stephen has a message todaycalled Four Rights That Jesus
Gave Up.

SPEAKER_01 (01:36):
In September 1607, Captain John Smith won the first
lawsuit in what would becomeAmerica's first jury trial.
It seems that another soldier bythe name of Edward Wingfield
accused Smith of being a liar.
In fact, the court recordsdocument that he accused Smith
of being much more than that.

(01:57):
He said that he acted beggardlyin Ireland as a rogue without
license.
Well, John Smith faceddefamation of character, so he
took Edward to court, and in thefirst libel suit recorded in
American history, John Smithwon.
And his settlement would be ontoday's economy somewhere around
$5,000.

(02:20):
Well, that case was rare, and indefense of Smith's character and
reputation, but as I read thatfor the first time this past
week, the old commercial came tomind.
You've come a long way, baby.
And we have, because we now livein a suit crazed society.
In fact, I've read that one outof four Americans will be

(02:40):
involved in a lawsuit of somesort or some kind, either
directly or indirectly.
One of the magazines Isubscribed to came and there was
an article by George F.
Will on our Suit Craze Society.
Talked about one elementary girlwho sued her school and won
$15,000 from the courts becausethey did not remove swiftly

(03:01):
enough graffiti on the restroomwall.
Or the Princeton Universitystudent that George F.
Will commented on, who climbedon top of a building on the
campus of Princeton Universitywhere he was a student and he
was electrocuted by somemachinery that was there on the
roof, and now he is, in turn,suing Princeton University for
damages.
He also told about the17-year-old girl who tried out

(03:23):
for the high school footballteam this past season.
If school authorities said shecouldn't, she would have sued
them for violation of herrights.
And so they remained quiet.
In the first scrimmage, she washurt.
And she is now suing thatparticular Board of Education
$1.5 million.
Because, as she says, no onetold her of the potential risks
of serious injury and error inthe sport.

(03:45):
She ought to watch Monday NightFootball with me.
Long and more tragic note, aDuxbury, Massachusetts fireman
clubbed his wife, severing anear, leaving her partially deaf.
She took him to court and shelost.
The judge acquitted him, sayinghe was temporarily insane.
However, the fire departmentfired him from his job, and that

(04:07):
was a big mistake.
And now, after seven years oflitigation, the Massachusetts
Commission AgainstDiscrimination has filed a
report that is forcing the firedepartment to hire him back to
pay him$200,000 plus 12%interest on back pay due to
emotional distress caused him.
Justice lies wounded in thestreet.

(04:28):
And injustice sits enthroned.
All we ever seem to hear todayare people who've lost their
rights, and I'm all for keepingrights, inalienable rights that
are ours as American citizens,but all we hear about are people
who are demanding the rights.
I will have my rights, whateverthey may be.
We don't hear anymore of aperson who voluntarily gives up

(04:49):
their rights for somebody whodoesn't have any rights.
I want to rehearse to you thesimple story of a person who
2,000 years ago gave up all hisrights.
To you and I who didn't haveany.
The age-old Christmas story, andI want to turn your attention to
the second chapter, not of Luke,but of Philippians.

(05:10):
And I want to give you fourrights that Jesus Christ gave up
on that first Christmas morningand on until his resurrection
for our sake.
Philippians chapter 2.
Right number one.
Jesus Christ, nearly 2,000 yearsago, gave up the right to live
like God.

(05:30):
Look at verse 5 with me.
Have this attitude inyourselves, which was also in
Christ Jesus, who, although heexisted in the form of God, did
not regard equality with God athing to be grasped.
By the way, ladies andgentlemen, this is one of the
strongest defenses in the NewTestament of the deity of Jesus
Christ.
He was the second person of theGodhead.

(05:51):
He would become the visiblebodily form of that Godhead.
He had, in effect, equal rightswith the Father and the Spirit.
And it says here that he did notgrasp those rights.
He literally gave them up.
He gave up the right to livewith all of his majesty and
glory with God.

(06:11):
Right, number one, that he gaveup.
And that is quite a riches torags story, if we have ever
heard one.
I read some time ago of DavidBuick, who founded the Buick Car
Company, a man who lived thelife of a millionaire and made
millions off the sale of hisparticular line of cars.

(06:31):
Willie Duran ultimately broughtit into GM.
But Buick would lose hisfortune.
In fact, he was so destitutethat he had to declare
bankruptcy, and in the lateryears of his life was unable to
buy a car with his name on it.
He was too poor.
Or Willie Duran himself, whotook all of the automotive
strings and pulled themtogether.

(06:52):
Read his.
He pulled all the stringstogether that he was a creative
genius, but he wasn't able toorganize what he created, and so
he lost his fortune.
Eventually tried to competeagainst that he created called
General Motors.
He bought out men like Olds, ofOldsmobile, and Buick.
And all of them, and he put themtogether.
Ultimately, he tried to competeagainst GM and he lost his

(07:14):
fortune.
And 45 years ago he died.
And his last job was managing abowling alley, too poor to own a
car.
But all of those stories paleinsignificance when you think of
the one who rode upon the wind,who had multitudes of cherubim
and seraphim singing to hisholiness and to his glory, and

(07:35):
he comes down and he becomeslike one of us.
He gave up his right to livelike God.
Right number two.
Jesus Christ gave up the rightto act like God.
Look at verse 7.
He emptied himself, taking theform of a bondservant, being

(08:00):
made in the likeness of men.
Now your translation may saythat he made himself of no
reputation.
The word made of himself of noreputation is one original word,
or emptied himself as oneoriginal word, kanao, which
means to empty.
It's called the canosis of JesusChrist.
The emptying of Christ.
The question is, what did heempty himself of?

(08:22):
His deity?
There are those who would sayso.
No?
I think the original word kanaohelps because it's translated
throughout the New Testament,empty-handed.
Jesus Christ, who with his ownhands, Colossians tells us,
created the universes, now heempties his hands of the

(08:44):
prerogatives of deity, of theindependent use of his sovereign
power.
He is giving up the right to,upon a whim, act like God.
The kenosis.
Jesus Christ could have smashedhis way through history,
manipulating everything from theweather every day to his

(09:06):
workbench in the carpenter'sshop.
Now there were times when JesusChrist expressed his divine
power.
Acts chapter 2, verse 22 tellsus it was to accredit himself as
God, a very God.
But he limited what theologianscall himself to the independent
use of his attributes.
That's why he was always talkingwith the Father, doing the will
of the Father in His function onearth.

(09:29):
But you think about thiscarpenter for a minute.
I mean, let's face it, if youand I had the power, would you
slave and hammer and saw andsand?
No.
You and I would twinkle ournoses like Samantha.
And there it is.
We would snap our finger likesome genie, and there is that

(09:51):
bed.
There is that bureau.
There is that table.
There is that desk.
There it is.
No sweat, no labor.
But yet Jesus Christ lived thelife of an ordinary carpenter
working hard in his father'sbusiness, his earthly
stepfather's business.
So he didn't empty himself ofhis deity, but of the

(10:11):
independent use of hisattributes, and he became an
ordinary man.
In fact, so ordinary, ladies andgentlemen, that when he
introduced himself as to who hewas, his stepbrothers or his
half-brothers and half-sistersdidn't even believe him.
Him, God, can't be.
Look back at the verse again,verse 7.

(10:32):
He emptied himself, taking theform of a bondservant.
Now don't miss this, because abondservant in that day never
really owned anything.
All that they had was, in asense, dependence upon the one
who owned them.
And how does Jesus measure up asa bondservant?
Well, he didn't own anythingeither.

(10:52):
He borrowed everything.
The manger that he came to liein was borrowed and go back to
the cattle the next day.
He never owned a home.
The gospels tell us he didn'town a place where he could
pillow his head.
He borrowed places to sleep.
He borrowed a boat to go acrossthe Sea of Galilee.
He borrowed that donkey thatrode him into the city of
Jerusalem.
He borrowed the upper room wherehe would meet with his

(11:14):
disciples, and the tomb where hewas buried was borrowed.
Here's a person who was given upthe right to act like God.
He could have had it anything hewanted at any time.
But yet here's a man withabsolutely no advantages or
privileges.
He lived as a slave.

(11:35):
Right number three Jesus Christgave up the right to look like
God.
Before his incarnation, he wasclothed with divine splendor,
but now he takes on the humanform of a Jewish male.
Dark skin, dark curly hair.
Now the problem is you and Ican't really be that objective.

(11:57):
We don't think it's so bad tobecome a human.
I think all of the createdcreatures, no hippopotamus
thinks he looks that ugly, youknow?
They look kind of suave.
No gorilla thinks he looks allthat bad.
It's hard to step back and lookat humans, like, well, what's so
bad about that?
When Marcia and I moved into ourhome, the rented home in West

(12:19):
Raleigh, where we would live fora few years, I discovered why
those people had wanted to moveout.
I had to pick it out because sheand our twin boys were five
months old, we're in Atlanta.
And so I searched and searchedfor a house that we could
afford.
And finally found one.
And the first time I went tothat house to look at it, this
family had cats everywhere.

(12:39):
I don't like cats.
But I know that a lot of you, alot of you like cats.
You're weird, I know.
I can say that and you can'ttalk back.
Isn't that terrible?
In fact, the day I went to seethat house, there was a cat on
the counter eating leftover foodfrom one of the people's plates.

(13:00):
That was sick.
So when they moved out, we movedin, and my brother, I got him
from Virginia, one of my youngerbrothers, and we painted that
whole house.
We painted every room.
We cleaned it all out.
We cleaned the carpet as best aswe could, and then I moved
Marcia and our five-month-oldboys in.
And a couple of weeks after wewere living there, we were

(13:21):
always scratching our ankles.
There were little red spots.
And uh I didn't, you know, we wedidn't know what to think about
it until one night, as we hadour little boys on a blanket on
the floor, I reached down tobrush a black speck from one of
my son's cheeks and it jumpedjust as I reached for it.
Fleas.
That house was infested withfleas.

(13:44):
We had the carpet professionallycleaned.
I think it was$29.95.
That didn't work.
I even went to the store, uh,one of the hardware stores, and
I got one of those bombs.
You know those bombs?
The the directions say that onebomb would take care of our

(14:06):
house.
Didn't work.
Still had fleas.
We did everything that you couldimagine to try to get rid of
those fleas, but we could notget them to leave.
We even called the exterminatorsout.
Didn't work.
So finally we were going awayfor a couple of days, and I
loaded the boys and Marcia up inthe car, got all the stuff, all
the suitcases all loaded out,and then I went back in the

(14:28):
house.
This was war.
I put a bomb in every room ofthat house, and I let them off,
and then we drove away.
I wondered if anybody'd call thefire department with smoke
billowing out of that poorhouse.
When we got back, no more fleas.
No more house, actually knowing.

(14:51):
Now I don't hate fleas.
I don't really know a lot aboutthem.
I would have been glad to gatherup all 1,000 of them in a cup or
something and take them over tothe neighbor's cat.
But how could I tell them thebomb day was coming?
How could I tell them that Ireally didn't think that poorly

(15:13):
of them, but if they didn't getout of my house, they were gonna
die?
I know.
Become a flea.
That would be humiliation.
Because I would limit all thefreedoms that I have, everything
that I can experience, and Iwould become a little flea.
Ladies and gentlemen, whether wecan be objective enough to

(15:35):
recognize when Jesus Christ leftheaven's glory, he became a
little man.
And he landed not on satinsheets.
If we were God, we would havedesigned it that way, but he
lands on prickly straw.
He's surrounded by munchingcattle and the smell of manure.
Here is God who is giving up allof his rights to become a little

(15:57):
baby boy.
And he gave up his rightsthroughout life.
What did this man look like?
Well, Isaiah 53 tells us, don'tturn there, we don't have time,
but let me just read you thefirst three verses.
It says, Who has believed ourmessage?
And to whom has the arm of theLord been revealed?
For he grew up, this is talkingabout Jesus, before him like a

(16:18):
tender shoot and like a root outof parched ground.
He has no stately form ormajesty that we should look upon
him, nor appearances that weshould be attracted to him.
For goodness sake, if we wereGod and we were going to become
a man, we'd at least make uslook a little bit like John
Wayne and Robert Redford, allmixed up.

(16:39):
He picks an ordinary Jewishlook.
He's just a plain doe who blendsin with the rest of the nation.
He didn't just give up hisright.
It's as if he threw them allaway.
In 1947, when Princess Elizabethand the Duke of Edinburgh were

(17:03):
married, everybody came toLondon, who was anybody.
Monarchs came from around theworld, even King Faisal II, the
12-year-old monarch from Iraq.
And on the day of the paradesand the festivities, he was
dressed in ordinary streetclothes for some reason, and he
was more interested in seeingthe stallions and the steeds
than anything else, and so hepushed his way through the
policeman to get a better view,and he was treated roughly by

(17:26):
the policeman.
And when the news got out who hewas, the London newspapers
carried the story the next day,and the headlines read, We're
sorry, King Faisal.
We didn't know who you were.
That's exactly what happenedhere.
Jesus Christ gave up the rightto look like God and was
mistreated, ultimately crucifiedby a nation and by us, had we

(17:48):
been there, because we reallydidn't know who he was.
Look, we've never seen Godbefore.
But if we were, and we knew whathe looked like, certainly this
man, 33-year-old, wouldn't beGod.
He gave up the right to looklike God.
Leads me to the last right thatJesus gave up.

(18:09):
Rite number four in verse eight.
Jesus gave up the right to betreated like God.
Look at it with me.
And being found in appearance asa man, he humbled himself by
becoming obedient to the pointof death, even death on a cross.
Isaiah in that same chapter Iread from says he was despised
and rejected.

(18:29):
It's not the way to treat a kingof men.
He was despised and we did notesteem him.
You could render that Hebrewphrase, we did not think he was
important.
And Paul highlights here thecruelty of the cross.
He says, look back, he becameobedient to the point of death.
Even, get this?
Imagine this.
Even the death of the cross.

(18:51):
That doesn't mean a lot to us.
Perhaps if it had said, even thedeath of the electric chair, it
might mean more.
But it wouldn't really fitunless we redesigned the
electric chair to slowly burn aperson to death over six to
eight hours.
Then maybe there would be alittle bit more of a parallel.
This was the most inhumane wayto treat someone.
The Persians created this way totorture people to death, those

(19:13):
who are enemies of their state.
In fact, a Roman citizen wasfree from ever worrying of being
hung on a cross because it wasso despicable, so humiliating,
and so torturing.
But he not only came to die, betreated unlike God would be
treated.
He came to die on a cross.
And so you look at him as youread the gospel accounts, he
stood before Pilate, and whatdid he do?

(19:34):
Absolutely nothing.
He gave up the right to a fairtrial.
And as you read that story as Idid this past week, I'd like to
jump in that story.
And when Pilate asks Sim thosequestions, I want to say, Lord,
tell him.
You know, call out fire.
Do a miracle.
Speak up.
Why?
Because that's the way I'mwired.
That's the way you are too inthis society.
We stand up for our rights.

(19:56):
Here is someone who came and hegave it all away.
He said, You can treat me likean inhumane slave.
But before the councils of God,before the foundations of the
world, I've already decided todie this way.
I gave up my rights.
And he didn't demand worshipthen.

(20:18):
He still doesn't.
An education report came outtelling, or designed to help
teachers and principals overwhat they call the December
dilemma.
It's a problem, you know.
And they suggested severalthings in this booklet on how
teachers are supposed to handleit so they can get through
Christmas without evermentioning Jesus.
They suggested, first of all,avoid asking students to explain

(20:41):
their beliefs and customs.
Focus on how and when holidaysare celebrated, not why.
Teach through attribution, i.e.,by reporting that some Buddhists
believe this.
Finally, the educators werereminded that nativity,
pageants, and plays are notappropriate.
Why are we having this party?

(21:02):
My wife took a rather courageousstep.
She asked the teachers, publicschool teachers of our boys if
she could come in and tell theChristmas story.
Boy, there was a flurry.
You know, there memos were beingsent and letters and people were
discussing, and the answer cameback yes, you can.
So I happened to be able to goalong that first day when she

(21:24):
went to Seth's first gradeclass.
And as she told the story, youknow, that age group is not the
kind of age group that sitsstill very long, but for 20
minutes, those kids wereenraptured, as Marcia told
through flannograph and otherobjects.
The story of Christmas.
In fact, when she would take oneflannel graph background off and
expose another one and put upthe little figurines, the kids
oood and awed.

(21:47):
We were wondering if they'd evenwant to sit still and listen.
Probably some of them heard forthe first time why America's
throwing this big bash.
But near the end of it, a littlegirl raised her hand and she
said, Why was Jesus called theSon of God?

(22:08):
My wife looked over at me andshe said, Well, I'd like my
husband to answer that question.
Thanks a lot.
So I'm up there.
You know what am I supposed totalk about?
The kenosis, you know, thesecond person of the Godhead,
Kana'o means this, and Istumbled all over my feet, you
know, but here's a little girlwho didn't know who Jesus was.

(22:32):
If I were God, I'd write it inthe sky so nobody could ever
forget every year.
He's still given up the right todemand worship.
It's a gift you and I give himbecause of what he gave us.
Can you imagine, as America willdo, coming to a birthday party

(22:52):
and inviting everybody thereexcept the person whose birthday
it is?
Can you imagine having abirthday party and giving
presents to everybody else whocomes, but not to the person
whose birthday it is?
We're gonna do that this week asa nation.
Are you gonna do it as a family?
Have you given your heart?
Will you worship him?
Is he the Lord and master ofyour life?

(23:14):
You think of all of thelawsuits?
I imagine if somebody whosebirthday was not invited to a
party, they'd probably sue allthe parties for emotional
distress.
But you think of all of thelawsuits of people who got what
they didn't deserve or whodidn't get what they thought
they deserved or who weretreated unfairly, and on down
the line it goes, and here is aperson who gave up his rights.

(23:36):
The right to live like God, theright to act like God, the right
to look like God, and the rightto be treated like God.
Why did Jesus Christ give up allof those rights?
I'll tell you why John 1.10tells us.
As many as received him, to themhe gave the right to be called

(24:01):
children of God.
Think of it.
Jesus Christ gave up all of hisrights so that he could give you
and I the right to be a child ofGod.
Ladies and gentlemen, of all ofthe rights that are claimed in
our society, that is one rightthat you'd better claim.

SPEAKER_00 (24:27):
Let's pray.

SPEAKER_01 (24:29):
Heavenly Father, we are grateful.
In fact, grateful is far toosmall a word for what you have
done for us.
We cannot even begin to discussor understand the incarnation.
God becoming a baby, Godbecoming flesh.

(24:50):
But we can understand, becauseyou've given it to us, the
motivation, it was to give usthe privilege of sin's
forgiveness, security eternallyof heaven, and a life that's
worth living.

(25:10):
My friend, if you have nevergiven Jesus Christ the gift of
worship, you've never given himyour heart, you've never bent
your knee to him, he's justsomebody that you know about,
that you talk about, and you'vecome to worship, and you've sort
of looked around and you'venoticed the faces of people, and

(25:31):
you've heard the singing, andyou've heard the message, and
perhaps you agree witheverything that's been said, but
you have never made it yours.
You've never said personallythat I want this baby who's
grown up, who was crucified, whodied, who was buried, who rose
again, who's coming back to bemy Savior.
You can do that now.

(25:53):
All you have to do is pray, asimple prayer, something like,
Lord Jesus, I recognize now whoyou are.
You are God come in the flesh,and you've come to die for me.
You've given up all of yourrights to give me the right to
be related to you.
And I want to claim that rightas mine.

(26:15):
I want to ask you to forgive mysin.
I want to thank you that you'veoffered me eternal life, and I
want to take it as my own.

SPEAKER_00 (26:27):
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for becoming my Savior.

SPEAKER_01 (26:34):
Our Father, for those here who know you, we have
come to remind ourselves thatyou are worthy of our adoration
and our love.
You have done so much for us wecannot understand or ever
comprehend the rights thatyou've given up for us.

SPEAKER_00 (26:55):
Although we thank you.
And we do in fact adore you.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.

SPEAKER_02 (27:13):
Thanks for joining us today on this Christmas Week
edition of Wisdom for the Heart.
Stephen's message today isentitled, Four Rights, Jesus
Gave Up.
And I hope it was a blessing toyou.
As you celebrate the coming ofJesus, don't lose sight of the
fact that he came because youneeded him to.

(27:34):
Before we go, I want to mentionthat we have a gift on our
website for anyone who wants it.
There's a free Christmas ebookcalled An Indescribable Gift.
Just go to wisdomonline.org andthere's a link that'll take you
right to the resource.
We hope this week is filled withjoy and gladness as you

(27:57):
celebrate Christmas.
We'll have a message tomorrow.
So join us at this same timeright here on Wisdom for the
Heart.