The Humble God

There are many amazing things about the God of the Bible.

One striking characteristic is humility. God is humble—extremely humble. I don’t mean God has feelings of inferiority or God is low in rank. I mean God is not the least bit proud or arrogant. God doesn’t think, “I’m too good for them” or “they are beneath me.” God willingly and happily descends to the lowest people in society. God is the Most High who becomes the Most Low.

Isaiah

Consider Isaiah’s words:

For this is what the high and exalted One says—
he who lives forever, whose name is holy:
“I live in a high and holy place,
but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and to revive the heart of the contrite. (57:15)

The exalted King dwells with the “lowly in spirit.” Later, Isaiah says he shows favor to the “humble and contrite in spirit” (66:2).

Jesus

Christians see divine humility most clearly in the life of Jesus, who is “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). Jesus said, “I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matt 11:29) and he demonstrated his humility by his life and death. John 13 says,

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (vv. 3-5)

What kind of God wraps a towel around his waist and washes dirty feet?

And he continues his descent all the way down to death on a cross. Paul writes:

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross! (Phil 2:5-8)

What kind of God allows himself to be stripped, mocked, spit on, flogged, and crucified by the people he created? Crucifixion is one of the most cruel and painful forms of execution ever conceived. In discussing the rights of Roman citizens, Cicero (106-43 BC) mentions the shame of crucifixion:

Wretched is the loss of one’s good name in the public courts, wretched, too, a monetary fine exacted from one’s property, and wretched is exile, but, still, in each calamity there is retained some trace of liberty. Even if death is set before us, we may die in freedom. But the executioner, the veiling of heads, and the very word “cross,” let them all be far removed from not only the bodies of Roman citizens but even from their thoughts, their eyes, and their ears. (Rabirius, 5.16)

And Seneca (about 4 BC-65 AD) highlights the physical pain of crucifixion:

Is there such a thing as a person who would actually prefer wasting away in pain on a cross—dying limb by limb one drop of blood at a time—rather than dying quickly? Would any human being willingly choose to be fastened to that cursed tree, especially after the beating that left him deathly weak, deformed, swelling with vicious welts on shoulders and chest, and struggling to draw every last, agonizing breath? Anyone facing such a death would plead to die rather than mount the cross.” (Moral Letters, 101.14)

How could God lower himself this much? This astonishing descent can only come from the burning flames of love.

Application

Since God is humble, we can only reach him by lowering ourselves. Hence, the Christian life begins with humility—a cry for help. In the words of the prophet Joel quoted by Paul, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32; Rom 10:13). And it continues with a life of humility because in calling him Lord we are acknowledging his authority over us.

James tells his readers that their fighting, coveting, and selfish prayers show that they are “adulterous people.” They are friends with the prideful world instead of friends with the humble God. Then he quotes this proverb: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (4:6) before advising, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (v. 10).

Likewise, Peter writes, “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another” then adds, “because God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (1 Pet 5:5). To be humble doesn’t mean to continually walk around feeling bad about ourselves. “Godly sorrow” is a part of humility, but the primary idea is to be considerate of others. Notice the target of this humility: “clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.” Peter continues, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (vv. 6-7). Humble people are considerate of others and continually call out to God for help.

Strikingly, both James and Peter are writing to believers, which shows that even after turning to our humble Lord we can stray into prideful paths.

We will never find the true God by elevating ourselves because “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” God is constantly stooping down to show us favor, but we are often too high and mighty for the humble God.