Christmas week invites us to slow down, reflect, and focus on the humility of Jesus Christ—but Jude 11 reminds us that not every spirit operating in religious spaces reflects His heart. In this episode, we examine Korah’s rebellion and contrast the pride that fuels spiritual rebellion with the humility displayed in the birth of Jesus. While false teachers exalt themselves, Christ laid aside glory to serve and save. This Christmas teaching exposes pride, celebrates humility, and calls believers to walk in the true spirit of Christ. Why Humility Is Part of the Beautiful Christmas Spirit, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.
This weeks call is:

Bow Low. Walk True.

This week: Choose the humility of Jesus over the pride that seeks position and recognition.

Remember this:The path down is the path God uses to lift lives up.

Join the Conversation

Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believers life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:

Question:

Question: Where does pride most often try to creep into your walk with God?

Share:

What does the humility of Jesus challenge you to change this Christmas season?

Remember:

The beauty of Christmas shines brightest when our hearts reflect the humility of Jesus.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 49 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 44 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes:

• Well again, welcome.
• Let’s pray.

Father God thank you that Jesus is Lord. Thank you for your great plan in sending Him to earth on our behalf so that we might be set right with you. And we thank you Lord Jesus for accepting your Father’s plan and all that it meant — you leaving heaven’s glory and coming to earth to be sacrificed for our sins. Oh my Lord Jesus, thank you. Thank you, thank you! We celebrate you.

Humility Versus Rebellion

Jude 11 (ESV) — 11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion.

• So, this is the third podcast on Jude 11 and it’s the sixth one on the entire book of Jude.
• In previous podcasts, we looked at verse eleven — looking at the ‘way of Cain’ and ‘Balaam’s error’ as it applies to the dangers of entertaining false prophets and teachers.
• But there is a third Old Testament reminder of what false believers are like still left to cover before we can close out this verse and that’s studying Korah’s rebellion.
• Masters of deception walk in the way of Cain, recklessly operate in Balaam’s error and function to their detriment in Korah’s rebellion.
• But this is the week that houses December 25th.
• Most families are centered on the spirit of Christmas and all that goes with the season.
• Who wants to hear about false prophets and teachers Christmas week?
• Well, if you love God and I know you do, you are glad to hear God’s Word any day or season of the year.
• With that, know that there is an element of these false teachers that is in stark contrast to the spirit of Christmas.
• The spirit of Christmas is the spirit of Jesus.
• The spirit of Jesus is a spirit of humility.
• The spirit of anti-Jesus is the spirit of pride.
• We must know that humility is part of the Jesus life.
• That humility was fully on display right at the start of His earth life.
• Can I tell you, there’s no finer example of humility than Jesus coming to Planet Earth as a baby born in a manger.
• So, let’s take a closer look at all these aspects we mentioned.

Korah’s Rebellion: A Lack of Humility

• Let’s start with Korah’s rebellion.
• Let’s start with his lack of humility and, with that thought, here is the Question of the Day.
• Here’s the question: Just who on God’s green earth was Korah?
• The story of Korah is located in the book of Numbers the sixteenth chapter.

Numbers 16:1a (ESV) — 1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben,…

• Korah was a Levite.
• As a Levite, Korah was responsible for transporting the sacred items of the Tabernacle.
• That brought him in close contact with the Ark of the Covenant.
• The Ark of the Covenant when set behind the curtain had the very Shekinah Glory of God on it.
• All of this Levitical activity was under the supervision of Aaron’s son Eleazar.
• So Korah’s job in God’s economy was huge, it was special, it was written about in the Word of God.
• None of that mattered to Korah, he was not happy with his job.
• God gave him this job and he was not happy.
• Korah had higher ungodly aspirations.
• He wanted the priesthood itself.
• Korah wanted to be high priest because of the power associated with that position.
• He was driven by jealousy.
• Resentment ate away at him because he thought he thought he had a low-life position.
• So clearly, he lacked understanding of the will of God.
• Certainly he did not value the importance of walking in God’s will.
• He acted like some people do today in the business world.
• You know how they are trying to claw their way to the top of the corporate ladder.

Korah’s Lack of Humility: An Overestimation

• With this resentment and the feeling like he had been cheated on his mind, Korah…

Numbers 16:1b-4 (ESV) — took men. 2 And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. 3 They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” 4 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face,

• He totally didn’t get it.
• Moses didn’t exalt himself — God exalted him.
• At the Red Sea, God told Moses stretch out your rod over the waters.
• Now, you must understand the scene.
• Here’s an eighty-year old plus man lifting a stick out in front of him as he is standing on the banks of the huge Nile River.
• And all of sudden, it splits open.
• Well, that ought to get your attention.
• God exalted Moses.
• Now, drop down to verse nine.

Numbers 16:9–10 (ESV) — 9 is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, 10 and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also?

• ‘Is it too small a thing’ — did you hear that.
• That phrase is all one word in the Hebrew and it means ‘too little.’
• Korah felt that his job, given to him by God, was too little, too menial for a man of his self-assumed stature.
• He had an over-inflated opinion of himself and his importance.
• We must all realize that the way to rise in God is opposite of the way the world works.
• ‘Up is down’ and, ‘the last is first’ in God’s economy.
• So if you want to rise in God, you have to go down in your estimation of yourself — realizing that every good thing you have came from Him.
• Your position in God is according to His will for your life.
• His will is always the best way.
• And with that thought, here is the Illustration of the Day.

When a major bridge is designed, the engineer produces a detailed blueprint long before a single beam is installed. Every load calculation, wind factor, temperature change, and stress point is accounted for in advance. The people driving across that bridge may not understand the math behind it—but their safety depends entirely on the designer’s plan being followed exactly.

Now imagine a construction crew deciding they don’t like the blueprint. They think one support column seems unnecessary, or that a different angle would look better. They might save time or effort in the short term—but the bridge becomes structurally unsound. It may stand for a while, but under pressure—traffic, weather, time—it will eventually fail.

The failure wouldn’t happen because the blueprint was flawed. It would happen because the blueprint was ignored.

God’s will works the same way. He sees the full load of your life—pressures you haven’t faced yet, decisions you haven’t had to make, and consequences you can’t foresee. His will isn’t restrictive; it’s engineered. When people step outside of it, things may seem fine for a season, but eventually the strain reveals the weakness.

• The will of God isn’t just morally right—it’s structurally sound.
• Now, if you think otherwise, that is nothing but nasty stinking pride.
• Korah thought his position as ‘being near to God’ was too little.
• Can you imagine that?
• Nothing in God is too little.

Lack of Humility: Just Like the Devil

• All of this grasping for position stuff sounds just like the devil, doesn’t it?

Isaiah 14:13 (ESV) — 13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;

• Satan thought his position was too little — he wanted more.
• He wanted the Throne of God.
• Satan wanted people to worship him.
• And so acts on that resentment just as Korah did and leads a rebellion against God.
• Well, that didn’t work out and neither did it work for Korah and his two-hundred-fifty men.

A Lack of Humility Leads to Both Perishing and Destruction

Proverbs 16:18 (ESV) — 18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

• Satan was destroyed and so was Korah.
• Pride goes before destruction — that’s such a well-known verse.
• Jude said this about Korah — he said he ‘perished in his rebellion.’
• Sounds like Proverbs — sounds like pride goes before destruction, doesn’t it?
• But, there is a subtle difference between these two words.
• The Hebrew word ‘destruction’ means to shatter or break into pieces.
• That’s really bad — to have a person’s situation shattered into pieces.
• Well, here is a man.
• He is driving down the highway when a small stone kicked up from the road and strikes his windshield.
• At first, it was only a tiny chip—barely noticeable.
• He ignores it and keeps driving.
• A few miles later, the temperature changes, the car hits a bump, and in an instant the entire windshield spider-webs and shatters across the glass.
• What seemed small and harmless suddenly broke what was meant to protect him.
• Now, I don’t know who this man is but I sure can relate to the damage done by a small stone striking a windshield.
• It happened to me twice in the span of a few years — it was very costly to replace.
• Pride goes before a shattering — that’s the point.
• Instances of pride cause the spider-webbing effect in people’s lives.
• If you’re operating in pride, you’re headed for a shattering.
• Now, Jude says that these false prophets, teachers perished in Korah’s rebellion.
• Isn’t that interesting that Jude uses, what sounds like ‘past tense.’
• Well, they couldn’t have perished yet, because these false believers were operating in the Church.
• I mean, they were alive and messing believers up.
• That’s why Jude was writing this letter in the first place — to warn the Church — to get their thinking right about these pretenders.
• Now, the tense that Jude uses here when he uses the word ‘perished’ is something peculiar to Greek as opposed to English.
• It is called the aorist tense and it doesn’t communicate the past, the present or the future.
• What it communicates is that ‘the event is happening but the result of the event is as if it’s already happened.’
• Using this tense, Jude is saying ‘Yes, these false people are operating now but they are as good as destroyed.’
• This tense illustrates how God sees the destiny of these false teachers — totally wiped out.
• Now, if your read what the story of Korah, you will see that this is exactly what happened to him — he and the 250 men who rebelled with him were totally wiped out.
• The earth opened up and swallowed them whole.
• What Jude is saying here to the Church is that these false prophets are indeed living but they are as good as swallowed up.
• False teachers, yesterday, today, and tomorrow, all face the same fate that Korah experienced.
• It is just the way it works.

The Christmas Spirit of Humility: The Opposite of Rebellion

• So again, what is the root of rebelling against spiritual authority?
• The root is pride.
• So, here we are during another Christmas season, and as we are here, note the contrast between Korah’s pride and the humility of Jesus.
• Note the way both operated where power and authority were concerned.
• Korah was prideful and self-assuming.
• Like the devil, he lusted after power and position.
• Jesus operated in an entirely different way — the right way — the God way.
• Jesus, as the only Son of God the Father, full of glory, fully omniscient, completely omnipresent, and totally omnipotent — left all of that power and position behind to be born a baby in a manger.
• A baby: uninformed as babies are, finite, and powerless.
• The scripture says that.

Luke 2:1–7 (ESV) — 1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

• Do you understand what I mean by uninformed?
• That’s what all babies are when they are born.
• The Word of God says it this way.

Luke 2:52 (ESV) — 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

• The Greek word ‘increased’ means to cut one’s way forward.
• It means to advance or to develop further.
• Do you see the contrast between Jesus and these false prophets who operate like Korah?
• It’s absolutely night and day.
• Jesus who was all-knowing took on human form.

Philippians 2:5–8 (ESV) — 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

• Jesus humbled Himself.
• God the Father didn’t do it — Jesus did it himself and with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
• The Greek word ‘humbled’ means to be lowly, and to be willing to stoop to any measure that is needed.
• A humble person is usually one who is base, ignoble, of low birth, servile, working at a humble occupation and, held in low esteem.
• The word can even refer to lowliness of heart.¹
• Jesus humbled Himself for your good.
• He was lowly at heart.
• These false prophets that emulated Korah exalted themselves only for their good.
• Jesus had you on His mind when he came to Planet Earth — the Korah type false prophets only have themselves on their mind.
• Jesus took a ‘Grand Canyon’ step down from glory — He stooped to the measure that His Father deemed was necessary to secure your salvation and mine.

The Humility Jesus Exhibited Via His Birth

• Read the Christmas story in detail.
• Understand the enormous humility that Jesus operated in.

Philippians 2:3 (ESV) — 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

• Here in verse three, Paul admonishes the Church to walk in humility towards others using Jesus as the supreme example.
• ‘Counting others as more significant than yourself’ is one expression of humility.
• And with that thought, here is the Quote of the Day.
• This quote is from an American Rabbi named Joseph Telushkin. * He wrote a book entitled ‘The Book of Jewish Values.’
• Here’s the quote.

“Our blood is not ‘redder’ than others.”

“For example, those who push ahead of others on lines are likewise guilty of thinking that their blood is redder than others and that they need not wait their turn. Therefore, before you push your own interests at the expense of others, and assert that your time is more valuable, ask yourself this question: ‘Do you think that your blood is redder than his?’”²

• In humility, esteem others more significant than yourselves.
• Never flip this around and think your blood is redder than others.
• Let’s move on to verse of Philippians two.

Philippians 2:4–6 (ESV) — 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

• The Greek word ‘form’ means the expression of something that reflects or manifests fully and truly (and permanently) the essence of what something is.
• It means ‘outward appearance’ or shape.
• Jesus was truly and fully God in His Shekinah Glory outward appearance.
• When Jesus came to earth, He had to lay aside, His Shekinah Glory outward appearance.
• That’s the Christmas story of humility.
• Notice the next part.

…though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped…

• So, the words ‘form of God, and ‘equality with God’ are equivalent.
• The word ‘equality’ means ‘to be.’
• So we could translate this segment as ‘though he was outward appearance God, Jesus did not count being God a thing to be grasped…
• Jesus had the same stuff as God the Father: He was equal with God.
• He was God.
• In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
• But even though Jesus was God and the outward appearance of God, verse seven says…

Philippians 2:7 (ESV) — 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

• Jesus emptied Himself.
• The Greek word ‘emptied’ means to cause to lose power or to divest oneself of position.³
• How did He do that?
• The mechanics of it we don’t know but the outcome of it we do know.
• The outcome was he took the ‘form of a servant.’
• The Greek word ‘form’ here is the same word used in the previous verse:
• Jesus was in the form or the outward appearance of God.
• He took upon himself the outward appearance of a servant.
• The Greek word servant means a ‘slave.’

Philippians 2:8 (ESV) — 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

• He took on human form.
• He became obedient to the point of death.
• That’s what we needed.
• A man was responsible for the human entering into sin and it was a man that was responsible for getting us out.
• That’s the gospel — that’s the Christmas story.
• Jesus gave the human race what it needed.
• If man’s greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist; If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist; If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer; But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.⁴

Putting Humility Into Practice

• So how do I put this Word of God that we heard today into operation?
• Examine whether you are content with God’s assignment—or quietly resenting it.
• Practice humility by honoring others above yourself this Christmas season.
• Resist spiritual pride by remembering that everything you have is a gift from God.
• Let Jesus’ humility shape how you respond to authority, service, and calling.
• As you celebrate Christmas this year, pause and reflect on the humility of Jesus.
• Let His example reshape how you serve, how you lead, and how you relate to others.
• If this episode helped you, share it with someone who needs a reminder that humility—not pride—is Jesus way.
• From our family to yours, may the peace of Jesus fill your heart, the humility of Jesus guide your steps, and the joy of salvation define your Christmas season.
• Merry Christmas!
• Why Humility Is Part of the Beautiful Christmas Spirit.
• You guys have a great God-week in Jesus’ Name and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

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