Philippians 2:9-11
The Exaltation of Jesus Christ
In life, things lose their luster. Children get excited over new toys at Christmas, and then before the New Year they’ve lost interest. Clothing quickly goes out of style. Software and electronics quickly become out-dated and the newest devices are demanded. New friends can become old friends. Spouses who were once eagerly pursued now wonder where the romance went. We lose interest. Things become old hat. We get used to things and become indifferent, or, complacent, or unmoved by things that used to energize us.
I would say this can happen to Christians too. The shine / gleam / energy / fascination / eagerness / awe / of beaming forth from one’s newfound faith can often dull, flatten, deflate, and come to a slow shuffle. Where is the once passionate pursuit of the Lord and His delights? How far adrift have your affections gone away from him? What once heated flame in your heart has been dwindled to an unnoticed simmer?
If we let it, life can rob us of our focus and zeal for the Lord. Our eyes can fall from that high and admirable place that holds our Savior. A.W. Tozer said, “The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshipping men. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God.” In other words, our worship is only as high in quality as the height at which we view God. How high is our worship? How high is yours? The real question is how high is your God? Is your concept lofty, or low of God? Is Christ mighty and awesome in the eye of your heart, or, is he small and unable?
I think Paul and the New Testament writers knew that we can lose that high view. I think they that when they wrote passages like these it was for any Christian whose thoughts have fallen from that heavenly height where our Lord is seated. Where once our sight was so vertical - in the living of life, sometimes our sights fall to the earth and become horizontal. We miss the splendor of His holiness, the Majesty of His Power, the Glory, the beaming radiance of the God of Lights who holds all the stars and all the creation in it’s place while he sits enthroned above all. His thoughts are higher than ours, His ways are higher than ours, because He is higher than us.
So we read in Scripture wonderful exhortations like Paul’s words in Colossians when he says, “…set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” And again the writer of Hebrews points us upward when he says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Fix our eyes. This is a deliberate act of centering our attention on Jesus Christ. He is the center of our attention. He is the center of our attention. Fix our eyes on Him. “My eyes are ever on the Lord” the Psalmist said. Always I am fixated on Christ Jesus. These exhortations come because we naturally lose steam and drop our eyes from the lofty place where Christ sits. We think, or, at least we may act, as if the Lord has lost His luster. But He hasn’t, it is our sight that becomes dimmed by our worldly distractions.
Now, as we come to Philippians this morning, we see that Paul adds to the voices that lift us upward to things above. He says in chapter 3 verse 14, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Paul presses on and upward, heavenward, towards the things above. He has taken all that he is and aimed it towards that which God called him heavenward. A little further down he says, “their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is iin heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…” He contrasts two kinds of people in this passage: those who live with their minds focused on earthly things, and those who live with their minds focused on heavenly things. Those whose minds are on Christ live looking up.
Focus; set your heart and mind; fix your eyes; zero in on Jesus Christ.
But as we arrive to our passage this morning, we see Paul giving arguably some of the greatest verses describing Jesus Christ. Paul directs the Philippians thoughts to that exalted and lifted station of our Lord. The reason I don’t worry about claims from certain presumptuous archeologists that they’ve found Jesus’ body is because His body isn’t here! His body is unreachable by the hands of man. His body according to NT has been raised from the grave in the ground to the highest heights above the heavens. No man can go there. But Jesus is there.
I think anyone whose eyes and heart are captured by this passage will find a recovered vision of Christ Jesus that is worthy of Him. You’ll remember Paul said in chapter 1 verse 27 to conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Ever since that verse he has been explaining to them how to do that, and, even now in chapter 2 verses 9-11 he is continuing his instructions. In this wonderful Christology given by Paul is the very practical, very applicable and very ready to use in every day life teachings for Christians. The right view of Christ is the one described here and that is the only worthy view that will create and sustain worthy conduct.
Please take your Bibles, if you will, and turn with me to Philippians chapter 2. We‘re going to read verses 5-11.
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but, made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! [And now our focus text] Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Today there are two truths about what Jesus is that I want to share: He is Above all, and He is going to be Acknowledged by all.
First of all, Jesus Christ is Above all. Look at verse 9. “Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.”
“Therefore,” Paul says, God exalted Jesus Christ. The word for exalted means to “super-exalt”. God the Father super-exalted Jesus Christ. He exalted Jesus to the highest place of rank and power, and to the place of supreme majesty. He has been lifted beyond all measure. You would be more successful to count the grains of sand on the beach than to measure how high Christ has been exalted. You would be better to measure the light years from each end of the universe and still not find a fraction of the distance to which Christ has been exalted above all others.
One of the things you do when you study the Bible is to find out other places where a word is used. The context of those other places helps you to have a fuller understanding of the word’s meaning. But, it is interesting to note that this word for “exalted” is used nowhere else in the Bible. It’s not used in any other place in Scripture except right here - and it is used to describe how the God the Father super-exalted Jesus Christ.
There are two reasons for this: the power and the permanence of the act.
First, to super exalt Jesus Christ it requires someone who has the power to do it. If Jesus Christ is going to be lifted up “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given” as Paul says to the Ephesians, then it requires a power already greater than all these. God the Father is the One who is supremely and eminently greater in power than all these and in that power He is able to lift Christ up above. Secondly, God the Father’s act of super-exalting Jesus is permanent. It cannot be undone. The power of God that lifted Jesus up is the power that will keep Him up. He was super-exalted once for all time. Now that He is exalted, no one can undo what God has done, for when God acts, who can reverse it? There is no other person in history, no other instance in history, and no other power in history for someone to be super-exalted like Jesus was. In other words, God only super-exalted one person one time and that’s how it will stay.
When Paul says Jesus Christ has been exalted above all, there are two ways God has done this: First, Jesus’ place is above all, and second, His name is above all.
1) First, the place Jesus was exalted to is the place of power and authority (Math. 28:18). There is no higher place of power and rule then the place at which Jesus is seated. That place is at the right hand of God the Father on the throne above the heavens. (Mth 26; Mk 16; Acts 2:33; 5:31; Eph 1:20; Col 3:1; Heb 1:3,4; 10:?; 12:2; 1 Pet 3:22).
Whenever speaks of His right hand in Scripture he is speaking of His power. Exodus 15 says, “Your right hand, O Lord was majestic in power. Your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy … you stretched out your right hand and the earth swallowed them.” In Psalm 17 God saves by His right hand, “Show the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand.” In Psalm 18, “You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me.” Psalm 45 says, “Let your right hand display awesome deeds.” And in Psalm 98 “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” And in Psalm 118, “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things! The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” In Isaiah 41, “Do not fear … I will strengthen you and help you and uphold you with my righteous right hand.” And again in chapter 45, “My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens”
God’s right hand symbolizes his mighty power and strength and righteousness. With his mighty right hand he gives salvation and delivers those who trust in Him. He upholds those who are feeble; He sustains those who are weary; He helps those who fearful; the right hand of God is from which His strength and righteous salvation come for those who look to Him.
The first way God exalted Jesus was to exalt him to above every other position.
2) The second way God exalted Jesus is to give him the name above every name. When Jesus was lifted up, He also received a name.
We name our kids today either after a relative or friend, or, we try to find a unique name that we like. But, in the Bible someone’s name defined their character as a person. Nowadays we tend to “make a name for ourselves” in that our reputation gets attached to our name. If you’ve ever tried to agree on a name for a child with your spouse, you know what I mean. Let’s name the boy “Justin” I say, and she says, “Oh no! I knew a Justin and couldn’t stand him.“ Or she suggests the name “Allen”, and you say, “Oh no! I couldn’t stand an Allen I knew when I grew up.“ We don’t want to be reminded of the reputation of those people by hearing their name. Names convey the character and reputation of the person.
So it is in the Bible. Adam named his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all mankind. God named Abram Abraham because he would be the father of many. Abraham’s grandson Jacob received the name, “Israel” from God, because he struggled with God. Israel means, “he struggles with God.” And in the gospels we see a young fisherman named Simon receive the name Peter from Jesus, which means rock. Even Paul, the writer to the Philippians was originally named Saul.
Now Jesus has had many names. And His names throughout the Scriptures represent who He is:
In Genesis He is called the seed of the woman
In Psalms He is the Anointed and the Most Mighty
Isaiah calls Him the Root of Jesse and Immanuel. And again He is called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Light Everlasting, the Witness, the Servant
In Daniel He is Messiah the Prince
In Malachi He is the Sun of Righteousness
Matthew’s gospel calls Him the King and the Son of Man
John’s gospel calls Him the Word of God, the Lamb of God, the Bread of Life, The True Vine, The Light of the World, the Son of God, the Way, the Truth, the Life, the I AM.
Peter calls Him the Chief Shepherd and the Overseer of our souls
In the book of Hebrews He is called the image of God, the Great High Priest
Paul calls Him the image of the invisible God, and God our Savior
In Revelation He is called the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, the Faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and the Amen
And it is the name of the risen and living Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ that is above every name, every title, every authority, every position, every power, every principality, every ruler and every dominion. My question to you is: Is this your Jesus?
Is this your Jesus? The name Jesus has received by God the Father is the only name you can be saved by. Acts 4:12 says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” There is no other name. Only the name of Jesus has been given to us so that we can be saved. There is no other name, and there is no other Jesus than the One that the Bible describes. Don’t turn to someone else or you’ll remain in your sins. Don’t believe in another Jesus than what the Bible describes. And certainly don’t believe in yourself. All have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God. All. Every single one of us. Only the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is the name that you can and must be saved by for your salvation to be real. Anything else is a fraud and counterfeit and no salvation at all.
And that is why His name is hated. The name of Jesus Christ evokes love or hatred. There is no in between, there is no “tolerance” of Jesus. To the saved, “Jesus” is the sweet aroma to our hearts that stirs up our love and adoration. To the lost and perishing, the name Jesus evokes agitation, anger and hatred. Don’t be fooled. Anyone who rejects Jesus but has a benevolent attitude towards Him has not heard who He really is. I knew a man who was kinder than kind could be. He was a part of Scientology. He always wanted to help people. He always talked so kindly of Jesus and was open to discuss. But, when I told him what the Bible says, “It is appointed for every man to die once and then face judgment”, and again somewhere else, “we must all give an account to God for the things done in the flesh”, and that Scientology was not going to save Him from God’s judgment and that only Jesus Christ could, he became angry! He snarled at me and said, “I’m not accountable to no God!” Hatred. You know why? It’s because the Bible says in the unbeliever’s heart, they hate God and regard Him as their enemy. And if you’re here today, and you do not believe in God’s only Son, that is true for you. You hate God and you hate the name of His Son. The reason is because Jesus Christ is the ONLY way and a “tolerant” generation is adamantly intolerant of such a claim as Jesus Christ being the only way.
But the truth is, Jesus Christ has received a position and a name that is above all. Jesus Christ is above all.
How do you say Jesus’ name?
Secondly, Jesus is going to be Acknowledged by all. Read verses 10 and 11 with me, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
Isaiah 45:23; Psalm 95:6; Romans 14:11,12; Eph 1:10; Mth 28:18; Dan 2:44; 7:14, 27; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Romans 10:9-13; Matthew 10:32,33; Rev. 4:10,11; 5:13,14
Verse 9 describes what God the Father has already done whereas verses 10 and 11 describe what is yet to come. There was a day when God lifted Jesus from the grave and back to life. We celebrate that day on Easter every year. And 40 days later there is a day the Lord ascended from the earth to the highest place at the Fathers right hand on the throne. But, there is another day coming. What is yet to come in that day? Universal submission to the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:24-25). Universal means everyone from all time and not just of mankind. Every intelligent moral creature that has been will be brought into submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Everyone in heaven indicates all those good angels and those redeemed from mankind from all the ages. Everyone on earth is both the redeemed and unredeemed of mankind. And everyone under the earth indicates the fallen angels and unredeemed men who are held until the final judgment. Everyone from everywhere from every time period and from every realm will be brought under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. A man might slight the IRS and skip paying taxes. But, no one will be slight Jesus of the homage due Him. Universal submission.
We see here too that this is a two-fold submission: Every knee will bow, and, every tongue confess.
1) In the Bible, the act of bowing is to recognize the dignity and authority of the other person. It is a form of respect, but, more so it is a sign of submission and worship. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the book of Daniel were thrown into the furnace for not bowing down and worshiping the golden statue erected by King Nebuchadnezzar. In Acts 10 Cornelius falls to his knees in reverence before the apostle Peter and Peter tells him to get up because he is only a man. Cornelius’s display of reverence and submission was to fall to his knees. In Mark 5 a man who was possessed by 2000 demons “saw Jesus from a distance, and ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!‘” Do you see it? Fallen angels and unredeemed man falling to their knees in submission and confessing the name of Jesus. The automatic, involuntary, unstoppable response of creation to the revealed Almighty Creator is to fall down in submission. Moses, Gideon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Peter, Saul, John all fell on their faces when the Lord of Glory came and unveiled Himself to them.
I like what J.D. Pentecost says about verses 10 and 11 in our passage this morning: Here is an amazing revelation that, because of the exaltation of Jesus Christ, even the fallen, unredeemed angels, and unredeemed, sinful men, who are under eternal condemnation, will have to bow before the display of the majesty of the Son of God and acknowledge that the One they despised and rejected is in truth the exalted Son of God. While in their state of separation and condemnation they cannot believe to the salvation of their souls, throughout the unending ages of eternity, even hell itself will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and acknowledge that the despised and rejected One whom they delighted to put to the cross was in truth the absolute Sovereign of the universe. And God will not leave one single created intelligent being who does not admit to the superior worth of Jesus Christ. Things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth will bow the knee in reverence and respect and awe at the majesty of the exalted person of Jesus Christ.
2) This leads us into the second way Jesus will be acknowledged: Confession. In the Greek, the word for confess means to openly speak the same thing, or, to say the same thing. What Paul is saying is that every one will speak the same thing regarding who Jesus Christ is: that He is the risen Son of God who is Lord over all. Now that is certainly not the case now, is it? In our world there is widespread dis - agreement over who Jesus is.
Many see him as a good man who taught good things and tried to help people. Equality Ride, which is a homosexual rights advocacy group believes Jesus taught social justice, and that homosexuality is not a sin, but a social right to be protected. Islam sees him as a prophet, and certainly not the Son of God as the Bible claims. Christ Community Church in Spring Lake here teaches that Jesus was a just a man who attained Christ-consciousness - meaning he realized and achieved a higher divine consciousness that was within himself and every human being. We all can awaken the divine Christ consciousness within us if we try hard enough. Mormons believe Jesus was a man who became one of many gods and showed us the way to become gods ourselves.
None of these are at all compatible with the Biblical teaching on who Jesus Christ is. There is no room for error on this. Jesus Christ is the God of all eternity who entered into the world as a man, while remaining fully God in every way as He always has been, and became a servant to die on a cross for the sins of the world. He wasn’t a good man - He was the God-Man. He wasn’t a prophet - He was the God who sent the prophets. He wasn’t a good moral teacher - He is the morally righteous God from whom anything that is morally righteous is so because of Him. He didn’t achieve a higher state of divine consciousness - He achieved atonement for sins on the cross at Calvary. He did not become a God - He is and has always been and always will be the One and Only true Creator God from all eternity. There is none like Him. There is none besides Him. There will never ever ever be another. He is it - He is all. All things are from Him, through Him and to Him. And He will be glorified!
Conclusion:
People say there are only 2 things for certain in this world: death and taxes. The Bible says there are 3: death, taxes, and a day yet to come. In that day, God has decreed that every knee will bow to His Son and every creature will say with their mouths, “Jesus Christ is Lord”. Three things are for certain. Three. And in that day, there will be 2 kinds of people: those who acknowledge Him willingly in adoration, and those who acknowledge Him in shame and terror having rejected Him every day before. Which kind will you be? If you confess for the first time on that day it won’t be for salvation, but, instead it will be for shame.
Romans 10:9 says that right now - right now, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead then you will be saved.” You will. You will go into that future day knowing the Lord and Him knowing you, and you will bow and confess Him in joy because of the salvation He has given you. If, however, you refuse Him. If you think He is among many ways to God. If you think that He will accept your attempts to be good enough. If you think there is any other way than through surrendering yourself to Him in faith and trusting that His death on the cross paid for your sins, then I hope to shatter that illusion and that false hope today. There is only One hope, and that is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
The Exaltation of Jesus Christ
In life, things lose their luster. Children get excited over new toys at Christmas, and then before the New Year they’ve lost interest. Clothing quickly goes out of style. Software and electronics quickly become out-dated and the newest devices are demanded. New friends can become old friends. Spouses who were once eagerly pursued now wonder where the romance went. We lose interest. Things become old hat. We get used to things and become indifferent, or, complacent, or unmoved by things that used to energize us.
I would say this can happen to Christians too. The shine / gleam / energy / fascination / eagerness / awe / of beaming forth from one’s newfound faith can often dull, flatten, deflate, and come to a slow shuffle. Where is the once passionate pursuit of the Lord and His delights? How far adrift have your affections gone away from him? What once heated flame in your heart has been dwindled to an unnoticed simmer?
If we let it, life can rob us of our focus and zeal for the Lord. Our eyes can fall from that high and admirable place that holds our Savior. A.W. Tozer said, “The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshipping men. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God.” In other words, our worship is only as high in quality as the height at which we view God. How high is our worship? How high is yours? The real question is how high is your God? Is your concept lofty, or low of God? Is Christ mighty and awesome in the eye of your heart, or, is he small and unable?
I think Paul and the New Testament writers knew that we can lose that high view. I think they that when they wrote passages like these it was for any Christian whose thoughts have fallen from that heavenly height where our Lord is seated. Where once our sight was so vertical - in the living of life, sometimes our sights fall to the earth and become horizontal. We miss the splendor of His holiness, the Majesty of His Power, the Glory, the beaming radiance of the God of Lights who holds all the stars and all the creation in it’s place while he sits enthroned above all. His thoughts are higher than ours, His ways are higher than ours, because He is higher than us.
So we read in Scripture wonderful exhortations like Paul’s words in Colossians when he says, “…set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” And again the writer of Hebrews points us upward when he says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Fix our eyes. This is a deliberate act of centering our attention on Jesus Christ. He is the center of our attention. He is the center of our attention. Fix our eyes on Him. “My eyes are ever on the Lord” the Psalmist said. Always I am fixated on Christ Jesus. These exhortations come because we naturally lose steam and drop our eyes from the lofty place where Christ sits. We think, or, at least we may act, as if the Lord has lost His luster. But He hasn’t, it is our sight that becomes dimmed by our worldly distractions.
Now, as we come to Philippians this morning, we see that Paul adds to the voices that lift us upward to things above. He says in chapter 3 verse 14, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Paul presses on and upward, heavenward, towards the things above. He has taken all that he is and aimed it towards that which God called him heavenward. A little further down he says, “their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is iin heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…” He contrasts two kinds of people in this passage: those who live with their minds focused on earthly things, and those who live with their minds focused on heavenly things. Those whose minds are on Christ live looking up.
Focus; set your heart and mind; fix your eyes; zero in on Jesus Christ.
But as we arrive to our passage this morning, we see Paul giving arguably some of the greatest verses describing Jesus Christ. Paul directs the Philippians thoughts to that exalted and lifted station of our Lord. The reason I don’t worry about claims from certain presumptuous archeologists that they’ve found Jesus’ body is because His body isn’t here! His body is unreachable by the hands of man. His body according to NT has been raised from the grave in the ground to the highest heights above the heavens. No man can go there. But Jesus is there.
I think anyone whose eyes and heart are captured by this passage will find a recovered vision of Christ Jesus that is worthy of Him. You’ll remember Paul said in chapter 1 verse 27 to conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Ever since that verse he has been explaining to them how to do that, and, even now in chapter 2 verses 9-11 he is continuing his instructions. In this wonderful Christology given by Paul is the very practical, very applicable and very ready to use in every day life teachings for Christians. The right view of Christ is the one described here and that is the only worthy view that will create and sustain worthy conduct.
Please take your Bibles, if you will, and turn with me to Philippians chapter 2. We‘re going to read verses 5-11.
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but, made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! [And now our focus text] Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Today there are two truths about what Jesus is that I want to share: He is Above all, and He is going to be Acknowledged by all.
First of all, Jesus Christ is Above all. Look at verse 9. “Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.”
“Therefore,” Paul says, God exalted Jesus Christ. The word for exalted means to “super-exalt”. God the Father super-exalted Jesus Christ. He exalted Jesus to the highest place of rank and power, and to the place of supreme majesty. He has been lifted beyond all measure. You would be more successful to count the grains of sand on the beach than to measure how high Christ has been exalted. You would be better to measure the light years from each end of the universe and still not find a fraction of the distance to which Christ has been exalted above all others.
One of the things you do when you study the Bible is to find out other places where a word is used. The context of those other places helps you to have a fuller understanding of the word’s meaning. But, it is interesting to note that this word for “exalted” is used nowhere else in the Bible. It’s not used in any other place in Scripture except right here - and it is used to describe how the God the Father super-exalted Jesus Christ.
There are two reasons for this: the power and the permanence of the act.
First, to super exalt Jesus Christ it requires someone who has the power to do it. If Jesus Christ is going to be lifted up “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given” as Paul says to the Ephesians, then it requires a power already greater than all these. God the Father is the One who is supremely and eminently greater in power than all these and in that power He is able to lift Christ up above. Secondly, God the Father’s act of super-exalting Jesus is permanent. It cannot be undone. The power of God that lifted Jesus up is the power that will keep Him up. He was super-exalted once for all time. Now that He is exalted, no one can undo what God has done, for when God acts, who can reverse it? There is no other person in history, no other instance in history, and no other power in history for someone to be super-exalted like Jesus was. In other words, God only super-exalted one person one time and that’s how it will stay.
When Paul says Jesus Christ has been exalted above all, there are two ways God has done this: First, Jesus’ place is above all, and second, His name is above all.
1) First, the place Jesus was exalted to is the place of power and authority (Math. 28:18). There is no higher place of power and rule then the place at which Jesus is seated. That place is at the right hand of God the Father on the throne above the heavens. (Mth 26; Mk 16; Acts 2:33; 5:31; Eph 1:20; Col 3:1; Heb 1:3,4; 10:?; 12:2; 1 Pet 3:22).
Whenever speaks of His right hand in Scripture he is speaking of His power. Exodus 15 says, “Your right hand, O Lord was majestic in power. Your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy … you stretched out your right hand and the earth swallowed them.” In Psalm 17 God saves by His right hand, “Show the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand.” In Psalm 18, “You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me.” Psalm 45 says, “Let your right hand display awesome deeds.” And in Psalm 98 “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” And in Psalm 118, “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things! The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” In Isaiah 41, “Do not fear … I will strengthen you and help you and uphold you with my righteous right hand.” And again in chapter 45, “My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens”
God’s right hand symbolizes his mighty power and strength and righteousness. With his mighty right hand he gives salvation and delivers those who trust in Him. He upholds those who are feeble; He sustains those who are weary; He helps those who fearful; the right hand of God is from which His strength and righteous salvation come for those who look to Him.
The first way God exalted Jesus was to exalt him to above every other position.
2) The second way God exalted Jesus is to give him the name above every name. When Jesus was lifted up, He also received a name.
We name our kids today either after a relative or friend, or, we try to find a unique name that we like. But, in the Bible someone’s name defined their character as a person. Nowadays we tend to “make a name for ourselves” in that our reputation gets attached to our name. If you’ve ever tried to agree on a name for a child with your spouse, you know what I mean. Let’s name the boy “Justin” I say, and she says, “Oh no! I knew a Justin and couldn’t stand him.“ Or she suggests the name “Allen”, and you say, “Oh no! I couldn’t stand an Allen I knew when I grew up.“ We don’t want to be reminded of the reputation of those people by hearing their name. Names convey the character and reputation of the person.
So it is in the Bible. Adam named his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all mankind. God named Abram Abraham because he would be the father of many. Abraham’s grandson Jacob received the name, “Israel” from God, because he struggled with God. Israel means, “he struggles with God.” And in the gospels we see a young fisherman named Simon receive the name Peter from Jesus, which means rock. Even Paul, the writer to the Philippians was originally named Saul.
Now Jesus has had many names. And His names throughout the Scriptures represent who He is:
In Genesis He is called the seed of the woman
In Psalms He is the Anointed and the Most Mighty
Isaiah calls Him the Root of Jesse and Immanuel. And again He is called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Light Everlasting, the Witness, the Servant
In Daniel He is Messiah the Prince
In Malachi He is the Sun of Righteousness
Matthew’s gospel calls Him the King and the Son of Man
John’s gospel calls Him the Word of God, the Lamb of God, the Bread of Life, The True Vine, The Light of the World, the Son of God, the Way, the Truth, the Life, the I AM.
Peter calls Him the Chief Shepherd and the Overseer of our souls
In the book of Hebrews He is called the image of God, the Great High Priest
Paul calls Him the image of the invisible God, and God our Savior
In Revelation He is called the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, the Faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and the Amen
And it is the name of the risen and living Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ that is above every name, every title, every authority, every position, every power, every principality, every ruler and every dominion. My question to you is: Is this your Jesus?
Is this your Jesus? The name Jesus has received by God the Father is the only name you can be saved by. Acts 4:12 says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” There is no other name. Only the name of Jesus has been given to us so that we can be saved. There is no other name, and there is no other Jesus than the One that the Bible describes. Don’t turn to someone else or you’ll remain in your sins. Don’t believe in another Jesus than what the Bible describes. And certainly don’t believe in yourself. All have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God. All. Every single one of us. Only the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is the name that you can and must be saved by for your salvation to be real. Anything else is a fraud and counterfeit and no salvation at all.
And that is why His name is hated. The name of Jesus Christ evokes love or hatred. There is no in between, there is no “tolerance” of Jesus. To the saved, “Jesus” is the sweet aroma to our hearts that stirs up our love and adoration. To the lost and perishing, the name Jesus evokes agitation, anger and hatred. Don’t be fooled. Anyone who rejects Jesus but has a benevolent attitude towards Him has not heard who He really is. I knew a man who was kinder than kind could be. He was a part of Scientology. He always wanted to help people. He always talked so kindly of Jesus and was open to discuss. But, when I told him what the Bible says, “It is appointed for every man to die once and then face judgment”, and again somewhere else, “we must all give an account to God for the things done in the flesh”, and that Scientology was not going to save Him from God’s judgment and that only Jesus Christ could, he became angry! He snarled at me and said, “I’m not accountable to no God!” Hatred. You know why? It’s because the Bible says in the unbeliever’s heart, they hate God and regard Him as their enemy. And if you’re here today, and you do not believe in God’s only Son, that is true for you. You hate God and you hate the name of His Son. The reason is because Jesus Christ is the ONLY way and a “tolerant” generation is adamantly intolerant of such a claim as Jesus Christ being the only way.
But the truth is, Jesus Christ has received a position and a name that is above all. Jesus Christ is above all.
How do you say Jesus’ name?
Secondly, Jesus is going to be Acknowledged by all. Read verses 10 and 11 with me, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
Isaiah 45:23; Psalm 95:6; Romans 14:11,12; Eph 1:10; Mth 28:18; Dan 2:44; 7:14, 27; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Romans 10:9-13; Matthew 10:32,33; Rev. 4:10,11; 5:13,14
Verse 9 describes what God the Father has already done whereas verses 10 and 11 describe what is yet to come. There was a day when God lifted Jesus from the grave and back to life. We celebrate that day on Easter every year. And 40 days later there is a day the Lord ascended from the earth to the highest place at the Fathers right hand on the throne. But, there is another day coming. What is yet to come in that day? Universal submission to the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:24-25). Universal means everyone from all time and not just of mankind. Every intelligent moral creature that has been will be brought into submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Everyone in heaven indicates all those good angels and those redeemed from mankind from all the ages. Everyone on earth is both the redeemed and unredeemed of mankind. And everyone under the earth indicates the fallen angels and unredeemed men who are held until the final judgment. Everyone from everywhere from every time period and from every realm will be brought under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. A man might slight the IRS and skip paying taxes. But, no one will be slight Jesus of the homage due Him. Universal submission.
We see here too that this is a two-fold submission: Every knee will bow, and, every tongue confess.
1) In the Bible, the act of bowing is to recognize the dignity and authority of the other person. It is a form of respect, but, more so it is a sign of submission and worship. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the book of Daniel were thrown into the furnace for not bowing down and worshiping the golden statue erected by King Nebuchadnezzar. In Acts 10 Cornelius falls to his knees in reverence before the apostle Peter and Peter tells him to get up because he is only a man. Cornelius’s display of reverence and submission was to fall to his knees. In Mark 5 a man who was possessed by 2000 demons “saw Jesus from a distance, and ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!‘” Do you see it? Fallen angels and unredeemed man falling to their knees in submission and confessing the name of Jesus. The automatic, involuntary, unstoppable response of creation to the revealed Almighty Creator is to fall down in submission. Moses, Gideon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Peter, Saul, John all fell on their faces when the Lord of Glory came and unveiled Himself to them.
I like what J.D. Pentecost says about verses 10 and 11 in our passage this morning: Here is an amazing revelation that, because of the exaltation of Jesus Christ, even the fallen, unredeemed angels, and unredeemed, sinful men, who are under eternal condemnation, will have to bow before the display of the majesty of the Son of God and acknowledge that the One they despised and rejected is in truth the exalted Son of God. While in their state of separation and condemnation they cannot believe to the salvation of their souls, throughout the unending ages of eternity, even hell itself will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and acknowledge that the despised and rejected One whom they delighted to put to the cross was in truth the absolute Sovereign of the universe. And God will not leave one single created intelligent being who does not admit to the superior worth of Jesus Christ. Things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth will bow the knee in reverence and respect and awe at the majesty of the exalted person of Jesus Christ.
2) This leads us into the second way Jesus will be acknowledged: Confession. In the Greek, the word for confess means to openly speak the same thing, or, to say the same thing. What Paul is saying is that every one will speak the same thing regarding who Jesus Christ is: that He is the risen Son of God who is Lord over all. Now that is certainly not the case now, is it? In our world there is widespread dis - agreement over who Jesus is.
Many see him as a good man who taught good things and tried to help people. Equality Ride, which is a homosexual rights advocacy group believes Jesus taught social justice, and that homosexuality is not a sin, but a social right to be protected. Islam sees him as a prophet, and certainly not the Son of God as the Bible claims. Christ Community Church in Spring Lake here teaches that Jesus was a just a man who attained Christ-consciousness - meaning he realized and achieved a higher divine consciousness that was within himself and every human being. We all can awaken the divine Christ consciousness within us if we try hard enough. Mormons believe Jesus was a man who became one of many gods and showed us the way to become gods ourselves.
None of these are at all compatible with the Biblical teaching on who Jesus Christ is. There is no room for error on this. Jesus Christ is the God of all eternity who entered into the world as a man, while remaining fully God in every way as He always has been, and became a servant to die on a cross for the sins of the world. He wasn’t a good man - He was the God-Man. He wasn’t a prophet - He was the God who sent the prophets. He wasn’t a good moral teacher - He is the morally righteous God from whom anything that is morally righteous is so because of Him. He didn’t achieve a higher state of divine consciousness - He achieved atonement for sins on the cross at Calvary. He did not become a God - He is and has always been and always will be the One and Only true Creator God from all eternity. There is none like Him. There is none besides Him. There will never ever ever be another. He is it - He is all. All things are from Him, through Him and to Him. And He will be glorified!
Conclusion:
People say there are only 2 things for certain in this world: death and taxes. The Bible says there are 3: death, taxes, and a day yet to come. In that day, God has decreed that every knee will bow to His Son and every creature will say with their mouths, “Jesus Christ is Lord”. Three things are for certain. Three. And in that day, there will be 2 kinds of people: those who acknowledge Him willingly in adoration, and those who acknowledge Him in shame and terror having rejected Him every day before. Which kind will you be? If you confess for the first time on that day it won’t be for salvation, but, instead it will be for shame.
Romans 10:9 says that right now - right now, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead then you will be saved.” You will. You will go into that future day knowing the Lord and Him knowing you, and you will bow and confess Him in joy because of the salvation He has given you. If, however, you refuse Him. If you think He is among many ways to God. If you think that He will accept your attempts to be good enough. If you think there is any other way than through surrendering yourself to Him in faith and trusting that His death on the cross paid for your sins, then I hope to shatter that illusion and that false hope today. There is only One hope, and that is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
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