Phil. 2:9-11 - Christ Glorified

9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Every Knee will Bow to Him

Vs. 9 - “For this reason” - Jesus carried out God’s plan for the redeeming of the world, and the salvation of mankind. (Note: it is Jesus’ plan also - He is God!) He voluntarily took on a humble position, that of a human. He agreed to step out of the glory of heaven on to sinful earth. Jesus agreed to die for us - death to the point of being separated from God the Father. This death is not like a patient ‘dying’ on an operating table for a few minutes - technically, clinically dead - and then being revived. Jesus was dead for three (3) days. There is no doubt he was completely dead, not almost dead.
As an example, see the story of Lazarus in Luke 1:1-44. When Jesus arrived people tried to dissuade Him from going to Lazarus. “He’s been dead for four days. He’s going to stink!”
Most of His followers were thinking, “If Jesus was dead after three days, He was going to be dead forever.” Jesus had been buried in a rush in order to get it done before the Sabbath started that Friday evening. After the Sabbath, which ended Satuarday evening, several of the women followers went to the tomb, hoping to get inside and properly prepare the body for burial. They were expecting a dead body inside the borrowed grave.

Except.
That is not what happened! Go to Matt. 27:59-66. The Jewish leaders completely understood Jesus’ reference to His coming resurrection. (I am not sure the disciples understood it as well as the Pharisees.) The Sanhedrin asked Pilate to set a guard, a Roman military unit, over the grave site. They didn’t believe Jesus would be raised from death, but thought His followers would fake it. Jesus’ followers would kidnap the body and then claim Jesus was raised as He said would happen. They knew a few fishermen could not take out a Roman guard. This would kill the upstart religion - its leader was dead and would remain so.

Except.
God flattened the Roman guard, rolled the grave stone away from the entrance. Jesus was raised to life - life eternal. The stone did not have to be moved. The burial clothes did not have to be left in the tomb. Those evidences were for our benefit. You want proof? “Come. Look! The grave is empty!” You want more evidence? “He is no longer wrapped in the funeral clothes! He no longer needs them, for He is Risen. He was dead, and is now alive!”

“God highly exalted Him” - The highest honor possible has been given to Jesus. The United States gives medals to honor our military servicemen and women - Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Distinguished Service Medal to name a few. There is one honor that is above all others - the Congressional Medal of Honor. Many Congressional Medals of Honor are awarded posthumously. A living honoree is saluted by generals!
Christ died to free us from sin. He paid the ultimate price for us - he gave His life that we may live eternally with Him. (See: Rom. 5:8; 1 Pet. 3:18) The honor Jesus received: His name is the only one that will save. (See: Acts 4:12) Those who believe in Him are recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Jesus is the one who can say, “This person is mine, and can be with Me in glory.”

God’s perfect justice was satisfied. Jesus’ death was for God, to pay for sin. His resurrection is for us. How do we know that ‘Jesus’ sacrifice was more than sufficient? If the price was not paid, Jesus would not have been resurrected! Our sins no longer keep us from God. He is alive; we will live with Him. We will see God face-to-face and rejoice. We can come “boldly to the throne of grace” (Heb. 4:16) because of Jesus. We can come without fear; we come rejoicing! Compare this to the warning in Eccl. 5:2 to “not be hasty” as you approach God’s throne. God’s love for us eliminates fear (1 John 4:18).

“bestowed on Him the name” - There are certain people that when you meet them or are introduced, you are immediately respectful. When someone says, “The President of the United States” you are respectful (if you have been raised right, you will show respect even if the President is not in your political party). Whether it is a mayor, a governor, the head of a college, a Nobel Prize winner, a Hall of Fame athlete, etc, these people have earned respect.

Jesus has done so much more. He saved you from eternal death, He provides the only way to salvation (Rom. 1:16; Acts 4:12). Almighty God. Omnipotent Lord. Lord of Lords. King of Kings. Forever and ever. The Lamb Who was slain. The Alpha and Omega. The First and Last. The First-born of all creation. Any one of those names is higher and greater than any President or athlete. The One above every other: He is Savior. Jesus.

Vs. 10-11 - “so that at the name of Jesus” - Jesus means: “Jehovah is Salvation”. While interesting, it’s not what is important to this discussion. Think of a convention or conference, when the main speaker is introduced all the people in the room clap or cheer. No one else in the world cares, the world trudges on. The picture painted here is entirely different: Jesus is announced to those around the throne of God. Everyone immediately bows to Him, goes down to one knee with head bowed, acknowledging He is Lord. Everyone, alive or dead, everywhere stops and surrenders to Him.

“who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth” - There is no place in all creation, there is no being - physical or spiritual - who will not acknowledge that Jesus is Lord.

“every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” - There will be some who may want to give grudging acquiescence. When Christ the Lord is revealed, the awesome power and glory will overcome them. An example: I played a round of golf with a guy who had played on scholarship for a college. On the first hole he almost drove the ball onto the green on a 300 yard hole! He did it so smoothly, I knew at that moment there was no way! I was along for the ride, not for competition.
When we see Jesus in heaven there will be no doubt who is in charge - Jesus! Throughout scripture the appearance of God, or an angel of the Lord, causes awe and fear. Look at Exodus 19 an 20. Even when angels from the Lord appear to people, one of the first things said is, “Don’t be afraid.” These are angels, not God Himself. The visions that Isaiah and Ezekiel, or the apostle John, had indicate the scene is vastly overwhelming.

“to the glory of God the Father” - What does this mean? It is something we hear in church all the time, so commonly heard that there is almost no impact. However, the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this (See: 2 Tim. 3:16, 17) so let’s think about it. God is already glorious, as evidenced in other scripture. (See: Exo. 19, 20; Isa. 6:1-6; Ezek. 1:4-28; Rev. 15:4ff; 20:11) The verses from Revelation are pictures that give us a better understanding of this phrase - Giving praise to God for what He as done. One of my favorite hymns has a line, “To God be the glory. Great things He has done.” (see note 1)

From Francis A. Schaeffer, “ ‘The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.’ It would be scripturally false to leave out the second phrase - ‘and to enjoy Him forever.’ Nevertheless, the first phrase is the first phrase: ‘The chief end of man is to glorify God.’ And in Christianity we have a non-determined God who did not need to create because there was love and communication within the Trinity, and yet having been created, we as men can glorify God. But we must feel the force of both sides of the issue. If we fail to emphasize that we can glorify God, we raise the whole question of whether men are significant at all. We begin to lose our humanity as soon as we begin to lose the emphasis that what we do makes a difference. We can glorify God, and both the Old and New Testament say that we can even make God sad. That is tremendous.”

Why Wait to Rejoice? Rejoice Right Now!

Giving glory to God is you and I standing in the presence of God and proclaiming, “You, O Lord, did it! You alone saved me! You alone had the power! You alone made the sacrifice!” When a team wins the World Series, or the Super Bowl one player gets honored as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) acknowledging his contribution to the victory. Jesus is the MVP here. But let me be clear, it is all Him and none of us. We made no contribution to His victory over death.
Perhaps that is why we cast our crowns to Him on the throne. Our crowns have been given to us by Him, and are His. We are saved and are with Him - forever. We are not in hell. What rejoicing that will be.
But why wait to rejoice? He has saved you now. You are His now, not just in the glorious future. Paul makes it clear in the first letter to the Corinthians, our hope is in heaven and is sure because Jesus is raised from the dead. We have hope for the future. We also have hope for here and now. “For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone.” (1 Cor. 15:19) Clearly, Paul believes Jesus came to give us abundant life (John 10:10), in the here and now. If release from the shame and guilt of sin in our life here on earth is all there is, it is pitiful. Pitiful in the respect that God has so much more planned for us. “But just as it is written, ‘Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.’ God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” (1 Cor. 2:9-10) Wonderful, majestic things await us in heaven! Wonderful things are with us now - joy, the peace of God, joy, peace with God, joy!

Our pastor Jeremy T. gave a great sermon Sunday (28-Oct-18) on Worship. He said, (I am paraphrasing it) “How you worship shows what you believe.” This echoes a line from a sermon given a few years ago by our senior pastor Jerry B., “How you live and act shows what you believe, not what you say you believe.” Do you believe that Jesus saved you from death and hell? Rejoice and glorify Him!

*** Note 1: “To God Be the Glory”, Fanny Crosby, & William Doane. (page 363, right there in the front of the hymnal). ***