AGAIN I SAY REJOICE
AN EXCLUSIVE CLAIM IN AN INCLUSIVE WORLD
PHILIPPIANS 2:9-11
INTRODUCTION
- What does it mean to be inclusive? I suppose a good way to put it is that to be inclusive means to accept all persons, or ideas, or worldviews as completely equal in a given situation. We are not talking about what we might call an all-inclusive stay at some resort; where everything from the room to meals, amenities, etc. is included in one price. We are concerned with inclusiveness as it relates to people and/or ideas.
- Inclusiveness is one of the most lauded personal attributes in today’s society. You are the world’s hero if you refuse to claim that anything that is right for you is also right for someone else. A decent person, according to some, understands that I have my truths, my principles, my beliefs, my life, and you have yours. Being inclusive usually goes hand in hand with being relativistic. All things are equal, and there is no one right anything, so all things are given the same acceptance.
- There are times when being inclusive is the right thing. For example, we wouldn’t want our ability to buy a house or get a job to be based upon our skin color or in most cases our gender. At the same time, there are situations where including everyone is far from desirable. I think it is a good thing that only women are allowed to use a women’s public restroom, and vice versa for men. Not too many people would disagree with those assessments.
- When we come to issue of religious faith, however, things often get heated. Tensions arise because there are those who assume that all religious claims are equal, and that no one system is right for everyone. Whatever you want to believe for yourself is fine, and whatever I want to believe for myself is fine.
- Others hold that their point of view is the only right way to think about things. Most of the time Christians are given that stigma; but Christians are not the only ones who think they have the only claim to the truth. There are atheists who believe that all religion is harmful, and that religion is the cause of most, if not all of the world’s problems. So atheism and scientific enlightenment is the right and proper way to think for everyone.
- You can see why those who hold all ideas to be equal and those who make exclusive truth claims sometimes don’t get along very well. Now you might be asking the question: “What category does Christianity fall into?” Is Christianity exclusive or inclusive?
- Let’s answer that question and then explain it from our text. Is Christianity exclusive? Yes it is. There is no way to wiggle around the fact that biblical Christianity makes the claim that it is the only true religion, to the exclusion of all others. So is Christianity inclusive? I suppose we would think that the answer would be “no” because we just stated that it is exclusive; but they answer is “yes”. Christianity is inclusive in a certain sense as well.
- In what way is biblical Christianity exclusive? The Bible claims that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven; and that everyone without faith in Jesus will spend eternity in hell, away from God. That’s about as exclusive as it gets. Do you want to go to heaven? Jesus Christ is your only hope.
- So how can such an exclusive faith also be inclusive? Because the offer of salvation through Jesus Christ is open to everyone. True biblical faith is inclusive in its scope and exclusive in its claim. Anyone who desires to come can come, but they must come on God’s terms, understanding that there is only one truth; and it is personified in the person of Jesus Christ who said that he is the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through him.
- Now we see both concepts here in Philippians 2:9-11. The exclusive aspect of Christianity is blatantly obvious in these verses. But when we look carefully we will also notice a hint of inclusiveness as well. Listen to what Paul says:
[READ PHILIPPIANS 2:9-11]
Let’s begin our look at this passage with this overarching truth:
JESUS CHRIST WILL BE EXALTED ABOVE EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE
- That’s the point of all three of these verses. Now exalted is a word we use a lot in Christendom; but it’s really not a word we use too much in normal conversation. Some of you know exactly what it means; but maybe some of you don’t. When I was a boy I remember going to church one Sunday with my late grandmother and one of the songs we sang that morning was He is Exalted. Apparently my grandmother had never heard the word exalted before because I can remember listening to her sing: “He is exhausted, the King is exhausted on high...” Exhausted is not exactly the same as exalted!
- To exalt something or someone simply means to lift it up. Our modern day equivalent might be “to put something on a pedestal.” So to exalt someone is to raise them to a high position of honor, or praise, or glory. And Jesus is said here to be exalted by God the Father; but not just exalted, highly exalted.
- Now how high is Christ’s exaltation? Look at vv.10-11: 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. Jesus Christ is the center of the universe. Nothing or no one is greater than he.
- Paul said it this way in Colossians 1: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
- There is the first and most important reason Jesus is above all things: in him all the fullness of God dwells, i.e. he is God. But what does Paul give in this passage in Philippians 2 as reasons for Christ’s exaltation? I’m going to suggest four reasons, and there are more; but these are what we see in this specific text. First, Jesus Christ will be exalted above everything and everyone:
...BECAUSE HE HUMBLED HIMSELF TO THE POINT OF DEATH
- We done this before: let’s go back to Hermeneutics 101. When we see the word therefore in the text we ask the question “What’s it there for?” The very first word in v.9 is what? Therefore. To what does this word refer? It refers back to vv.6-8: who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
- Christ is exalted because he was humbled. Now to be clear: Christ was exalted before he became a man. He was high; he was lifted up; he had glory – he was God. So what is the purpose of this humbling and exaltation? To show us the only way to share in his glory.
- Every one of us must be humbled before God can lift us up; we must share in suffering before we share in glory. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5: Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
- Peter there is quoting from Proverbs 3:34 where Solomon writes: Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor. In fact, James quotes this same Proverb in his letter in chapter 4: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. If you want glory in heaven you must exercise humility on earth.
- By that I mean not that you earn heaven by being humble; but that you cannot enter heaven without understanding your need of Jesus Christ as your Savior; without letting go of your pride and false sense of ability to save yourself and humbling yourself in repentance and faith.
- Jesus said in Matthew 5: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are you when you understand your spiritual bankruptcy and weep with repentance because you will be comforted – yours is the kingdom of heaven.
- So by Jesus humbling himself and then being exalted by God the Father, he gives us insight into how we are to be lifted up by God. If we humble ourselves in faith now, we will share in the glory of Christ for eternity. But if we puff ourselves up with arrogance now, and reject Christ’s cross, we will be humbled forever in Hell.
- Jesus is exalted because he humbled himself. Secondly, Jesus Christ will be exalted above everything and everyone:
...BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN GIVEN THE NAME ABOVE ALL OTHER NAMES
- In v.9 God has highly exalted Jesus and: bestowed on him the name that is above every name.
- In order to understand the significance of this statement we need to recognize what a name meant in the biblical era. During that time, a name was not simply a convenient means of distinguishing one person from another. Today, we usually name our children with no regard for what the name means, we just like the name. (And some parents make up their children’s name so there is no meaning at all). But it was not like that when Paul wrote this truth.
- One commentator writes that “in biblical usage the name is intimately associated with the person who bears it and...it [the name] expresses that person’s character, reputation, dignity, work, power, or his [or her] peculiar position” in the biblical narrative.
- For example Adam named his wife “Eve” because Eve sounds like the Hebrew for “life-giver” and Eve was the mother of all the living. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham because Abraham means “the father of a multitude”, and Abraham was promised by God that his descendants would be as the number of stars in the sky and grains of sand on the seashore.
- You can find examples like this from Genesis to Revelation. Even Jesus himself is so named. The angel tells Mary to name her child Jesus because he will save his people from their sins – Jesus, which is a shortened form of a longer Hebrew name, means “he [Yahweh] will save”.
- So the significance of Jesus receiving a name from the Father which is above every other name is a little clearer when we keep this in mind. Paul is saying that Jesus by virtue of the name graciously given to him by the Father, among other things, has a position above all other positions; a dignity higher than any other; more authority than any other ruler. The very essence of who Jesus is, is greater than any other person.
- Now what is the name? What name did the Father bestow upon Jesus? The answer comes in vv.10- 11, particularly v.11: so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess (here it is:) that Jesus Christ is Lord.
- The name given to the Son of God that is above every other is not “Jesus”. Jesus was a very common name; and still is today in various forms. The name or title is “Lord”. Jesus Christ will be exalted above everything and everyone:
...BECAUSE HE IS THE LORD OF EVERY PERSON
- The phrase “Jesus Christ is Lord” was the paramount confession of the early church. That phrase, which may seem so simple to us, is loaded with meaning. It starts with “Jesus Christ”; or “Jesus the Messiah”; or “Jesus the Anointed One”. Not just any Jesus – the God-man Jesus who was anointed and sent by God the Father to save his people from their sins. That Jesus is “Lord”. He is ruler. He is master. He is supreme; above all others.
- So important was the lordship of Jesus the Messiah to the biblical writers that we see Peter say this in Acts 2:36: Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.
- And Paul writes in Romans 10:9: if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Jesus has to be your Lord for you to be saved. You must surrender to him.
- And John in Revelation 17 & 19, speaking of the final battle between God and evil: They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings and On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
- You can see in phrases like “Lord of lords” and “Lord and Christ” what the extent of Jesus’ lordship is. And vv.10-11 state the matter plainly: at the name of Jesus every knee [will] bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue [will] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
- There is nothing or no one beyond Christ’s lordship and authority. So what does that mean for you and me? So many times we hear it said that we need to make Jesus the Lord of our lives. I don’t want to do a semantic dance, but Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life. He rules over you whether you know it or acknowledge it or not. The question is: is Jesus Lord in your life?
- Have you relinquished control of everything to him? That is one of the basic components of saving faith: the willingness to surrender your life to Jesus Christ. You’ll spend your lifetime learning of new ways to submit to his lordship, but the willingness to do so brought about by the Holy Spirit’s work in your heart is evidence of true regeneration; of true new life.
- The ironic part of all of this is that Jesus Christ is the Lord of every person. Some simply have not yet acknowledged his rule and authority. But they will...oh, they will. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is the King.
- So it’s bow now or bow later. If you surrender to his lordship now, when he history is a memory you will bow before him worship your Lord and Savior. If you reject his lordship now, you then will bow before him and acknowledge your Lord and Judge. Jesus will get his rightful recognition one way or another.
- Now this may sound a bit harsh on the part of a loving God. Why would Jesus make sure that every single person bows to him and him only? I think you will find the answer quite familiar. We close with this – Jesus Christ will be exalted above everything and everyone:
...BECAUSE IT GLORIFIES GOD THE FATHER
- In. v.11, everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The glory of God is the final goal and purpose of all things. Any Jesus does he does so because it glorifies himself; it glorifies the Godhead. When Jesus is glorified, the Father is glorified; and when Jesus is rejected so is the Father. They are one.
- So when every created thing bows down to Jesus Christ and proclaims him as Lord of all, everything is as it should be. The one who brought all of this into existence is getting the respect and worship he deserves. God created the universe with this end in mind: that when it’s all said and done, he is worshiped and adored. He is the only being for which it is right to be self-infatuated.
CONCLUSION
- Here then is exclusivity at its rightful and proper finest: Jesus, the Christ and Savior of the world, is Lord alone. He alone is worthy of worship, praise, and service. And as I exhort you to do as often as I can: take this news to the community and the world. Tell the people you know how worthy Jesus is of their devotion. Tell them he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
- And here is inclusiveness at its rightful and proper finest: Come to Jesus all who are weary and heavy laden and he will give you rest. Let the one who is thirsty drink freely from the fountain of the water of life. Confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead and you will be saved. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
- And one day every one of us will bow before him. As the words of an old Dutch hymn tell us:
One day all creation shall bow to our Lord;
Even now, among the angels his name is adored.
May we at his coming, with glorified throng,
Stand singing his praises in heaven’s great song:
Jesus, Jesus, Savior adored,
Of all men and angels forever the Lord.
