January 29, 2023: Philippians 2:9-11 - God has Highly Exalted Him!

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” - Philippians 2:9-11

The name “Jesus” means “Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation” (see Matthew 1:21). Why did Jesus come down from heaven, leaving His glory, and come to the earth? Was there a purpose in all of His suffering? Was there a purpose in all that He did? Sadly, most people who are alive today and the majority of those who lived before us believe there was no purpose in His life at all; that He was just a man who lived and died and was buried. Or, they may give no thought at all to Him, just living their lives without Him, believing that, as it was before they were born, so shall it be after they die - just a dark void, with no remembrance of anything. Why would this Jesus have come to us? Why was it necessary for Him to do so? After all, the Jewish nation had its Bible called the “Tanakh,” which is what Christians refer to as the “Old Testament” and other religions have their own religious texts, with each one telling us their way of salvation. We also have Satanists who worship Satan and themselves; pride and selfishness - self, self, self - is their “god.” Others believe in Luciferianism and that Lucifer is the “good guy” and he was the “righteous” one who only wanted Adam and Eve to have knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden and God selfishly wanted to keep it for Himself. It seems to me that in most religions, the focus is on self, in some form or another - what can I do to get me to heaven or to “enlightenment”?

Belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior is acknowledging that there is absolutely nothing we could ever do ourselves that could earn our way to heaven. Why? Because none of us are without sin. The word “sin” is an archery term that literally means to miss the mark, to wander or to err, to make a mistake. (See: https://www.nerdintheword.com/what-is-sin-the-gospels-5-words-part-1/) Sin is offensive to God, and sin corrupts us. How can we save ourselves when ourselves commit sin? If we could save ourselves by doing “good” things, by whose standard do we use that defines “good”? Your standard of “good” is likely very different from mine, and my standard is likely very different from someone else’s standard. And, to believe that there is no such thing as “sin” is to be lost in it forever. We all sin; we are born with sin, no one has to teach us how to sin. If we could save ourselves, then why would we need Jesus? Sadly, most don’t think they need Him.

So, why did Jesus come to us and why do we need Him? What makes Him different from religion? The answer is simple: God’s perfect standard is Jesus. He is the only One without sin, the perfect Lamb of God, who took on all of our sins as He hung on that old rugged cross. By believing that He is Jesus Christ the Lord, the only One who can save us from all our sins, we can and will be redeemed of all our sins, even those we haven’t committed yet. Throughout the Old Testament, prophecies of Jesus abound, including this one from Isaiah 45:22-25:

“Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue that take an oath, he shall say, ‘Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him. In the LORD all the descendants of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.’”

The last sentence from the above quote from the prophet Isaiah says, the “descendants of Israel.” As Galatians 3:26-29 reminds us that salvation through Jesus Christ is free and available to all and all who believe in Him are all one in Christ Jesus; we are no longer separated by such worldly classifications as Jew or Greek (Gentile; non-Jew), slave or free, male or female:

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Jesus came to earth to provide the way - the only way - of salvation from sins through belief in Him as our Savior. He finished the work that had to be done by Him alone. He came to fulfill all that was written in the scriptures of His first coming to earth, whose purpose was to offer salvation from sins through Him, once and for all:

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst!’ ” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” (John 19:28-30)

After He gave up His spirit, He was placed in a tomb, resurrected to life on the third day, and ascended to heaven forty days later, where He sits now at the right hand of God the Father. All the scriptures of His first coming were fulfilled, and all the scriptures of His second coming will be fulfilled. Each and every single one of us, including those who have lived and died before us, and those who will live and die after us, whether we believe in Him or not as our Savior, will bow on our knees and confess with our tongues that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Will you bow before Him and confess that He is Lord now, in belief, or after you die, when it’s too late to turn to Him and be saved from an eternity in hell, separated from Him forever? The choice is yours alone to make. ✝️