“Jesus is Lord!”
Philippians 2:9-11
©Copyright December 23, 2008 Rev. Bruce Goettsche ADVENT SERIES 2008
We gather tonight after weeks of scurrying around trying to find
Christmas presents and planning and attending special events. There is a sense in which tonight we need to
simply be still for a little while.
Tonight our desire is to reflect and focus on the true Star of
Christmas: Jesus.
During the weeks leading up to this evening we have looked at the words
of Paul in Philippians 2:9-11. We have seen
three things about Jesus
1.
He was fully God.
Jesus was more than just an extraordinary man. He was God who came to earth. The Bible declares this fact, Jesus claimed
to be God, and the evidence backs up the claims He is God.
2.
He was fully Man.
He lived our lives, experienced our temptations, frustrations, and
overcame all those things to be our Savior and to show us how we too can gain
victory in Him.
3.
He came into the world for a specific purpose: to
give His life for our sin. The cradle of
Jesus was placed in the shadow of the cross.
It is an inspiring account but if this was the end of the story it
would be a sad story of incredible love. Jesus did all this but the world seems
to largely ignore Him. It is like the story of a hero who dies in a fire saving
someone else; or the person who jumps in front of a bullet to save another and
is killed. It’s a touching story of
heroism but it’s also tragic.
However, this is not the end of the story. This evening we look at the
rest of this early declaration of faith,
Therefore God
exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the
name that is above every name,
10 that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on
earth and under the earth,
11 and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of
God the Father.
This text reminds us of several important things about Jesus
He Died on the Cross but There
is More to Come
Just as the Son humbled Himself in a more profound way than anyone has
or could do, so He will be exalted beyond what anyone can be exalted.
The word for “exalted” is a much stronger word than is usually used and
translated “exalted” It might more
accurately be translated, “super exalted”.
Jesus did not have his face carved into a mountain, or put on some
memorial or even placed on some building.
He isn’t given five stars or called “Mr. President”. But his exaltation
is much higher!
The entire book of Hebrews is designed to show us the superior position
of Christ. Hebrews points out that Jesus
is superior to
The exaltation of Jesus began the moment He walked out of that tomb and
stood victorious over the grave. In that
one act He showed that He was greater than any who have lived before or
since. But that is only a taste of what
is to come. He followers bowed before
Him to worship then but Paul is looking to something even greater.
Paul writes after the resurrection.
He looks to a future day, at the Second coming of Christ, when everyone
will recognize Him as He is. Paul says at this point that He will be given a
name that is above all names.
Lots of people speculate what this “name” of Jesus will be. I think it is not so much what He will be
called . . . it is WHO He is that will make us bow. It to whom the name points that is the key
issue.
All Will Acknowledge Him
The second thing we learn from this passage that this is coming a day
when EVERYONE will acknowledge Him. Paul
says every knee will bow and to drive home his point he says it will be every
knee “In heaven – on earth – and under the earth”. This means the angels and saints in Heaven will
bow before Him, people on the earth will bow before Him, and even those who are
“under the earth” – the Devil, the Demons and those who are in Hell will bow.
Some people mistakenly think this means everyone will be saved in the
end. They are mistaken. Over in
Colossians 1 Paul makes a similar statement.
Listen carefully to the people Paul includes here,
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness
dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood,
shed on the cross.
When talking about being reconciled (or being made right with God) Paul
mentions those in Heaven and on earth but not those who are under the earth. The point is that everyone will someday
recognize and acknowledge Jesus as the true ruler of the universe. Someday all will acknowledge Him as the true Lord. However, some will do it joyfully, others
will do it reluctantly. Some will declare Him Lord in victory; others will
acknowledge Him as Lord in defeat.
Think about a war. When World
War II ended people in the
This is what is going to happen in the day of Judgment. Everyone will acknowledge the greatness of
Christ. Some will do so leading to
everlasting life, others will acknowledge this and receive their sentence of
everlasting punishment.
What will they recognize? They
will recognize that Jesus is Lord. The word “Lord” has a rich meaning. The word was used to refer to the Emperor,
but only after it was believed he had been deified (made God) in a
ceremony. When the early church was
beginning the Romans would test Christians and command that they declare Caesar
to be God. When they would not do so (because only Jesus is Lord) they would be
executed on the charge of sedition; they were following another King!
The Old Testament word for “Lord” (Adonai) was the word used in place
of the formal name of God. Consequently
the word Adonai came to be seen a synonymous with Jehovah. So, when these
people are declaring Jesus as Lord, they are making a profound statement about His
nature and deity.
To declare Jesus to be Lord was not simply a statement of theology, it
was a declaration of service, obedience, and submission. The person who truly
believes Jesus is Lord is the One willing to follow Him fully.
Let me illustrate. It is one
thing to say, “I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God”. It is another thing to actually believe
it. It is one thing to memorize Bible
verses, it is another thing to obey them. It is one thing to have a bunch of
Bible on your shelves it is another to use the Bible as your instruction manual
for life.
In the same way it is not enough to simply believe Jesus is the Lord of
Life. We must also live our lives as if
He is the Lord of Life; in other words, we will do what He says.
Responding to the Big
Picture
Have you ever sat down with a friend to watch an exciting game on tape
when you knew the outcome of the game and he didn’t? Have you ever watched a favorite film with a
friend who has never seen the film? If
so, then you know what happens. You look
forward with anticipation for key moments in the game or film when things
drastically change. At those times you
find yourself looking at your friend to see their reaction.
This is kind of what Paul is doing here. He is speaking to people who were going
through hard times. The church was being
persecuted. Paul himself was in
jail. In this situation Paul draws a
picture of what is coming and you can almost see him sit back in his chair wiping
away tears of joy in anticipation of such a day. And then I imagine him with a big smile as he
imagines the response of the Philippians to this reminder of the sure victory
of Christ. What a contrast: humble
servant and crucified criminal transformed to the risen Lord and Exalted King.
This Christmas we are living in stressful times. Economic woes weigh heavy. People are concerned about their jobs, rising
prices, and plunging markets. We see
God’s standards regularly tossed aside. People are becoming increasingly
intolerant of those who hold to Biblical truth. It is easy to become weary and discouraged.
We have the greatest News in the world and most of the time it feels like
nobody cares.
Paul reminds us of a future day. It is as if he is saying, “Wait till
you see the ending. It is dramatic. It is fantastic. It will change your life.” He waits for our
tense lips to break into a smile. He
waits for our complaints to turn to laughter.
He waits for doubt to give way to celebration. Life may not be easy
right now, things may even get worse, but this is not the end of the story.
As you read about a war after it has happened you read about gains and
losses. If you did not know how the war
ended you would at times feel like defeat was imminent. However, when you know who wins the war the defeats,
though still painful, they are viewed as part of the price and struggle of
victory.
Our challenge this Christmas is to see the big picture.
Carl Jung told of a man who asked a rabbi,
“How come in the olden days God would show Himself to people, but today nobody
ever sees God?” The rabbi said, “Because nowadays nobody can bow low enough.”
Let this mind be in us which was in Christ Jesus, who bowed low, emptied
Himself, and became a servant—then we will see and know and share with God![1]
As we stand on the threshold of another Christmas we are reminded that
we gather to celebrate not a baby in a manger—we come to celebrate the King and
Ruler of the Universe. We gather to
praise God’s name for His love, His mercy, His provision, and His goodness. We should bow low before Him. He is King and
we are not. We should acknowledge Him as
King now – while we can. It is time for
us to bow low and admit our sinfulness.
We must humble ourselves and receive the gift of forgiveness and eternal
life that He offers.
We should also honor Him by our words.
We should express our praise to Him and we should tell others of His
greatness. Steve Brown reminds us,
We don’t go to God in order to be good; we
go to him because he has called and wants us to spend time with him. In his
presence we have the awareness that we have failed to meet his standards, but
we also have the awareness that he loves us anyway.
Just as it is important to say thank you to those who give you a gift
at Christmas, it is important that we take this time to appreciate and give
thanks for what the Lord has given us in Christ. Just as you need to verbally express your
love to the people you care about – so we need to express our love to the Lord.
We should also honor Him by doing what He says. Living with Jesus as the Lord of your life
means submitting your will to His. It
means doing what He commands not because you are afraid of Him but because you
trust Him. It means doing what He says even though the rest of the world might
ridicule you. It means doing what God
says even when YOU don’t want to do so. The
true believer is one who is changing. We
still fall on occasion, but the true believer desires to honor the One who has
loved him/her since the creation of the
earth; the One who loved them enough to set aside His Kingly robe and come down
out of Heaven, become a infant, and ultimately give His life to rescue us from
a just Judgment. Why wouldn’t we spend the rest of our life willing to follow
Him wherever He might lead us.
Finally, we honor Christ by keeping our focus on the final day. We honor Him when we refuse to get
discouraged by the circumstances of life because we know that there is coming a
day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord.
The key question tonight then is this: WHEN will you acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord? Will it be now as one of His followers or
will it be later when you do so out of remorse?
Will you be one of those who celebrates
His Lordship or one who has to acknowledge His Lordship to your own
condemnation?
Christmas calls us to do more than celebrate. It calls us to make a decision; to get off
the fence. It challenges us to take Jesus seriously and determine whether He
was just a man who claimed to be God (e.g. a Lunatic) or whether He really
was/is God. If He is not really God we
should stop this nonsense and singing songs to Him. But if He is God, we should stop playing at
our commitment and follow Him with gusto as the Lord of the Universe; the Giver
of Life; the final Judge.
Christmas challenges us to look squarely at the cross and the empty
tomb and consider whether or not this is the Savior we have been looking
for. If He is, then we should humble
ourselves and receive the forgiveness and new life He offers.
So, what will you do? Will you
celebrate the holiday without acknowledging the One who came at Christmas? Will you celebrate the moving story yet
neglect the One who calls to you? Or
will this be the Christmas you stop playing around and truly begin to follow
Christ with your whole heart?
Some day you will indeed bow before Him in worship and declare that He is the Lord of Life. The question is whether that day will be a happy day or a sad day. The answer to that question lies squarely with you.
©Copyright December 23, 2008 Rev. Bruce Goettsche ADVENT SERIES 2008
[1]Maxie D. Dunnam and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, vol. 31, The
Preacher's Commentary Series, Volume 31 : Galatians / Ephesians / Philippians /
Colossians / Philemon, Formerly The Communicator's Commentary, The
Preacher's Commentary series (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982),
279.