"Low in the grave he lay," say the words of the beloved hymn. Were the story to end there, with a tragic death, there would still be much of value to learn from the life of Jesus. We would esteem His martyr's end much as we do that of Socrates. We would have to ignore a number of His claims as delusional if not megalomaniacal, but His life of self-sacrifice and service, His teaching of love and holiness, His parables, and the Sermon on the Mount would all still be treasured. We would grieve and mourn His bitter end each year, but we could still have the "attitude . . . which was also in Christ Jesus" (2:5). We could still eschew "selfishness" and "empty conceit" and "with humility of mind . . . regard (others) as more important than (ourselves)." We could follow His example and "not merely look out for (our) own personal interests, but also for the interests of others" (2:3,4). However, then Christianity would just be one philosophy among a host of others. It would be just an opinion among opinions, a way of life among other ways of life. The dismissive comments of contemporary religious relativists would be beyond our refutation. "That's good, that's perfectly wonderful for you;" that's true for you; that's helpful for you . . . but I prefer this other philosopher and his very different teaching. My guru tells me that we are all gods! I like the idea of being a god."

Moreover, the Apostle would have but half an argument. He is urging humility and sacrificial, even selfless, service now because honors will come later. Verse 8, noble as it is, admirable as Christ's obedience and humility "to the point of death" is, it is not the end of the story. Verse 8 gives way to verse 9, death to the empty tomb, the cross to the crown. Christianity may not be reduced to a philosophy and Jesus to a moral teacher. Jesus is Lord. This is the most basic confession of the early Christians. Jesus is Lord, and His lordship is rooted in history, in a verifiable historical event, in which He was "declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead" (Rom 1:4). "The resurrection of Christ is the chief article of our faith," said the great John Calvin.1 The Apostle's larger point that the cross comes before the crown, is for us, as well as for Jesus. The resurrection completes the argument for the Apostle. Honor, glory, recognition all can be postponed, and humble service, sacrificial obedience, lifelong obscurity all can be embraced, because exaltation follows humiliation, for us as well as for Christ.

His Exaltation

Therefore also God highly exalted Him . . . (Phil 2:9a)

"Therefore," or "For this very reason,"2 "God highly exalted Him." God "exalted Him to the highest place" (NIV). That is, He was exalted because of His obedience, because of His humble service. He followed the divinely approved pattern. Honor followed abasement. Humiliation first, exaltation second. The Apostle Paul probably has in mind the whole series of events from resurrection to ascension to session at the right hand of God. Jesus did not remain in the grip of death. "It was impossible for Him to be held in its power," Peter proclaimed at Pentecost (Acts 2:24). He is the resurrection and the life (Jn 11:25). He shattered the power of death and was raised victorious over it. He "render(ed) powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb 2:14). The tomb was empty. The body was gone. Even the enemies of Christ had to concede the disappearance of the body, and were forced to manufacture the story that the disciples had stolen it (Mt 28:11-15). It was impossible to deny the empty tomb. Jesus then appeared to multiple eyewitnesses: the women at the tomb, the disciples on the Emmaus Road and in the upper room, even more than 500 persons at one time (Lk 24:13-35; 1 Cor 15: 4-8). They witnessed His ascension (Lk 24:50-53; Acts 1:9). They then wrote our New Testament, the pinnacle of human religious and moral thought; indeed the standard by which we gauge human dignity and sanity. The New Testament is not the product of the delusional, unless we are content to judge all humanity as delusional. Eleven of twelve disciples then were martyred for their convictions.

Jesus must be heard. He cannot be ignored. For 2000 years the human race has been forced by His compelling life, death and exaltation to deal with Him. Still today countless millions recognize His lordship and have yielded their lives to Him.

The Apostle Paul says God "highly exalted" (huperupsoō) Him, raised Him to a great height, "super" exalted Him. He has been "exalted to the right hand of God" (Acts 2:33). To the Ephesians the Apostle wrote that God

. . . raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Eph 1:20-23)

Further, the Apostle Paul writes,

. . . and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name (Phil 2:9b)

"The name," says O'Brien, that is, "bestowed" (eucharisato), or graciously given, "is his own name . . . in its most sublime sense." "It is best," he continues, "to understand it as referring to the name, ‘Yahweh.'"3 The Son is given "a more excellent name" than the angels (Heb 1:3,4; cf. Rom 1:3,4). This is an extraordinary affirmation of the deity of Christ.

Verses 10 and 11 expand on the theme of verse 9 and confirm our understanding of "the name."

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:10,11)

These verses clearly are an echo of Isaiah 45:23, a passage which repeatedly affirms of the LORD "there is no other; besides Me there is no God" (45:5,18). The immediately preceding verses in Isaiah say,

. . . And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none except Me. Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. (Is 45:21b,22)

Silva says that Isaiah 45, "constitutes one of the most powerful Old Testament affirmations of the uniqueness of the God of Israel in the context of His redeeming work."4 That such a passage is applied to Jesus has, what Silva calls, "stunning implications," and makes an unmistakable point: Jesus and the Old Testament LORD are one.5 Yes, Jesus was humble and lowly. But no more. Martin says, "that which he refused to grasp selfishly in a senseless act of aggrandizement is now bestowed on him at the Father's pleasure."6 Now He carries the title of LORD, and with that the honors of creator, sovereign, sustainer, governor, and judge.

His Preeminence

Having been given the Name above all names, and with it the honor and dignity which accompany it, Christ now receives nothing less than the worship of all creation. Every knee is to "bow," or literally "bend." Every tongue is to confess that Jesus is Lord. His lordship will be universally acknowledged. The Apostle's elaboration in terms of those "in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth" may or may not be a reference to three specific groups that we are to attempt to identify (e.g. the souls now in heaven, those alive on earth, the dead in Sheol). His point, as Silva says, is "to stress the universality of Christ's lordship."7 Even the creation will declare Christ's glory (Ps 19:1,2), now with greater clarity (Rom 8:19-22). The sun, moon, stars, sea creatures, fire, hail, snow, clouds, mountains, hills, fruit trees and cedars, insects and birds, kings and people, young and old shall all praise Him (Ps 148). Some will bow willingly, some most unwillingly. But all, skeptic and servant of Christ, sinner and saint, will honor Him.

The Apostle Paul speaks of two responses: confession and worship. All will confess Him. The One whom we confess is exalted above all. He made the world, He saved the world, and He now rules over it (1 Cor 15:23,28). He was in the "form" of a servant has returned to His rightful place above all. He is supreme over all the creation. All things shall be summed up in Him (Eph 1:1); He is above all and head over all (Eph 1:20-23); all things shall be subject to Him (1 Cor 15:28); all creatures will praise Him (Rev 5:13).

Remember that at this time the Christian religion didn't amount to much. Christians were few in number and persecuted by both the Judean authorities and the Roman government. This affirmation of Lordship required remarkable faith. The Apostles had to look beyond their puny circumstances to the distant horizon to see Christ universally recognized. False religion shall be defeated. The enemies of the cross shall be subdued. The kingdom of this world shall become the kingdom of the Lord and of His Christ (Rev 11:15). Our circumstances today can be discouraging. The gospel seems to be in full retreat throughout the Western world. Our numbers are shrinking. Pundits are claiming the end of Christian America. Christian Europe is already long buried, but as yet we have not seen the end of all things. "Every tongue shall confess." In the end the Lordship of Christ shall be confessed universally.

But the ultimate expression of the universal lordship of Christ is the worship He shall receive. "Every knee shall bow." History culminates in worship. This is why it is almost impossible to make too much of worship, and why the current debates, the "worship wars," are so important. History terminates in an eternal worship service. My arguments for worship are often pragmatic: worship is ministry. When the church assembles it is in order to worship through the sung praise, prayer, the reading and preaching of Scripture, and the administration of the sacraments. The means of grace, the means by which Christians grow, are the word, sacraments, and prayer, the very elements of public worship. Worship is ministry. We had better pay attention to it and guard its integrity if we wish to see Christians grow in grace.

Here, though, is an even higher motive. Worship is humanity's universal and eternal vocation. A few years ago our family drove down U.S. 1 through Big Sur in California. It was a beautiful, cool, sunny day. As we wound our way down the coast we found ourselves constantly pulling off the road to absorb each fresh perspective, one succeeding breathtaking scene after another: the sunlight glistening on the water; the waves crashing on the rocks; the towering cliffs; the cries of the seagulls and sea lions. I felt I could have gone on forever, drinking in the beauty before me.

When we remember that all earthly beauty is but a poor shadow of the heavenly, of the One who is the source of all beauty, who is Beauty Itself, we get a glimpse of the experience of worship in heaven. Eternally we will be plumbing the depths of the Godhead, overcome with adoration and praise as we are overwhelmed by each fresh glimpse into the glory, beauty, wisdom, and power of God, wave after wave of new revelation, forever. This is what we see of the worship of heaven. What do the worshipers in heaven cry out?

"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." (Rev 5:12)

And who will join them?

And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped. (Rev 5:13,14)

We will never tire of this. Each new discovery of God's wisdom, power, and glory will overwhelm us with praise, prompting further exploration of God's glory, which because it is infinite, will never be exhausted.

Response

How shall we respond to the exaltation and preeminence of Christ? We can see a two-fold response.

First, bow and confess the lordship of Christ now. Join His worship and praise now. Apparently we will all join it eventually. Why not now, willingly and pleasantly, rather than later with bitter remorse for having stubbornly resisted the truth? Bow the knee. Confess His lordship. Surrender to the Master. Do not wait. Do not hesitate. Do not let the devil tempt you with doubts and delays, with maybes and laters and not yets. Today is the day of salvation.

Second, choose with Jesus the path of service. Remember, the rich poetic and theological context serves the dominant purpose of persuading us to follow Jesus into humble, lowly service, and to put others before ourselves. Do pride and selfishness, do the demand for honor and recognition, divide the church and undermine its ministry? Of course they do. Competition for position, for prominence, for prestige, divide and disrupt the church, spawning petty jealousy and envy, spinning off competing factions. Jesus postponed recognition and honor. He lived without it. He was willing to serve "veiled in flesh," in obscurity and humility. This is the "attitude" we are to have. Forego recognition. Forego honor. Humbly serve in obscurity. Sacrificially serve hidden from view. Cross oceans and borders to serve Christ. Forego worldly honors and labor in obscurity. Forsake wealth and comfort and labor in poverty. Go into the inner city, and into the jails and prisons, and into the hospitals and nursing homes; work among children and foreigners and the handicapped and disabled. Lay up treasures in heaven and not upon earth (Mt 6:20), but know in doing so that those treasures will be there in heaven. The crown follows the cross. If we humble ourselves now, for this life, in this world, God will exalt us at the proper time (1 Pet 5:6).

Jesus calls us to the path of sacrifice that He first walked. We are to suffer now in order to be exalted later. We can get frustrated when we lift our eyes off of the eternal. The "good life," as well as all the "pleasures" of sin can seem to be passing us by. At such times I am to remind myself that to be a Christian means to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Him. It is in losing one's life that one finds it (Mt 16:24-26). In sacrifice and self-denial there is reward. The Apostle Paul says that he considers "that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Rom 8:18). Suffering means to give up my wants and desires and all else if they are contrary to the needs of gospel work and the interests of others. And the sacrifice now means glory later. Peter says, "but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exaltation" (1 Pet 4:13). Exaltation follows humiliation. Jesus says that he who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted (Mt 23:12). Jesus says that he who humbles himself as a child shall be the greatest. There is a prize toward which we strive (Phil 3:14).

For us, it is largely a matter of patiently waiting. We do lose out on some things in this life. Sometimes the crooks do get ahead. The pleasures of sin, though temporary, are real. The sacrifices included in mission work, in being hospitable, in loving my neighbor as myself, can be costly. Yet we know that we reap what we sow. Sin has its destructive consequences and righteousness has its eternal reward. Christ is the proof of that. As it was for Him, so it will be for us.

This too provides unity. The knowledge that sacrifice leads to glory relieves me of the need to exalt myself. It means I can avoid petty rivalries in which one seeks prominence at the expense of another. I can take the lowly, humble position, knowing that it does not go unnoticed, that such has its eternal reward. We have been raised up with Christ to live a new life (Rom 6:1ff). This new life is spiritual and otherworldly. We seek the things above, not below; I set my mind on the things above, not on earth (Col 3:1,2). We seek the things unseen and eternal, not seen and temporal (2 Cor 4:18).