27th May 2022
Christ’s exaltation
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name…
Philippians 2:9 (NIVUK)
Because of Jesus’s self-emptying, because of his obedience, because of his death on the cross, ‘therefore’ God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name. The Father assigns Jesus a name that reflects what he has achieved, what he has done, and who he is: that name is Lord (v.11).
This title echoes Isaiah 42:8 ‘I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another…’. Jesus has achieved the same lordship, the same status with the Father – not that he wasn’t one with the Father before – we’re told earlier in Philippians 2 that he enjoyed equality with God before he came to earth (v.6). No, that’s not the point. The point is, that there is a sense in which he now achieves it, for the first time, as the God-man, as the crucified, risen and now ascended Redeemer.
To give such a title to Jesus is tantamount to insisting that he, Jesus, is himself, God. This once-crucified and now resurrected, ascended, and reigning God-man is identified with God himself – ‘that is my name; I will not give my glory to another’.
The implications for who Jesus is are staggering. To confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and again, using the language of Isaiah: ‘before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear’ (Isaiah 45:23 and Philippians 2:10-11), is a transparent description of Jesus’ deity.
He is exalted to the highest place, so that, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, and every tongue confess who he is, and when we do so, the Father is glorified (v.11).
Most scholars believe this passage in Philippians (2:5-11) to be an early Christian hymn, which if so shows that the early Christian church within 20 years of Jesus’s resurrection and ascension was singing praises to Jesus, exalting, and lifting his name on high.
Can we as the Christian church 2,000 years later do any less?
Prayer
Lord, we lift your name on high; Lord we love to sing your praises; we are so glad you are in our lives; we are so glad you came to save us. To God be the glory, Amen.
Study by Barry Robinson
About the writer:
Barry Robinson is a Minister in Grace Communion International and Regional Pastor for Southern England.
Local congregation:
Grace Communion International central London
Indian YMCA
Mahatma Gandhi Hall
41 Fitzroy Square
London
W1T 6AQ
Meeting time:
Saturday 2:00pm
Local congregational contact:
Barry Robinson
Email: london@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church