A FRIEND OR A JUDGE

               

The French philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778) wrote voluminous writings against Christianity and the Bible. In 1776 he predicted that within one hundred years, the Bible will no longer be read and Christianity would be swept from existence. However, within fifty years after his death, in an ironic twist of providence, the very house in which he once lived was used by Geneva Bible society as a storehouse for Bibles and gospel tracts.  The printing press he used to print his work was used to print Bibles.

During World War II, Adolf Hitler ordered the building of a 100,000 watt radio transmitter in Monte Carlo, Monaco.  His plan was to use it to broadcast venomous Nazi propaganda throughout the world; he never used it. Today from that very building Trans World Radio beams the gospel of Christ in numerous languages to millions all over the world. Could these ironies of history be just a hint of the last word Christ will have at the end of this age?

In his letter to the Philippians Paul wrote that Jesus “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death... For this reason also, God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:8–11)

The phrase “for this reason” shows a cause-effect relationship between Christ’s self-humbling v.8 and His exaltation v.9. Jesus willing left his glory to come to earth and obeyed his father to the point of death on the cross. And because of his humility, God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name above every name. His exaltation followed a process; first, there was the humble birth, then a humble life, humble submission to the cross and finally the crown.

In these verses, Paul imparts two significant blessings to the humble Jesus Christ. First, God highly exalted Jesus. The word translated “highly exalted” can be literally rendered “super exalted.” In other words, Christ received the highest exaltation. Second, God gave Jesus the name which supersedes all other names. God bestowed on Jesus the name “Lord”. And every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

Paul draws on the idea of Isaiah 45:21-25 where God declares “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 shall take an oath” (Isa 45:23). Paul quotes the verse again in Rom 14:11. Notice that in Isaiah, it is to God that all knees bow and tongues confess while in Philippians it is to Jesus that they bow, showing the level to which Jesus is exalted.

The Isaiah passage is a powerful statement about God’s supremacy (45:16–18). It is precisely this supremacy which is conferred on Jesus in Philippians 2:10–11. While on earth His name was often despised. Because he did not conform to the world of His day, He did not have an important title beside his name. Yet, because Jesus did not live to make his name great on this earth, God has made His name supremely exalted in the world to come(Eph 1:20–21).

At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This conveys the absolute totality of all creation recognizing the superiority of Jesus Christ.  In heaven the angels will bow before Jesus. The angels are awesome creatures of great power and glory (Dan 8:17, Dan. 10: 8, 10, 15). Yet, in heaven angels bow before the Lord Jesus Christ.

All men who ever lived on earth will bow to Jesus. The powerful men like presidents of the world super powers, world conquerors like Alexander the great, evil men like Adolf Hitler; all will bow before Jesus. The poorest men who lived in the slums and the jungles, the orphans, the physically challenged; all will bow before the Lord Jesus. Under the earth, Satan and his powerful demons (Job 1:15, 19; 2:7, Dan.10:13) will all bow before the Lord Jesus.

The combination of tongues confessing and knees bowing gives the idea of a complete submission to Jesus, both in word and in action that will be required of all. The totality of this recognition of Jesus’ deity and exaltation is envisioned to happen in the final judgment, when every creature in heaven and hell is required to bow their knees and make the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord.

These great verses are a reminder that worship is a choice for us now, but one day, every human being and spirit being will worship God. The evil will bow against their wills, but they will bow anyway. There will be no atheists (believe there is no God) or agnostics (say it’s not possible to know whether God exists or not) in Hell. On that day, it won’t matter what anyone thinks, every person will acknowledge (albeit too late for some) that Jesus is Lord.

Jesus will have the last word! He will be vindicated before the entire universe. The world may not bow or confess to Jesus today, but it’s going to bow sooner or later. If people will not willingly give glory to God in this life, they will do so against their will throughout eternity. Not all will be saved but all will confess that Jesus is Lord. Confess Him today as your Savior and spend eternity with him or confess Him on the Judgement Day and you spend eternity in Hell.

The exaltation of Jesus is an encouragement to humility. God will exalt believers who humble themselves. A life lived in self-denial now, will be rewarded by God in the future. Jesus taught that “he who humbles himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11). The risen Jesus told men “was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:26). If we humble ourselves God will exalt us at the proper time (1 Pet. 5:6).

The exaltation of the Jesus is an encouragement in trials. Jesus endured the cross, the Father gave him the strength and grace that he needed for that awful ordeal. The resurrection and subsequent exaltation of Jesus shows that God can transform the ugliest of human sins against us into the greatest of divine triumphs. Any suffering or tragedy we face can redound to the glory of God. Our tendency is to long for the exaltation, but to evade the humiliation.

The exaltation of the Jesus is an encouragement to evangelism. The fact that every knee shall bow before Jesus as Lord, either willingly in this life, or forcibly at the judgment, should impel us to warn others to flee the wrath to come. Lost people need to see the serious consequences if they continue in rebellion. They need to positively respond to Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other”.

Paul says that every knee will bow to Jesus and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. In the Roman Empire, all residents of the Empire were required to declare that Caesar is Lord. Christians rightly interpreted it as idolatry and refused to participate, often paying with their lives. Paul had no doubt who is really Lord – not the Caesar before whom he was about to stand trial; Caesar would one day bow before Paul’s master the Lord Jesus Christ!

Today millions of people bet their eternal destiny against an outcome that God has declared absolutely certain. And yet people go on betting their eternal destiny against this sure word from God, living as if God’s Word were uncertain or not true. The question is, on which side are you? One day, you will be face-to-face with God. How do you want that meeting to go; a reunion of old friends or a judge rendering sentence to a criminal?