To the Glory of God

 Read Philippians 2

Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!  Those words get people’s blood circulating.  Some use them as a warning.  Others use them as a war cry before battle.   They should be among the sweetest words that we as believers know. 

We will get to those words in just a bit.  For now, consider that in chapter 1, Paul gives us a bit of his personal quandary.  To live is to continue on mission. To die is to reap his reward now.  It is the best mission ever.  It is the best reward ever. It’s really a win-win:  best mission ever or best reward ever.

Paul extends this mindset as an invitation to the church that he wrote, and to us. These words are among the most difficult for me to preach in the whole Bible.  Why?  The message in the text is so full, that anything I add, seems to detract from its perfect construction.  So, I will read to you.

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing

    by taking the very nature of a servant,

    being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

    he humbled himself

    by becoming obedient to death—

        even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

    and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

This set of prose is something of a prayer and a poem, perhaps even a hymn, but its message is that Christ emptied himself of all that he was because that was his Father’s will. If it was his Father’s will, then it was his will.

Christ, being God himself, served God instead of just taking his ranking place as his firstborn. Paul tells us to be like minded.

Let us do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain motives.  It’s not all about me.  We are to value others more than ourselves.

This is a tough statement.  We want to love each other.  We say that.  We write that on our bulletins and tee shirts but living it is tough.  To love others, I have to value others.

To love another person, I have to value that person.  When Christ tells me to love my enemy, I have to value that enemy.  That seems impossible.

We must remember that when Christ died for us, we had become his enemies.  While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

While Christ deserved to remain exalted, he humbled himself.

While Christ—God himself—never needed to feel human pain and suffering, he came into this world in the flesh.

While Christ was without sin, he became sin for us.

Perfect God chose to live in the middle of our mess because he loves us.  While he is king, he lived as a servant.

This is our model.  It is not an easy model.  You might be thinking that we would rather go with the blessings model.  Remember, that we received all manner of spiritual blessings.  Why not use that as our model in responding to grace?

But this paradigm of giving all we have—of emptying ourselves in response to God’s mercy and love—is the model most faithful to the example of our Master.

Rules and regulations seem easy compared to this mindset, this attitude of emptying oneself of all that might be considered of value—of all that is divine.  The term is kenosis.

Jesus did this not to show off.  It was not to promote stoicism.  It was not some machismo ritual.  Jesus did this to bring glory to his Father.  Jesus did this to the glory of God.

Through this, we see that God will not leave his Son empty and divested of his divineness.  On the contrary, God raised him up and set his name above all names.

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

When we think of every knee will bow, how can we not think of the awesome, unmatched power of God.  If he says that your knee will bow, it’s a done deal.

When we think of every knee will bow and every tongue confess, I ask that you consider more than power and authority.  Consider that the truth has been made known to the world.

In the moment when every living creature that God created sees the truth of how great the love of God is and that it is manifest in the person of Jesus, what else could the world do but kneel in reverence and proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord.

What’s the difference?

In the first instance, power alone does the work.  You will bow because God is all-powerful.

In the second case, we bow and profess Jesus as Lord because we can do nothing else.  Our very being finally does what it was created to do and we bring glory to God.

We see the works of his hands.  We touch the divine heart that sent Christ to die for our sins.  We know the sacrifice of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

When Jesus emptied himself of his rights and privileges and status and everything that said divine, God was not lessened.  God was glorified.

We receive and embrace the lordship of Christ Jesus now.  We are not waiting for some future date.  We confess now that Jesus is Lord.

The Father in heaven, whom we know best through Christ Jesus and who speaks to us every day through his Holy Spirit, is glorified.

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

It is to the glory of God the Father!

Amen.