Why We Worship Jesus - Week 4

so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

We'll look at these verses in more detail later, but for now, consider the allusion to Isaiah chapter 45. There, God proclaims,

there is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a savior, there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return. To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.

How is it that the God of the Old Testament, who says there is none besides me, who says of my glory I give to no other, How can He say in Isaiah that every knee shall bow to Him and every tongue swear allegiance to Him, when in Philippians it says every knee will bow to Christ and every tongue will confess Him as Lord? How is that possible? Would that not be the greatest act of idolatry? Well, that's only if Christ is not God, but He is. And because he is, we see that true worship is always offered to the triune God, who is Father, Son, and Spirit. True worship belongs to the God who is three in one, who alone deserves such worship. But even as we consider Christ's divinity, we must not neglect his humanity. We don't just worship Christ's divine nature, we worship his entire person. Even though the pre-incarnate Christ was God, he did not count his status as God, a thing to be grasped, something to be exploited for his own gain. Instead, he willingly became incarnate. He took on a human nature to be born like us. And that brings us to our second point, Christ's humanity. Christ's humanity. Verse seven tells us,

he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

What does it mean that Christ emptied himself? A lot of confusion has arisen from that phrase. Some have wrongly argued it to mean that in becoming incarnate, Christ somehow gave up the form of God. He somehow emptied himself of his divine nature to take on a human nature. But that cannot be the case. God cannot cease to be God. What Christ emptied himself of was not his divine attributes or his divine nature, but his divine trappings, the glory, the honor, the privileges he held as God. These he willingly laid aside to take on our humanity, to take on flesh, and to be born in the likeness of men, being fully God and fully man, assuming our full humanity yet without sin. And this should be a great comfort to us. Jesus Christ experienced life in this world, life under the sun, just as we all have. As he walked on this earth, he experienced the very things that we have all experienced. He really felt temptation. He really felt weariness, hunger, pain, and grief. We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with us. As God, he held the highest subjective position of glory, yet he emptied himself to become like us and to identify with us. He who is equal with God did not count that a thing to be grasped, something to be used for his advantage. He who was rich became poor for our sake. How different is Christ from us in this world? Think about how desperate we are to cling to whatever authority and power we have, to hold onto that and to use it selfishly for our own good instead of serving others. Yet see how Christ came to be lowly, to live the life of a servant. He came to serve rather than be served. He healed the sick, he fed the poor, he even washed his disciples' feet. Yet the greatest act of service Jesus accomplished was the laying down of his life on the cross. And that brings us to our third point, Christ's humiliation. Christ's humiliation. Christ had already condescended unimaginably by being born in the likeness of men, but his humiliation did not stop there. In fact, that was just the beginning. Verse 8 goes on to tell us,

in being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Not only did Christ come to live and dwell among us as a man, more importantly, he came to suffer and die for our sake. This is the teaching that Islam categorically denies. They say, how could God let his holy prophet, his holy messenger, the Messiah, how could God let him die? They cannot accept that as a principle, Christ could die. But even Peter, one of Jesus's closest disciples, could not fathom this. When Jesus foretold his death, Peter took him aside and rebuked him. He said,

far be it from you, Lord. This shall never happen to you.

He could not understand that the Christ would be humiliated, that he would suffer, and that he must die. And not just any death. The death upon the cross, the most cruel and shameful and degrading death of all. The death reserved for slaves and criminals. The death that was the mark of God's curse. This was not the death he deserved. He was holy, perfect, and sinless. Yet he died for our sake. bearing our sins and the wrath and punishment we rightfully deserved for our rebellion against God. Brothers and sisters, this is the great scandal, the great offense of the gospel that we must never lose sight of. The Son of God had to die on the cross to save helpless sinners like you and I. Has the cross become ordinary? or dull to you, may it not be so. May it never cease to captivate and humble us. Consider the height of glory Christ came from and the depth of humiliation that he descended to. He dwelt in heaven in unimaginable glory and majesty, holding every privilege of deity. Yet he left all of that behind to willingly and joyfully humble himself by taking on flesh we can only hardly begin to grasp that great chasm, the infinite difference between God and man. But that incarnation was only just the beginning of this humiliation. He was a king, yet he was born in a stable, not a palace. He was creator and sustainer, yet he became dependent on a creature to nurse him. He was God, yet he was mocked and scorned instead of praised. His entire life was one of going lower and lower and lower, from one degree of humiliation to the next, from being born in the likeness of man to suffering on this earth, to finally dying on the cross and facing God's wrath. But praise be to God, the story did not end there. For you know, three days later, Christ rose from the dead. His humiliation had finally come to an end. And that brings us to our fourth point, Christ's exaltation, Christ's exaltation. Verse nine says,

therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

Because the son humbled himself, the father responded by exalting him. In John 17, before Jesus's arrest and crucifixion, he prayed,

Father, The hour has come, glorify your son that the son may glorify you. I glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Philippians 2 reveals the father's answer to his son's prayer. He exalted him. And here, this exaltation in view includes both the resurrection and the ascension. Both were the Father's response of vindication, approval for what Christ had done and to restore to him all the glory he had laid aside and more. Three days after Christ was crucified, God the Father raised him from the dead. This physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Christian faith. The empty tomb proclaims to us that what Jesus said about himself is true, that he is indeed the son of God. The empty tomb confirms to us that our justification is sure and that our penalty for sin has been paid in full. And the empty tomb guarantees to us that one day we too will be raised from the dead to be with Christ. But for all we rightly focus on the resurrection, we must not forget about the ascension too. This was also part of his exaltation by the father. 40 days after his resurrection, Christ ascended bodily into heaven. And there the father seated him at his right hand and crowned him king and installed him in power and glory and authority. And verse nine goes on to tell us

he bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

What is that name? It is the name of Lord. Many scholars think the earliest Christian creed was the four words, Jesus Christ is Lord. Lord is the greatest title, the highest rank, the name that surpasses all other names and that belongs only to God. And so the incarnate Christ now exalted has received that name of Lord that was always due his, that always belonged to him. Because Christ humbled himself in the greatest way, because he condescended unimaginably, it is only right that he should therefore be exalted to the greatest degree possible. But for what purpose was Christ exalted? Well, verses 10 and 11 tell us.

So that, at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

This right here is the right response of every creature to the sovereign Lord. This is God's purpose for us, his creation, to worship and glorify him. And this is the purpose for Christ's exaltation, that he should have complete dominion and total lordship, that all would hail him as a sovereign Lord. Yet today we see this is not the case. All around us, this world is full of people who reject Christ, who refuse to confess him as Lord. Why is that? Well, the reason is not because God is slow to fulfill His promise, but because He is patient, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. And so if you're here today and you do not know Christ as Lord and Savior, will you bow to Him? Will you repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ who died on the cross? Will you acknowledge Him as Lord today? Because a day is coming when you will not have the choice or the freedom to. A day is coming when all will bow the knee in submission. All will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. There will be no exceptions. Every angel and all the hosts of heaven, every living being upon the earth, even Satan and every one of his followers under the earth, all will bow before Christ. The only question is, will it be now or then? This text does not teach that everyone will be saved. It means that all will acknowledge Christ's rule and pay him homage. One day, everyone will bow before Christ, either under mercy or under judgment, either in joy or in despair. But brothers and sisters, for those of us who do belong to Christ, what a glorious day that will be to see our Savior and Lord receive the worship he is due, and to join with all of creation in bowing before the rightful King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Well, we've seen from this text Christ's divinity, his humanity, his humiliation and his exaltation. Let's now consider what that means for us. How does all of that apply to us? Well, our first response should be to simply praise and worship Christ for who he is and all that he has done. We just saw in verses 10 and 11 that describes what every creature's response should be to its creator. Christ's lordship truly demands our worship. Many scholars think this passage was, in fact, an early hymn that Christians sang in worship. For all of its richness and doctrine, it was ultimately used for the purpose of worship. In the same way, all of our doctrines and truths about God are pointless if they do not lead us to worship him more. Charles Spurgeon put it this way,

we learn but little in Christ's school if the practical result of it all be not to make us cry, I will yet praise thee more and more.

Our theology must lead to doxology. So what can we praise God for? Well, we can praise him that he took on flesh and condescended to save us. We can praise him that he has given us new hearts to know him. And we can praise him that in the pages of scripture, he has revealed to us who he truly is. So when you see Christ in this passage, does he captivate you? Does he fill your heart with awe and wonder? Do you see his beauty, his splendor, his majesty? Brothers and sisters, Christ is far too glorious for half-hearted worship or adoration. He demands we worship and love him with all our being. So may we adore the person of Christ. May we worship him as he really is, fully God, yet fully man, humble servant, yet exalted king. And as we see and think about all the people in this world that do not worship Christ now, how that should spur us on to the work of evangelism and missions. Look with me at verses 10 and 11 again.

So that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

This is where the world is headed. But we're not there yet. So until then, what a great privilege God has given to us to be a part of building up his kingdom. What a great responsibility we have to urge others to bow the knee to Christ and confess him as Lord before it's too late. I think about missionaries who have laid aside their comforts and privileges to labor for the gospel overseas. Is that something God would have you consider? Would you be willing to leave your home for the sake of him who left his heavenly home? But even here we can be faithful. We can tell others about Christ, that he would be glorified and that sinners would be saved. This passage also calls us to worship Christ by imitating him. It's been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Now we just did a series on sins of the tongue, so that metaphor breaks down, but I do think there's some truth to that saying. Look with me at the verse we skipped, verse five. Paul says,

have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

Paul's command to the Philippians and to us is to have the mind of Christ, to imitate his model of humility. For all Paul says about Christ in verses six through 11, he does so for the purpose of exhorting towards humility. He puts Christ forward as the illustration, the example of humility. He's saying, look at Christ. If he so humbled himself, you too ought to follow his example to have the same mind. The pattern of Christ's humble life is the pattern for all Christians. But what does that humility look like practically? Well, Paul tells us in the verses right before, verses three and four,

do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Christ calls us to serve and sacrifice for others, to put them first, And of course, the greatest example of this was none other than Christ himself. So what is a way you can imitate him by serving others here in this church? How can you use your gifts or resources to humbly put others before yourself? God's way of humility and service is so contrary to this world. This world tells us to put ourselves first, to live for ourselves now. But see, from the shape of Christ's life, that in God's kingdom, this is not the way. He humbled himself. He went lower than anyone else. And in the end, he was exalted to the highest. This is the upside-down nature of God's kingdom. In his kingdom, humiliation precedes exaltation. In fact, humiliation is the very pathway to exaltation and glory. This is the pattern that Christ, our head, has set for us as his church. So what a glorious calling it is for us to imitate Christ and to follow in his footsteps by lowering ourselves. And what a great comfort for us that as we do that, as we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that we can trust the Father just as Christ did, that at the proper time, we too will be exalted. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you because you are God alone and that there is none besides you. You alone are worthy of worship. And we thank you for sending your son, Jesus Christ, into this world. We pray that you would help us to worship him with all our being. And we pray that you would form in our hearts his humility. In Jesus' name, amen.