Exalted by God
July 1, 2023 2023-07-01 8:02Exalted by God
Exalted by God.
Philippians 2:9-11
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (NIV)
Of course, Jesus is on the throne in Heaven. He is God. Where else would He be? However, we must remember that Christ, though He is God as part of the Trinity, He is also the Son of God and submissive to the Father. And it was the Father who gave Him this place. He was exalted by God.
Our passage today reminds us that Christ is not on the throne simply because He is God. He is there as a reward from His Father. He has been rewarded with the highest place because of His obedience to the Father. He was obedient even unto death doing what the Father called Him to do.
God has promised that those who humble themselves for His sake will be lifted up. We glorify Him and He rewards us by glorifying us.
Jesus was obedient but we do remember in the Garden of Gethsemane when the flesh and bone man He chose to live as struggled with the final act of obedience. Considering the agony of the cross, He prayed to the Father, “If there is any other way, nevertheless thy will be done.”
There are many areas where we may struggle to obey the Lord but if we can follow the example of Christ to press forward anyway, the Lord will fulfill His promise. If He has lifted Christ to the highest place because of His obedience, will He not do this for us. The Bible says God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If He honored the obedience of Christ, He will honor ours also.
Christ allowed Himself to serve the Lord by making Himself nothing, refusing to hold on to any kind of reputation. What others believed about Him or thought about Him did not matter. Too often, this is the cause of our disobedience. We are too worried about what others think. We want to be seen as somebody special, talented, or important so we pursue our own agenda to achieve this. To fully embrace servanthood, we must release our desire to be seen high in the eyes of others. The only opinion that matters is God’s.
The American dream has taught us to go after the life we desire, but the greatest reward comes from running after what God asks us to do for His glory. He will keep His promise and we will be exalted by God.
Prayer: Lord, help me to humble myself, release my reputation, and serve You only. Amen.