R sbc
Date: August 21, 2005
Sunday Morning
Subject: “ The Exalted Christ”
Text: Php 2:9-11
Intro: Last Sunday we seen the humility of Christ being brought from the highest to the lowest of the low. From being born in a stable, to having no place to lay his head. From being rejected by his own nations, to untold cruelty to him as a man.
We have seen in our study of Christ that he was framed, he was lied upon, he was rejected for just about everything he did. This is no doubt one of my favorite passage of this book.
He did all that the father commanded him to do, he paid the supreme price for our sins, he completely filled the law and the prophets...
He brought life and light to light through the gospel, he established his church and then taught them things pertaining to the Kingdom for forty days. He ascended back to heaven and is seated in his eternal glory...
I... “THIS EXALTATION WAS THE RESULTS OF FULFILLED PROPHECY”
Psa 2-7 ¶ I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
This particular Psalm is used by Christ and other writers of to establish the fact that Christ is the one of whom David speaks of and not David himself. Peter confirming that the raising up of Christ is the resurrection...Acts 13:33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
Another promises that is made in the book of Psalms 89:27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. We have it before us this morning. When Christ was raised from the dead...he lays claim to this wonderful truth...
Matt 28-16 ¶ Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth...
Here is the claim, here is the reality that CHRIST has risen to claim his power over all and is presently ruling and reigning over all.
II... “ THE SOURCE OF HIS EXALTATION”..VS “GOD”
Isa 52-13 ¶ Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
The Apostle Peter clearly and irrevocably sheds light on the subject of who it is that exalted Christ...His Father.
Acts 2-33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. 34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
1st. Where he is at: The right hand of God
2nd. Why he is there: The sending of the Holy Spirit.
3rd. The clarification: David is not ascended.
4th. The duration... Until
To be exalted by GOD is the position that he has means that he is at the highest, of the highest, there is none above him to overrule him, there is none below him that can rise up above him to overthrow him, he knows no defeat...
III... “ GIVEN HIM A NAME”..VS 9
The bible has a lot to say about names, Pro 22:1 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. When we look at the power of the names of men...
Abraham and how God used him to build a great nation..
Moses and how he affected his people Israel..
David and his great kingdom..
Solomon and his reign over all a type of Christ and his kingdom..
John the Baptist who shook his world by preaching the Kingdom of heaven...
But none has effected and change the course of world history and the countless lives of men and women and boys and girls like the wonderful and exalted name of Jesus Christ our LORD.
(1.) He was given an all inclusive name:
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
(2.) His name meant saviour:
Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
(3.) His name is a great name:
You know, you and I don’t have much of a name, it does not command the attention like many names do, it will not change you, it will not make a better person out of you and I, but the name of Jesus what a name...
a. It is great because of what it represents: great ability Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
b. It is great because of the influence it has on us:
Two thousand years after his birth and death and resurrection and yes his exaltation Christ is still influencing us... he has saved us, changed us, challenges us, he is in us, over us, for us, and one day he will be with us...
(4.) His name and his name only is our path to the Father:
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Christ is not a way, another way, a better way, he is the only way. There is no salvation in Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, there is no hope in man, in the church, in religion, in a better life, in a thousand other ways and schemes men come up with..
(5.) He has a more excellent name: Hebrews 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Not just better but so much better...
Because he is better than all it results in everything being better...
IV... “THE PURPOSE STATED”..VS 10-11
In studying the bible carefully one can readily tell what the purpose of a doctrine is, and in this case we see it clearly...the purpose of the exalted Christ is that all men and nations should bow to him...
I do not believe as other writers indicated that this is an actual bowing of the knee, but rather a submission to the very power and dignity owned by Christ... For some in this passage neither have knees nor tongues...
The great Prophet Isaiah 45-22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
We can only imagine how this will finally one day take place to it’s totality. Men now neither bow privately nor publically... we do and are made to do so by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT. In a sense men do bow before him also in this life...
Three particulars mentioned...
In heaven: All things in heaven are subject to Jesus Christ... Psalms 115:3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
In earth: Is Christ having men bow to his will now? Daniel 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Under earth: The most diabolically of that wicked darkness must submitt...
Revelation 5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
There is not a single place in heaven in earth under the earth where Christ is no in control, I know why are things so bad? Good question? Not sure I have the answer to that. But I do have the answer all things are subject to him...
1 Peter 3:22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
V... THE GLORY INTENDED...VS 11
He mentions two of them!
(1.) That Christ is Lord:
He was born Lord: Luke 2-11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is CHRIST THE LORD.
Because he is Lord we received grace to be saved: Acts 15:11
Because he is Lord we receive peace with the Father: I Cor 1-3
Because he is Lord we have victory through our Lord Jesus Christ:1 Cor 15:57
Because he is Lord we have received all spiritual blessings: Eph 1-3
(2.) That the Father may be glorified: vs 11
When The Lord Jesus Christ was going to raise Lazarus from the dead he said: Joh 11:4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
It is so hard to figure out the Trinity and yet, at the same time, we see both the Father and the Son glorified by what God did for his Son, what he did to his Son, what his Son is doing now...