Skip to main content

Every Knee Will Bow

             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. (Philippians 2:9-11)

So, why is Jesus the only way? Why will every knee should bow and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father? I suspect that sometimes, some of us think that it’s some sort of bad attitude on God’s part. He picked Jesus in a fit of pique, and now He’s going to stomp His feet and demand that we make a big deal about Jesus. But He could have just as easily picked Mohammed, or Buddha, or you. It’s really not fair to arbitrarily pick Jesus. The snide part of me wants to finish the complaint of these some with “Who does He think He is?”

And the answer is that He thinks He’s God, and that’s only a problem if He’s not. And if He is God, then the choices He makes are based on thinking that is so much higher, bigger, better, longer, deeper, etc. than ours. He has the right to make decisions and our right to question those decisions is limited.  We can ask who, what, when, where, why, or how, but our response to His answer (even no answer) is His to judge.

So, returning to the passage, I submit that God’s choice wasn’t arbitrary. God exalted Him to the highest place because He did what was needed to earn that place. He gave Him a name that is above every name because He earned it. Every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord not because God said, “DO IT!” but because Jesus did what was required to become Lord.  It’s not arbitrary. It’s not magical. It’s just logical. What makes no sense is claiming the founders of other religions compare or deserve respect as anything other than a human being.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more