9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Exaltation and humbleness – what a difficult combination. Human nature sees an inherent value in humbleness and exalts it in principle. It takes, however, a great person to be truly humble. In fact, only God can truly be humble. When humans attempt humbleness, mixed motives rule. There is a human limit because true humbleness happens when a great person does not grasp hold of or jealously guard his greatness. But mere humans are not all that great, except when comparing themselves with other humans. The greatness of being humble is directly proportional to the greatness of being. Thus, it is relative in human terms.
Conversely, God is absolutely great, so therefore His humbleness in becoming a man is an absolute humbleness. He didn’t need to grasp hold of His greatness as God. Therefore, His humbleness is not just greater than human examples of humbleness, but it is of a completely different kind, of a higher order. And it is that humbleness that we are to emulate.
Jesus Christ was exalted before and after His incarnation. Before – which gives substance to humbleness in becoming a man. After – to demonstrate that this humble man is the Lord of eternity. Just as He bowed in humility by becoming a man, every human that has ever lived or will live “will bow” in humbleness to His greatness. Not just humans, but every member of the spiritual realm, including angels and demons. There is none greater than Christ! All will eventually acknowledge His Lordship.
At the mere mention of His name, this humbling of humanity will take place. Christ is not just a nebulous concept like the Absolute in eastern religions. “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). God’s ultimate plan has been and is to exalt Christ among all of His creation. He is the perfect union of the Creator with creation. The incarnation, humbleness and exaltation show just how great our God really is. In no other religion do we find a God who is so intimate with His creation. No wonder Christ will be exalted when we all see with unveiled eyes who He really is. The exalted Lord garbed in human flesh. How better could God have possibly shown Himself to be great!
Lord, right now I bow my heart and will before You as my Lord and my Savior. No one can compare to You either in humbleness or greatness.
0 Comments