Come Let Us Adore Him | The Name Above All Names

Come Let Us Adore Him: (Part III)

The Name Above All Names

Philippians 2:9-11 (ESV)  

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

It has been said that if ever you want to enter into some serious discussions with someone, ask the question, "For you, who is the greatest  person of all time and why?" I'm expecting that you will have some heated discussions about it, and you will probably hear people throwing in  different names – Ex. Michael Jordan, Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, or Martin Luther King Jr. 

However, for all of us who believe in Jesus Christ, I trust that we know that the only right answer to this question is Jesus Christ. Well, you  might think that I'm a little bit partial. If you are in doubt, I would like you to listen to these words written by Henry G. Bosch, the founder of Our  Daily Bread: 

Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ's 3-year ministry infinitely  transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all  antiquity. Jesus painted no pictures; yet, some of the finest paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their  inspiration from Him. 

Jesus wrote no poetry; but Dante, Milton, and scores of the world's greatest poets were inspired by Him. Jesus composed no music; still  Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection of melody in the hymns, symphonies, and oratories  they composed in His praise. Every sphere of human greatness has been enriched by this humble Carpenter of Nazareth.

Aside from these words of Henry G. Bosch, I believe that our main text will significantly help in reinforcing the fact that Jesus is the most  extraordinary person who has walked on earth. Of course, during this Christmastime, it would help us keep our focus on Jesus and not be  distracted by the other things that commercialized our celebrations. 

So, the theme, "The Name Above All Names," is taken out of Paul's letter to the Philippians. As he challenged them about keeping the  attitude of humility in their day-to-day lives as believers, the apostle uses the life of Jesus as the ultimate example of humility. Paul is stressing in  the text that the best way to be exalted by God is through the attitude of humility. Let's expound on our theme by looking at three key elements  about the name, "Jesus." 

I THE WORK THAT EARNED HIM HIS NAME (v. 9) 

The exaltation of Jesus' name happened because of His self-abandonment described from the verses before our text. If you notice, verse 9  begins with the conjunction, "Therefore," which shows the need to go back to verses 5-8. These verses say: 

Philippians 2:5-8 (ESV) 

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

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

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

Many Bible scholars refer to these verses as the "Kenosis," which is the Greek word for the self-abandonment of Jesus Christ. The basis  of this doctrine comes from the phrase in verse 7, "but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." Unfortunately, some people misunderstand this idea of Jesus emptying Himself by interpreting it to mean that He stripped Himself of His  divine attributes when He came to earth and became a man. This idea is false! There were so many occasions that Jesus demonstrated His divinity  in the Gospels by displaying the attributes of being "all-knowing" or being "all-powerful." He never stopped being God at any particular time  while He was on earth. Instead, it merely means that He set aside the voluntary display of His divine attributes and submitted Himself to the  will of His Father. An excellent example of this self-emptying can be seen in these next verses: 

1. Matthew 24:36 (The verse seem to show the lack of knowledge) 

36 "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 

2. John 1:45-49 (These verses display that He knows everything) 

45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth,  the son of Joseph." 

46 Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" 48 Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw  you." 

49 Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" 

This self-emptying of Jesus Christ was necessary for Him to accomplish His work of salvation. There was no possibility of Him dying if He  remained in His divinity. Since He became a man, then it became possible for Him to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin, dying on the cross, shedding  His powerful blood, and forgiving the sins of those who will repent and believe in Him. The author of the book of Hebrews presents this truth as  well: 

Hebrews 10:12-14 (ESV) 

12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 

13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 

14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 

Don't miss this truth from these verses, Jesus, after offering a "single sacrifice," finished the work of salvation and returned to heaven,  sitting at the right hand of God. The Father bestowed this exalted position to Him because He was satisfied with His great work of salvation. 

II THE WORSHIP THAT HIS NAME DEMANDS (v.10)

For the lack of understanding, so many people today take the name of Jesus in vain. Often, even believers are guilty of using the  name "Jesus" in silly jokes or careless expressions. If you are one of these people who are taking the name of "Jesus" for granted, please consider  verse 10 -11a – "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." 

You see, when Jesus came to earth, He was stripped of honor because He took upon Himself the form of a servant (Phil.2: 7). He was born  in a low-income family, worked as a carpenter, even knelt before his disciples washing their feet. However, once He accomplished the work of  salvation, the Father restored His honor and glory. 

Remember the prayer that Jesus made in John 17:4-5 (ESV): 

4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 

5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 

What we see in our passage this morning is exactly the answer to the prayer of Jesus Christ. 

Another essential truth that we need to emphasize is the Sovereign authority given to Jesus Christ by the Father. Notice, all creatures need  to bend their knees and bow in worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is also worth highlighting is the phrase "in heaven." Meaning, even angels  will be compelled to bow and worship Jesus Christ. This truth definitely can only mean one thing – Being God Himself; He deserves everyone's  honor, including all the angels. 

Of course, today, so many people refuse to bow and honor the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes, we get offended when there are people who  arrogantly make fun of our Savior. But don't worry. One of these days, everyone will ultimately know who He is, and they will have to bow and  worship Him. The only tragic fact is that if you only kneel and worship Him at your judgment, it would be too late because your bowing came as  an acknowledgement that you are a sinner and you will be sent to your eternal condemnation. 

My prayer is that you and I will know who Jesus is, and we would be willing to humbly bow our hearts and will to Jesus Christ while we  are alive. This surrender to Jesus translates to believing and receiving Jesus as our personal Savior. 

Romans 10:9-10 (ESV) 

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 

III THE WORTH THAT HIS NAME DELIVERS (v.11b) 

Lastly, I want to emphasize this last phrase in verse 11, "to the glory of God the Father." All of us need to know that there is no  competition in heaven today among the three persons of the Godhead regarding who should get more worship. 

At one time, I was teaching a home Bible Study, and there was a person who came, and her perception is that Jesus Christ is a little inferior  compared to the Father. She accuses us that we as evangelical Christians worship Jesus more than we worship Jehovah God. So, I have to explain  that we don't share the same perspective about Jesus. Why? It is because, for us, the Father and the Son are equal in substance and power. I also  explained that it is for the Father's glory whenever we offer worship to Jesus Christ. You see, the Father is never envious whenever we worship the  Son. It is His will that we worship Jesus, and that is the reason for His name, "Jesus."

Do you know that the name "Jesus" literally means "Jehovah Saves?" So, it is a constant reminder of the gift we have received from Him.  Beloved, Jesus is worthy of our worship, and we need to acknowledge it today while we are still alive, not after we die. As we close, my challenge for us is to re-examine again who Jesus is to us personally. Christmas is the best time to re-calibrate our hearts  because it is highly possible that we got distracted in the past, and Jesus has been dethroned from our hearts. It is good to ask ourselves these  questions: 

• Who is Jesus Christ to me nowadays?  

• Is He still at the very center of my life? 

• Is my will still bowing before Him? 

Let's do our best to refocus our lives this Christmas so that our celebrations will be worthwhile and truly enjoy the season to the fullest!

-Dr. Jeremiah Lepasana