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Read Introduction to Philippians

 

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name”

 

Verses 2:5-8 set forth the descent of the Lord Jesus.  Verses 2:9-11 present His ascent. This is not His ascension but His ascent in the minds of both God and man.

Jesus went from the highest point imaginable, the “form of God” (the essence of God), to the lowest place conceivable, the “death of the cross,” a criminal’s death in the eyes of Rome. 

“Therefore”

Every time we see a “therefore,” we should look to see what it is there for!  Because of the humiliation of Christ in incarnation and cross, God will exalt Him.

Jesus did not stay on the cross. He is in glory; He escaped the tomb. Most of the founders of religion are dead and buried, but not the Lord Jesus. He is alive today. If you want to start a religion today, all you have to do is die, be buried, and rise again!  Obviously, the Lord Jesus is the unique Savior of the universe.  He took the round trip from heaven to earth and back again.

“God also has highly exalted Him”

To exalt Him is one thing; to “highly” exalt Him is another thing. The Lord Jesus towers with towering superiority over anyone else. He is the Great Unlike, the single Son of God. He is the quintessence of exaltation.

Jesus is the center of worship in God’s mind:

“Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31).

Worship must have content. To worship out of emotions void of the content does not honor the Lord. He is to be worshiped for something. It is content that allows for true worship. Jesus went from the heights of heaven to the depths of death for us.  His sacrificial life and death were for us. Much of today’s music is without substance. Our lyrics lack content. On the other hand, some music today focuses our attention on the Lord in ways the old hymns wanted. In any case, true worship involves worshipping the Lord for something.

PRINCIPLE:

Worship requires content.

APPLICATION:

Jesus is the basis of true worship. The way we can measure whether we are truly worshipping is to take note of the content of our worship. Music that does not focus on some content such as the incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus is a merely emotional vacuum.

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