“And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

For the third time in three verses, the word “every” occurs: “every name,” “every knee,” and now “every tongue.”

The issue in Jesus’ glorification is not His Saviorhood but His Lordship. Jesus has the rights to my life; He is my Master. 

“and that every tongue should confess”

“Confess” means to acknowledge a debt owed. The word “confess” here is intense, and it means to “confess out.” This is out-and-out consent—to consent fully. God wants us to acknowledge openly—that is, publicly—that Jesus is Lord.

All creation at one point will give an out-and-out acknowledgment of the right of Jesus to be Lord.

This worship will be with the tongue. We need to verbalize our praise and worship. The tongue expresses our heart and thoughts of the Lord Jesus.

“that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”

When we acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus, we glorify the Father. We contribute to the glory of God when we confess Jesus as our Lord.

We should consult our Lord about whether we should do something. “I don’t know whether I should do this or not; I will check with the Lord.”  Most of us check with our husband or wife about the course of our lives. Should we do less with the Sovereign Lord of the universe?

PRINCIPLE: 

When we acknowledge the Lordship of Christ, we glorify God.

APPLICATION: 

There is no one as worthy as the Lord of glory. He merits everything we have before God; the best is none too good for Him. If we commit ourselves to the Lordship of Christ, it will save us untold grief. It will bring blessing to our lives. But most of all, it will bring delight to the heart of God. It will glorify God the Father because He decreed the plan to send Jesus to save us from past, present, and future sin. God did the doing, so God gets the glory.