The full circle - Glory, Humiliation and back to Exaltation

After Paul gave us a short summary of his humiliation; he continues with these beautiful and powerful words, “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name which is above every other name (v.9).

The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17 tells us about His request to the Father. This is one of His prayer requests to the Father. That is, that the Father would restore to Him (Jesus) the glory that they had together from the beginning. Jesus said in John 17:4-5, “I have finished the work which You have given me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” The Father granted to Jesus that very important request at the completion of His work on the cross.

What is in a Name? When Jesus was born he was called Jesus, because he will save His people from their sin. He has also another name Emmanuel “God with us.” To study the different names of our Saviour is a very fascinating study. But what is the name the Father has given to Jesus, the name that is above every other name?

We assume that the name given to Him when we read Philippians 2:10-11 is the name Jesus. We think that—that is the Name which is above every other name.

But Paul has something different in mind. Paul says that God has exalted Christ, has given Him the name which is above every other name, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”(2:10-11)

The Name that is above every name is the title that belongs only to God. Adonai (“Lord’) which refers to God as the only sovereign one. There is no other sovereign, only God. His title is Lord. That is the Name above every name.

God the Father moved heaven and earth to exalt His Son and gave that Name because of His perfect obedience in the role of a slave even to the point of death on the cross.

Our response should be that every time we hear the name of Jesus (that is his human name)-- our response should be to humble ourselves, bow our heads in humble adoration, fall on our knees and confess with our hearts and mouths that He is Lord (Adonai) to the glory of God the Father. When we exalt Christ we also exalt the Father and the Holy Spirit.

In the last few ‘Blessings’ we went the full circle: First glory, then humiliation and finally back to exaltation.

Christ was not simply given the job just to be born on Christmas morning, nor was He given the task to die on Good Friday. He was also called to live a lifetime of 33 years of humiliation. That was the very mission He agreed to perform and to accomplish with the Father and the Holy Spirit from all eternity. Thus, it is called the Covenant of Redemption. As you can see, it is all by grace and grace alone.