The Exalted Christ #1

The resurrection the ascension his session at God's right hand in his second coming.

We call all of that the exaltation of Christ, and here's what we need to see today hello and welcome again to the truth pulpit with Don green founding pastor of truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio by Bill Wright when Jesus willingly gave his own life as payment for our sins. It was the ultimate fact, if you really today will begin a message that will show us what God the father's response was to such an incredible sacrifice and later will see how we should respond as we come to understand the world shaking impact of what Jesus did for us. More than 2000 years ago on the cross of Calvary.

Open your Bible to Philippians chapter 2 for part one of a message called exalted Christ peers nongreen in the truthful look at Philippians chapter 2 verses one through 11. Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ. If there is any consolation of love. If there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion make my joy complete by being of the same mind maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that the name of Jesus every knee will bow those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father.

We looked at verses five through eight and considered what we titled the humble Christ we saw Christ in his humiliation as he is, he took on human flesh as he lived under the law as a suffered earthly affliction and rejection went to the cross bore our sins, was buried in suffered under the realm of death for a period of time, thoroughly humbled, thoroughly, far below the greatness of his pre-incarnate glory. That's how great the humility of Christ is that he did that that he was willing to undergo that in obedience to his father that is willing to undergo that, for the redemption of his people. The incomprehensible glory of Christ is revealed in his incarnation, and in his humiliation.

The fact that God is so high and lofty that he must stoop down to look upon creation thrall of the universe and the majesty of the celestial bodies is beneath him as creator for a God like that to step down like that is a revelation of his glory. He is majestic in his humility. If that was all that we had, we would worship him and honor him in a be worthy of our praise and adoration forever and ever without and that a God of glory would be a God of humility, God of condescension would come down to live among sinful rebels against him for their well-being.

There's nothing like that inhumanity apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.

The text we looked at last time, ended at the death of Christ. Today's tax that were going to look at rises in glory we saw last time the humble Christ. If you want to put a title on this message in your notes.

It's the exalted Christ, we seen the humiliation of Christ. Now we see the exultation of Christ and look at it there again in verses nine and 11 without introduction stated. For this reason also, because Christ humbled himself like he did, God highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that the name of Jesus every knee will bow those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father. What we see in this text are two responses to the humiliation of Christ to responses to the the humbling of Christ and what the. The outworking of what the consequence is of his great work in his condescension, his incarnation, and in the atoning work by which he satisfied the justice of God. The required payment which required penalty upon sinners if they were ever to be reconciled to him. Christ humbled himself to do that and we love him and we worship him for that. But that humiliation was not the end of the story it set in in motion in human time and set in motion a long unfolding of consequences that will reverberate throughout all of eternity.

You cannot hear about the humbled Christ and not respond to it.

There are consequences for every man woman and child that have ever lived to the humiliation of Christ before Paul talks about the human response he speaks first of all, of the response of God the father. He speaks of the response of God the father.

That's the first point. If you're taking notes were looking at two responses today because Christ the second person of the Trinity because the eternal son of God voluntarily humbled himself God the father exalted him and raised him on high.

Look at verse nine.

It is a shorthand verse for many profound aspects of what happened to Christ and what Christ did after his resurrection verse nine. For this reason also, God highly exalted him, God the father highly exalted God the son, you see a distinction in the persons of the Trinity. There, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name you know in human lives are not worthy to preach the Scriptures.

It's only a gift of God that we have a Bible in our hands, and that any of us any of us are able to read it and to speak about it in any setting whatsoever. Human lives are just not worthy of it. It's only by the grace of God that we come to Scripture and are able to read it. But here, in particular to talk about the exultation of Christ, we come to particularly holy ground.

If the burning bush for Moses was holy ground that required him to to remove his sandals. I want to tell you that we are on infinitely higher ground. As we talk about the person of Christ and as we are speaking about his exultation is appropriate for us to humble our hearts and to receive the word of God in a repentant spirit that mourns over sin and is eager to embrace the worship of Christ to the highest degree for ever without in that's an introduction to the significance of the text that is before us.

And so God exalted him. The father elevated Christ in superlatives highest possible degree house so well we won't take time to look at all the Scriptures the if you will, that the course of Christ's subsequent life is known. These facts are known to you and so we can just refer to them briefly what did the father do. He raised Jesus Christ from the dead by supernatural power God raised his son out of death and into life acts 224 short time later, Christ ascended into heaven, he supernaturally rose from the earth supernaturally ascended into the skies and took his seat at the right hand of God as men looked on in wonder and astonishment at such a magnificent act. Acts chapter 1 verses 9 to 11 Christ ascended into heaven. Scripture tells us that Christ now sits at the right hand of God in glory look over at acts chapter 2, I want to spend just a moment considering this text.

Acts chapter 2, and so Christ is resurrected Christ is ascended into heaven, he now sits at the right hand of God in glory. Verse 32 of acts chapter 2 this Jesus God raised up, again, to which we are all witnesses.

Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this, which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but David himself says the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. That's exultation and therefore verse 36. Let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ. This Jesus whom you crucified from that right hand of glory.

He sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples at that right hand of glory Jesus Christ intercedes for his saints. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 24. It says that Christ always lives to make intercession for them were not done yet is resurrected is ascended is at the right hand of glory is interceding for the saints, and we haven't talked about all of his exultation. Even at that is magnificent and wonderful as that is. That's not all that's not all, because one day Jesus Christ will return to judge the world and usher in a new age.

As he ascended, so he will return and make his presence known. Then we'll see who's king then we will see who the real leader is we call all of this, the resurrection, the ascension his session at God's right hand and his second coming.

We call all of that, the exultation of Christ, the exultation of Christ is a is a shorthand term for all of those individual aspects of his glory that we have just rehearsed and here's what we need to see today.

This is what we need to consider deep in our own hearts is that the humiliation of Christ is over and he is now in a state of transcendent glory and God in response to the humiliation of Christ blessed him as were blessed to sign with that exultation and God the father also granted a name to correspond to this high state that Jesus Christ holds look at Philippians chapter 2 again verses nine and 10 verses nine and 10.

For this reason also, God highly exalted him and he went further something additional to be joined with the exultation he bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that the name of Jesus every knee will bow those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father three times in those first two verses, Paul emphasizes the name look at it there. He bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow.

Now you and I are used to thinking of a name in a different sense in a different context.

We just use a name as the as the designation by which we recognize and call each other and in the name doesn't have the same sense of of of conveying a significance about the character of a man that it did in biblical times. You know my name, Don doesn't mean anything to you beyond that's what my parents called me at birth. It doesn't communicate anything to you about my character or anything like that. Not so with Christ and the emphasis on his name. As we said many times from this pulpit in biblical theology and biblical terms. The name communicated something about the very character and essence of the man who held that name. And so when Paul is talking about the name he's talking about a a a designation that expresses the fullness of who Jesus Christ is and in response to his humiliation and in conjunction with his exultation God recognized and and assigned it to Christ, the name by which he is called and what is that name. What is that name. The climax of the passage is there in verse 11 that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is his Lord. He is Lord. This word Lord in the New Testament translates the divine name Yahweh from in the Greek Old Testament this word Lord let me repeat myself because I stumbled yet again.

This word Lord translates Yahweh in the Greek Old Testament Old Testament originally written in Hebrew, couple centuries before Christ.

They translated the Old Testament into Greek.

The Hebrew name for God, Yahweh, I'm oversimplifying here. Yahweh, the Greeks saw that name and use this word Lord curiosity in the Greek to translate that name. And so it's a name that expresses deity and so the father's response to Christ's humiliation was to exalt him and to assign the name Lord to him that this is the name by which he shall be addressed and that name therefore watch this. That name indicates that Christ possesses all the qualities, powers and attributes of absolute deity without exception and without diminishment Christ shares the full essence of deity, and he always has in the same way that the father always has the one essence of the Trinity shared equally by three persons, father, son and Holy Spirit. The name Lord recognizes that when we consider the Lord Jesus Christ and so and so the reason that God did this reason that God granted such a name like that to Jesus was this God granted the name to him so that he will be honored in the highest and most superlative manner possible by all of intelligent creation to call Jesus Lord is to call him God and to call him God is to say that he has. He has all of the attributes of deity. He is a very essence deity himself, and because that is who he is, all of creation is to respond into giving him honor and worship and recognition of his high and superlative position.

Jesus Christ has listen listen listen listen Jesus Christ has full undiminished glory. Full undiminished honor and full undiminished power at the right hand of God. That is who he is. Look over at Ephesians chapter 1 Ephesians chapter 1, and before we before we read this text my friends. Let me just give you a little word of encouragement and exhortation and application shall I the fact that Jesus Christ is who he is. The fact that he possesses all of the qualities powers and attributes of absolute deity because he is at the right hand of God in glory where he exercises all power over all things. Do you see my friends that if that means anything at all. If that's true at all and it is that Jesus Christ is not to be trifled with, that you don't try full with that kind of exalted glory. You don't try full with one like that you don't treat him lightly that there is a sense in which we recognize his exultation and in his exultation we come to him with a sense of holy reverence and fear, and in a sense of worship because of who he is. All we we love him and appreciate the fact and we depend upon the fact that he is the friend, and Savior of sinners, but we never so forget his exultation that that makes us deal with him on less than holy terms. Christ is Lord he is exalted, and that must be reflected in the way that your heart responds to him and speaking.

Further, it should be reflected in the way the entire Church of Jesus Christ responds to him. It should be reflected in the way the churches conduct their worship even that there would be an atmosphere of holiness and reverence and worship that attends the proclamation of the word of Christ.

How can it be any other way than that. If that's who he is and he is exalted, such as he is so Ephesians 1 verses 19 through 21 received this passage also from the pen of Paul explaining to us the nature of the exultation of Christ is praying for the Ephesians here that they would understand something of the majesty of who Christ is and certainly a message like this needs the attending prayers of all of God's people because you and I you know we just were just too dull to appreciate the full significance of this were sluggish were sinful were indifferent to the things that should capture our highest thoughts and imaginations and were slow and sluggish to hear it all. We don't even have a mind our sinful minds are sinful created mines don't have the capacity to grasp the full significance of the things were talking about here today, so even as were here in this room and this hour we need the help of the Holy Spirit, of which Paul prays to help us grasp something of the reality of it to lift us beyond our natural mind, and with supernatural help, be able to grasp something that goes beyond our meager abilities. So Paul says in verse 18. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so you will know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe Paul says I'm praying for work of God, that you could understand that what you otherwise would miss. It's humbling to realize that we are so cold and indifferent to such great spiritual realities is intent and so he's goes on and says in the middle of verse 19. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named see the emphasis on the name again, not only in this age but also in the one to come is not just now.

It's not just is not just this time before the coming of Christ.

This echoes throughout all of eternity in the ages yet to come.

That's how great the exultation and that's how far-reaching the consequences of the exultation of Christ are verse 22 he put all things in subjection under his feet gave him his head over all things to the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all and that's done green with part one of the message called the exalted Christ. We hope you been blessed and edified by today's lesson.

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