The Name Above Every Name

Reading: Philippians 2  

Philippians 2 is one of my favorite chapters in Scripture because of the clarity with which it spells out the Gospel (how Christ redeemed us), while simultaneously drawing lines from the Gospel to how we are to think and live. Last Sunday we saw the wonderful truth of drawing lines from Ephesians; in Philippians Paul makes the connections even more succinctly. In this same text that draws these lines with such clarity, we also have one of the most glorious truths of the Gospel made explicit.

⁵In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; ⁷rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11 NIV)

Verse 5 tells us that we are to think the same way Christ did when He came seeking and saving the lost (as described in vv 6-8). Christ was the demonstrated humility perfectly laying down his very rights as God, living poor and subject to the same conditions we mortals live under. Then verses 9-11, show how the Father multiplied and restored back to Him what He laid down. For Jesus that means being given the name that is above every name!

What is that name that is above every name? Is it the name Jesus? Or, is it the name YHWH? Or, as I will suggest, is it the declaration that Jesus is YHWH—that every tongue will declare that Jesus Messiah is indeed YHWH God to the glory of God the Father? In order to see what I am suggesting we only have to look at the text Paul is quoting from in Isaiah. As you read, keep in mind that LORD is written where the Hebrew is YHWH, the name by which God revealed Himself to Israel (see also Isaiah 42:8).

²¹…Was it not I, the LORD (YHWH)? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. ²²"Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. ²³By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. ²⁴They will say of me, 'In the LORD (YHWH) alone are deliverance and strength. '" All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. ²⁵But all the descendants of Israel will find deliverance in the LORD (YHWH) and will make their boast in him. (Isaiah 45:21-25)

YHWH is very jealous that His name and glory not be given to another, to an idol, to a false savior. But the Father has been very pleased to have the man Jesus (because the Son humbled Himself and became man), who is the Messiah (Christ), exalted to the highest place in the universe and given a name above every name (I can only think of One name that high) that at the name of Jesus (the man who was crucified for our sin) every knee in heaven and earth would bow and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. Lord (kurios) is YHWH's name translated in the Greek Old Testament (LXX) in Isaiah 45:14-16 as the One speaking in Isaiah 45:21-25. The Greek word for Lord, kurios, is used in Isaiah 42:8 LXX for the Hebrew YHWH (I am kurios—the Lord), that is my name! Now we are to declare that Jesus Christ is YHWH! To declare Jesus Christ as Lord, while paraphrasing Isaiah 45:23, is nothing other than to declare Jesus Christ as YHWH! That is giving Him the name that is above every name!

The next time someone knocks on your door and suggests that we are not to worship Jesus but only Jehovah (just a variation on YHWH by adding vowels differently—YeHoWaH rather than YaHWeH), remember that every knee will eventually bow and every tongue will eventually declare that Jesus Christ is Jehovah (YHWH) to the glory of God the Father! So start proclaiming it now!

Love the Gospel, Live the Gospel, Advance the Gospel,

Jerry

How Do I Know I'm in God's Will?

Reading: Proverbs 3  

I have spoken to many people over the years who, in the midst of making a major decision, were concerned with how to know if it was the will of God. This is commendable, and something I myself have had to deal with at various points in my life. There are times when there are clear indicators as to whether something is a right or wrong decision. There are other times when there appear to be several equally good choices, each resulting in very different outcomes for our lives. How do we know what to do? How do we know what will please God? How do we know which one God wants us to choose?

There have been times in my life when I have had an unexplainable clear sense that the Lord was forbidding me to go in a direction that would otherwise seem as good a decision as my other options. At other times, there are some good choices, but my experience in life and knowledge of scripture causes me to be uncomfortable with a particular choice and so I have much more “peace” about making another choice. However, sometimes one does not have anything like that and there seem to be multiple good choices that would effect our lives in very different ways. In times like these people are often anxious they will make “the wrong decision.”

I have also met some who, whether they have a clear sense of what they are to do, or even if there is a distinctly better choice, still fret over whether or not “it” might be “the wrong decision.” Whether your experience is more like this, or more like what is described in the previous paragraph, Proverbs 3 contains some truth that will set you free from anxious thoughts about making “the wrong decision.” I think this is the most common experience of the Christian life.

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. ⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. (Proverbs 3:5-7)

All too often we think that we have to know what the perfect decision is in order to make it. Like the child who is told to do something and always asks, “Why?” (That was me as a child.) That is a great question in math, or science, or other academic studies. However, when it comes to doing the will of God we don't always get to know the perfect decision in order to make it. Just like the child who can't always comprehend why they are told to do something needs to know that they must do it, so when it comes to God's commands we are often simply to obey without knowing why.

Sometimes the same principle applies to knowing the right decision for our future. As believers we don't look to the stars for guidance, or go to psychics. Yet some Christians want God to act for them just as a psychic or astrologer... predicting their future, or at least telling them which decisions they are to make in order to have the best future. The point of Proverbs 3:5, 7 are clear: we must learn to trust God when we don't have understanding. We must not think that wisdom for every decision rests with us!

This is practiced in every day life when we “fear the Lord and shun evil.” Sometimes, however, our choices are neither evil nor good. It is in those times that the promise of Proverbs 3:6 is so important. When we obey the Lord in the clear things that He has asked us to do in His Word (in all your ways acknowledge Him), He promises to make sure all our decisions in the not so clear choices are pleasing to Him (He will make your paths straight)!

This promise may be easily missed because the language “He will make your paths straight” is not so clear to us. The King James translation was actually easier to understand here: “He shall direct thy paths.” The Holman Christian Standard Bible may make it the clearest: “He will guide you on the right paths.”

The word translated “make straight” has another meaning, “make right,” or, “pleasing”. This word is used in Jeremiah 18:4 in this sense.

But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. (Jeremiah 18:4 NASB)

Our lives are in the hands of the potter. When we set out to please God with our lives in what is clear and known (repenting when we fail and seeking to live out repentance), the Lord promises to direct our paths into what pleases Him. This is true even when our understanding doesn't know if it was the right choice! Fear not!

⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Love the Gospel, Live the Gospel, Advance the Gospel,

Jerry