Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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Christ Is God
Chapter 26 – What the Angel of the Lord Received Back
Jesus’ trajectory from heaven to earth and back was U-shaped. That is, it was a descending followed by an ascending. This trajectory is described in Philippians 2.
I’ve previously shown you Philippians 2:5-8. I’m going to repeat those verses here and then continue the narrative through Philippians 2:11. Because verse 8 is the pivotal verse, I’ve broken it out. It’s what Jesus does in this verse that reverses his trajectory and takes him back to heaven.
Descent > Obedience to the Point of Death > Ascent
Philippians 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
Philippians 2:6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Philippians 2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Philippians 2:8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
Philippians 2:10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Philippians 2:11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
What Jesus did on earth as a man – the life He lived – made all the difference. It made all the difference not just for Him, but for all mankind – including us!
What is this “name which is above every name”? To answer that, we have to go to the book of Isaiah, which is the part of the Old Testament Paul was quoting from in Philippians 2. Below is the passage. I put the phrase “every knee will bow” in bold print in both the Philippians passage above and the Isaiah passage below; these four words are the link given to us by the translators that lets us know Paul is quoting from Isaiah.
Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
Isaiah 45:23 “I have sworn by Myself,
The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
Isaiah 45:24 “They will say of Me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’
Men will come to Him,
And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
The “name which is above every name” that has been “bestowed on” Jesus (Philippians 2:9) is “the LORD” (Isaiah 45:24). I have put these references in bold as well.
What’s going on is that in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, God has passed on His name “LORD” to His Son Jesus – just as prophesied:
Ps 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
Thus he who was “the angel of the LORD” in the Old Testament became the LORD” himself in his resurrection/ascension in the New Testament. What a promotion!
God remained God while promoting the angel of the Lord to the Lord. In the Old Testament, God had been both God and Lord. This changed in the New Testament – specifically in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Because of this promotion, God was still God, but Jesus was now Lord, and not just the angel of the Lord God.
1 Corinthians 8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
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