06 - From The Cross To The Crown 2012 By Pastor Jeff Wickwire Notes (1)

PHILIPPIANS—THE CHRISTIAN’S GUIDE TO JOY

Part 6

“From the Cross to the Crown”

Last time we saw in Phil.2:5-8 that Jesus was on equal footing with God, therefore did not consider it “robbery to be equal with God.” Yet in His great condescension, Jesus took upon Himself the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men, and became obedient all the way to His death on the cross.

Though the cross was a living horror from beginning to end, the worst part for Jesus was “He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us (2 Cor.5:21). It was then that the dreadful cry came out of the darkness, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34)

The great Apostle Paul could not get over Christ’s death on the cross. He thought of it continuously. The sheer magnitude of it filled his mind. With his Bible open before him, he could grasp some of the meaning of the cross, but the wonder of it was beyond him.

Now this time we’re going to look at Jesus’ awesome exaltation:

2:9 “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,”

We must never leave Jesus on the cross. While we preach the cross at all times to all men, we must also remember that He is no longer in the cradle! And He is no longer on the cross! Calvary was not the end of the story.

God has highly exalted Him! God has no intention of letting the cross be the last word in the record of the way people treat His Son. He is the Lord from Heaven, He is God over all, blessed forevermore. He arrived on earth as the Sacrifice Lamb. He will return as the Lion of Judah! There is no name like the name of Jesus. Demons tremble at the sound of His name.

The heart of the weak leaps with fresh courage at the name of Jesus. Hope shatters the darkness of despair at the mere mention of His name. He has been given a name above all other names in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth.

2:10-11 “…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The day is soon coming when every knee shall bow at the name of Jesus, says Paul. First, the knees of those in heaven shall bow. Heaven is the eternal abode of God. First Peter 3:22 tells us that the Lord Jesus “is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God.” Heaven is now the place of His presence, the scene of His activity.

It is from Heaven that the Holy Spirit came. And it is the dwelling place of the angels. The phrase “of those in heaven” is from a Greek word meaning “what pertains to or is in heaven.” It refers to those whose sphere of activity is above.

This can also include the “principalities and powers” Paul reveals in Eph.6 as being in “heavenly places,” or “high places.” It is in the “high places” where the spiritual hosts of wickedness manifest themselves.

The message is that all those whose realm is high above the earth will bend the knee to Him: angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, thrones and dominions—the heavenly host who love and serve Him, worship in adoration at His feet, wait on His words, and rush to do His bidding.

And this also means that all of the fallen hosts will bow to Him—those who today are the dark inhabitants of the heavenlies: Satan and his angels, demons, evil spirits, principalities and powers—all will bow at the name of Jesus!

Paul next includes “things in earth.” Think of it. The masses of mankind today have no thought of Jesus. They don’t worship Him, nor do they love Him. They give to him no homage at all. Millions are enslaved by the soul-destroying systems of communism, humanism, and false religions.

But a change is coming. One day every man, woman, and child down here on this planet will confess Jesus as Lord; every solitary knee will bow down to Him. The Christ-rejecting millions, all branded with the mark of the beast during the terrible Tribulation Period, will bend the knee before Him prior to being banished forever from His Presence.

Finally, Paul includes “things under the earth.” The dead—the unsaved dead—will be raised, summoned to the Great White Throne, and made to bow the knee. All of the totalitarian despots who destroyed the lives of millions will come before Him—Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Pol Pot, all of the Roman Caesars—all shall bow the knee.

Those who spawned devilish false doctrines, destructive, godless philosophies, and lying ideologies will be brought before Him and shall bow the knee. Those who hated Christ will be there.

John puts it this way: “The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars” (Rev.21:8) shall bow the knee.

Paul goes on to tell us that there shall be a universal confession:

2:11 “…and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The word translated “confess” here means “to confess openly.” It means “to agree with someone.” The day shall come when all created intelligences will have to agree with God that what He has done in exalting His Son to the highest pinnacle of power is right.

So we see here that, either we will confess Jesus as God’s Christ on earth resulting in salvation, or we must confess Him as the Christ in our damnation. Bow now or bow later. Confess now or confess later.

All of this will be done “to the glory of God the Father.” God does all things for His own glory. As every knee bows and every tongues confesses the Lordship of Christ, the universe will erupt in thunderous praise to God from every creature created from His almighty hands.

As is his usual way, Paul takes us from the heights of the supernatural to the day to day practical side of Christian living. How shall we live in light of these awesome revelations? Paul writes:

2:12 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;”

Now that Paul was no longer with them, the Philippians must find and follow God’s will on their own. With fear and trembling, they (and we) are to work out their salvation.

Salvation is a gift; it is not earned by any effort of ours; Paul is not contradicting this fact of the gospel. It might help our understanding here to imagine the gift of a gold mine. If someone were to give you a gold mine of incalculable worth, you would have a treasure.

But the gold would not do you any practical good unless you worked it out of the mine. You must mine the gold. No one can do that for you. God will help you, but others cannot.

We have an enemy that will resist us at every turn, an enemy who will do his best to distract us, discourage us, and deter us from mining the Word of God, mining the gold found in the place of prayer, mining the gold of rich Christian fellowship.

Paul says, “Mine the rich gold purchased for you at the Cross of Christ!” Get busy mining out the gold of our salvation!

2:13 “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

As already stated, while we must play our part, God will help us as we respond to His will. He has given us His Holy Spirit to indwell us, fill us, anoint us, and lead us into all truth. He is working in us moment by moment, day by day.

Back to verse 12 a moment. The phrase “work out” is from the Greek word katergazomai, which emphasizes our responsibility. This word would be used to describe a student working out a math problem. He carries the problem through the various stages to its proper solution.

Salvation has to be worked out to its proper conclusion, not in terms of our justification (that is settled the moment we believe), but in terms of our sanctification—which is learning to live a life that is pleasing to God.

Work it out! says Paul. Solve the problems! But in verse 13 Paul uses a different word—energeo—which means “to energize or work effectively.” Energeo has more to do with God’s enabling us than with our own resources.

Paul is saying that the process of working out our salvation while still alive on earth is a cooperative effort between us and God. We must discipline our lives to study His word and spend time in prayer, while God promises to plant in our hearts the desire to “will and to do” of His good pleasure.

It is God at work in you creating the desire to cooperate with Him in your spiritual growth. I have always called this the “holy want to do.” I seek God because He has planted the desire to do so. I read His word because He has given the hunger and thirst to do so.

Next, Paul turns from what we should seek to what we should shun:

2:14 “Do all things without complaining and disputing,”

Don’t complain, says Paul, and don’t murmur. Murmuring arises out of discontented souls. Murmuring comes when we don’t get our way. Rather than trust and thank God, we turn to murmuring.

Murmuring buried an entire generation of Israelites in the wilderness, robbing them of their inheritance in God. And murmurings were beginning to creep into the Philippian church, so Paul moved quickly to nip it. If not careful, murmuring can become an ingrained, embittering habit.

And very few things will destroy the joy of the Lord in our lives more than a murmuring tongue. It is the opposite of being thankful. Paul tells us at the close of this letter, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” Not, “Murmur in the Lord always, and again I say, ‘murmur!’” (4:4)

Final thought: To maintain the joy of the Lord we must shun a murmuring tongue and remember instead to trust God and be thankful.

NEXT TIME: “How to Have A Christ Exalting Testimony”