Technicolor Joy: The Christ Hymn (Part 2)
Philippians 2:9-11
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
6-25-2023
Church of the Holy Rude
Many of us have been vicariously enjoying Scotland through Geoff and Jen Trembley’s pictures. One of the places that Geoff was fascinated with was the Church of the Holy Rude. (Rude in Gaelic means Rose).
This church was built in the 12th century. On July 29, 1567, thirteen-month-old James the VI was crowned King of the Scots in this church. John Knox preached the sermon.
In 1656, the congregation had become so divided that a wall was erected inside the church and the congregation split into two. The wall literally divided the cross on the wall.
This happens in churches all over the world as they fight over trivial matters. I read about a church that split and sued each other, something specifically prohibited by Scripture. When the story came out, the conflict began when an elder was given a smaller piece of ham than the child sitting next to him at a potluck!
I will give you the rest of the story about the divided church at the end of the sermon.
In Philippians, Paul’s focus on unity has real-world applications. When we are divided, the world has a hard time seeing Jesus. But unity can only come through humility.
Paul began this chapter by listing four blessings of being in the faith:
Encouragement in Christ
Love of God the Father
Fellowship of the Spirit
Tenderness and Compassion
I recently watched the documentary, “Being Mary Tyler Moore.” Her son was killed when a gun he was handling went off accidentally. She was distraught. In the interview, she said, “Since I don’t have any religious belief at all, times like these are very hard. I really have nothing to hold on to. I wish I did.”
Since these are realities in their spiritual lives, Paul issues his command - make my joy complete.
Linda.
“…then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”
He is saying, “I love you guys. It gives me joy when I pray for you. Make me even happier by ruthlessly pursuing unity with the church body.”
Being like-minded (Matthew and Simon)
Having the same love (not just mind but heart as well)
One in Spirit (souls that beat together)
One mind (being united in one purpose, one focus, one mission)
Paul wrote to the Ephesians:
“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Eph 4:3-6)
What’s the secret to unity? It’s humility.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”
The word humble means “a sense of modesty, without arrogance, the opposite of pride.” It produces a correct view of ourselves, our relation to Christ, and others.
When we get the order correct - Jesus. Others. You. That produces JOY!
That humility will lead to holy helpfulness.
“not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
I’m reading Bono’s (lead singer of the group U2) autobiography entitled, “Surrender.” In it, he tells the story of being led through a maze of security in the Spring of 2022 to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
His country was under attack and what struck Bono was his concern for others. Ukraine supplies about a third of the world’s wheat, barley, corn, and half the world’s sunflower oil. Zelenskyy is worried the blockade will cause famine in places that need it most. In the midst of war, wearing camo, he is still trying to look after the interest of others.
Then Paul takes an early Christian hymn that his readers would have been familiar with and uses it to paint a picture of what true humility looks like.
Last week, we studied verses 5-8 (His humiliation) and 9-11 (His exaltation) this morning.
Turn to Philippians 2.
Prayer
Super Exalted
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place…”
Some of your translations may say “for this reason.” The first half of the hymn is the story of Jesus descending - going down, down, down to the lowest point of humiliation - death on a cross.
The second part of the hymn is about God’s response to the obedience of the Son. From the depths of humiliation, God exalts Him.
But He doesn’t just exalt him. The Greek word is SUPER EXALTS! He exalted Him to the highest possible pinnacle.
This began with the
Resurrection.
Jesus had made it clear to His disciples and to the religious leaders that after His death He would rise again.
In response to the Pharisees asking for a “sign,” He replied,
“He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matt 12:39-40)
In John, the religious leaders ask for a sign to prove His authority:
“Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.” (John 2:19-22)
And to His disciples:
“And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.” (Matt 17:22-23)
In Matthew’s account, the Pharisees who knew the prophecies
and Jesus’s promise that He would be raised even asked Pilate to send guards to secure the tomb.
On the third day after the crucifixion, a group of women went to the tomb very early in the morning to anoint Jesus’s body with spices. They were wondering how they would into the tomb but discovered the stone had been rolled away.
Angels appeared and said to them:
Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” (Mark 16:6-7)
He really died. He was really buried. And…He really rose from the grave!!!
Robert Lowery wrote these familiar words:
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever,
With His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!
It’s been said that the resurrection was God’s “Amen” to Jesus’s “It is Finished” on the cross.
Tim Keller wrote:
“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.”
Do you believe that He rose from the dead? Do you believe that He is alive forevermore? Do you believe that in His resurrection the payment for our sin, the check cleared?
Paul tells us in Corinthians what happened over the next forty days:
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.” (I Cor 15:3-8)
After forty days, He
Ascended
When Mary Magdalene encounters the risen Jesus outside the tomb, He says:
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17)
Luke ends His Gospel with the next step in His exaltation;
“When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.” (Luke 24:50-53).
Luke tells us in Acts, that after the ascension,
“They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Oswald Chambers wrote, “At His ascension, our Lord entered heaven and kept the door open for humanity to enter.”
Up, Up, Up!
Enthronement
Seven times in the New Testament it says that Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father. The right hand was a place of power and authority.
The risen Jesus told His disciples that “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18).
When Peter and the other apostles were ordered not to preach in the name of Jesus, Peter replied forcefully:
“The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (Acts 5:3-32)
In the book of Revelation, John, Jesus’s best friend while on earth sees the enthroned Christ that He had seen a glimpse of on the mountain. He tries to describe the indescribable:
“…was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” (Rev 1:13b-16)
Down, down, down Jesus went, from the heights of heaven to the terrors of the cross. Up, up, up Jesus went, from the cross to the right hand of the Father.
Charles Spurgeon captured this perfectly:
“Immanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with Him, in the resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendor.”
In response to His humility, God exalted Him.
Peter echos this spiritual principle:
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (I Peter 5:6)
God has exalted Him to the highest place and…
Something About that Name
“…and gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord
In response to Jesus’s willingness to humble Himself, leave heaven, and enter our world, God not only exalts Him to the highest place but bestows on him the name that is above every name.
The word “gave”, or your translation might say “bestows,” comes from the Greek word for grace. God freely and joyfully gives him this name.
Notice the definite article - not a name but “the name.”
What is this name? Paul keeps us in suspense for a verse.
In the Bible, someone’s name says something about their character. Jacob means “grasper of the heel, deceiver, conman” and that’s exactly what his early years were marked by.
I worked in the children’s unit at a psychiatric hospital and we had a patient who was 6 years old named “Storm”. Daily he lived up to His name.
My name “Jefferson” means “son of peace.” I’ve remembered that throughout my life.
The name that Mary and Joseph were directed to name their baby was “Jesus.” In Hebrew, “Yeshua,” Joshua. This was a very common name in Israel, kind of like John or Grace.
So Jesus is not the name He is talking about. In the Bible, Jesus has many names:
Advocate (I John 2:1)
Almighty (Rev 1:8)
Alpha and Omega (Rev 23:13)
The Amen (Rev 3:14)
The Bread of Life (John 6:35)
The Cornerstone (I Peter 2:16)
The Deliverer (Rom 11:26)
I AM (John 8:58)
Immanuel (Is 7:14)
Faithful Witness (Rev 1:6)
King of Kings (Rev 17:14)
Lamb of God (John 1:29)
The Light of the World (John 8:12)
Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev 5:5)
Mediator (I Tim 2:15)
Prince of Peace (Is 9:6)
The Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)
Savior (Luke 2:11)
Son of Man (Matt 8:20)
Son of David (Matt 9:27)
Son of God (Luke 1:25)
The True Vine (John 15:1)
The Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6)
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God (Is 9:6)
But none of these Names is the name that is bestowed on Him by God.
This name will lead to universal worship.
Every knee will bow - it will be a physical act of worship
Every tongue will confess - it will be a verbal act of worship
in heaven - angels and redeemed saints
on earth - everyone will bow their knee to Jesus. Some will bow willingly, with joy and excitement. Others will bow reluctantly, in terror and despair.
During a Louis Tomlinson concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, a thunderstorm unleashed golf-ball-sized hail on the crowd. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Over a hundred were injured and seven were taken to the hospital.
On that day, there will be nowhere to hide. You will bow the knee - will be with joy or terror?
Under the earth - every single demonic power and authority will bow and confess.
Paul is quoting from Isaiah 45:
By 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. They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are deliverance and strength.’” (Isaiah 45:23-24)
What will this chorus confess? The name that God had given him - that Jesus Christ is Lord.
When Jewish people read the Old Testament and they came to God’s name, Yahweh, they wouldn’t say it out loud for fear of breaking the third commandment and somehow taking His name in vain. So they substituted the word Adonai which is translated in our Bibles as “LORD” in all caps.
Jesus is the Christ, the anointed Messiah sent to rescue us from our sins.
Then Jesus was enthroned as Lord of Lords.
In Peter’s first sermon, his word cut to their hearts:
“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” (Acts 2:36)
John Piper writes,
“The name that is above every name is Lord - the Lord victorious over all his enemies; the Lord who has purchased a people from every tribe and tongue and nation.”
Once a year, the Philippians would have to go to an altar, spread incense, and declare that, “Caesar is Lord.”
The Christians in Philippi would either refuse or say “Jesus is Lord” instead. This led many of them to be executed.
Here’s the question for this morning. Is He your Lord? Are you willing to die for Him? The more important question is are you willing to live for Him?
Paul wrote in Romans the verse that I want us to consider this morning:
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
Confessing that Jesus is Lord means you bow to Him, you surrender all to Him. Believing that God raised Him from the dead means that you believe that He can raise you from the dead as well.
When the Risen Jesus appeared to Thomas who had his doubts and showed him the nail holes in his hands and feet, Thomas declared, “My Lord and my God!”
Have you done the same?
To God Be the Glory
“…to the glory of God the Father.”
The hymn ends with glory. All of this - Jesus’ humiliation and exaltation was to bring glory to God.
Paul has already prayed early in the letter that they would be
“…filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” Phil 1:11)
In His prayer in John 17, Jesus prayed,
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” (John 17:1)
The Stanford golf phenom, Rose Zhang, had an incredible thirteen days at the end of May and the beginning of June. Her team won the National Championship, she turned pro, and she won the whole thing in her first tour event! (Even Tiger didn’t do that!)
When interviewed about her perspective she said,
“My faith allows me to go out there and realize that I’m just a vessel just trying to do her own thing, and I’m doing it for the glory of God.”
She ends each post on Instagram with #allglorytoGod.
That is a young lady who understands what Jesus did and she is doing her best to imitate Him!
I promised you, “the rest of the story” about the Church of the Holy Rude.
A miracle occurred in 1935 when the dividing wall was torn down and the two congregations became one after 279 years of division.
Several years ago, I wrote a spoken word about Jesus that I’d like to end with today.
What Child is This
What child is this, a baby in a manger
The promise of peace, the prospect of danger.
A Baby…
But just maybe
Something more.
Perhaps an open door
To another world.
All in the womb of a teenage girl.
Isaiah the prophet in words long ago,
Spoke of things impossible for him to know.
A child is born
Perfectly human in every way,
Walking our road of dirt and clay.
His heart was real and could be broken
Fulfilling the words the prophets had spoken.
Laughing, crying
Living dying,
A skinned knee,
A strong mother’s hold
Crimson-colored blood,
Hungry and cold.
But wait there’s more…
A Son is given
Deity and Humanity
The Insanity of the Incarnation
The God who seeks reconciliation
God in a body of human skin
Reaching down to deal with our sin
To help us begin again
Rising the dead
Healing the sick
Showing us what makes the heart of God tick.
Humanity and Divinity
The triunity of the Trinity
All found in this little baby
A Child
A Son
The long-awaited one
A representative of our pitiful race
And the very reflection of the Father’s face
One who could not lie but chose to die
To pay the price for you and I
To give the best present of them all
A grand reversal of the fall
From the manager to the cross
Our gain
God’s indescribably loss
He died but rose again too?
Not to make us better but to make us new
So let’s worship this King
Let us sing
With heart’s a flame
Lifting up His name - Jesus, Immanuel
Celebrating that He came
What Child is this?
A baby
But just maybe something more
