A Name Above Every Name Humbled unto Death Philippians 2:9

In His letter to the church located in Philippi, Paul the apostle told the church members to “Let this mind be in you which also was in Christ”, and then he gave the example of the manner in which Jesus emptied Himself of all His glory to be as a servant and man as the standard for obedience. Jesus' obedience as a servant was “unto death, even the death of the cross” because He desired to have a relationship with all of mankind. In chapter two and verse nine Paul records for us the result of Jesus' obedience to the Heavenly Father where we read:

Wherefore God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

The verse begins, “Wherefore God also has highly exalted him,...” Paul begins with the word “Wherefore” which as we have learned in the past is a conclusion term and means “because of what came before or as a result”. So, because Jesus “humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” “God also has highly exalted him” which means “to exalt to the highest rank and power, raise to supreme majesty, to extol most highly, to be lifted up with pride, exalted beyond measure”. Jesus' obedience in humility resulted in Him being exalted beyond any that has been exalted before.

The verse goes on to say, “and given him a name which is above every name:” Not only did God exalt Jesus, but He has “given him a name” which is “everything a name covers such as thoughts, feelings, rank, authority, interests, pleasure, command, excellence, or deeds” “which is above every name”. The name given to Jesus is “above” or “over, beyond and more than” any other name that has been, is, or will be. There is no one, anywhere who has a higher name than Jesus, and all of this was as a result of Jesus' obedience unto death, even the death of the cross.

There is an old song that contains these lyrics:

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there's just something about that name”

and indeed there is something about the name of Jesus. God the Father observed Jesus' obedience as a servant to one of the most horrific deaths that anyone could endure, and because God loved people who were undeserving, wretched, and so far removed from Him, He allowed His Son Jesus to follow through with this humble and excruciating death. When we think about how God awarded Jesus the “name that is above every name”, do we wonder what will be in store for us if we are obedient to Paul's words “in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves”? Jesus was our supreme example, and if we should choose to humble ourselves and be obedient to the “cross” God has put before us, Jesus promised in the gospel of Luke in chapter eighteen and verse fourteen:

for every one that exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.

Next time Paul shares what the result of Christ being exalted, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow...there is more...

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore