Every knee will bow - Philippians 2:9-11

"For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11)

For what reason was Christ highly exalted to the place where every knee will bow and every tongue confess? Because of what Paul had previously taught us, that Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be grasped and that He emptied Himself, became a man, and was obedient even to death upon the cross. Jesus descended to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. For this reason, He has also ascended to become the Lord of all. In saving all of mankind, He became the Lord of all mankind. This is also what Paul meant when, after quoting David, "You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives," (Psalms 68:18) he writes, "Now this expression, 'He ascended,' what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things." (Ephesians 4:9-10)

What is interesting here is that Paul, in his teaching, refers to an ancient prophecy of Isaiah, "For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), I am the Lord, and there is none else... Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; there is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. 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. They will say of Me, 'Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.'" (Isaiah 45:18, 21-24) There are several things of interest here. First, that Paul is clearly linking this prophecy with his teaching. In so doing, he is telling us that the story of Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophesy. Secondly, we see clearly that Jesus' coming was prophesied and foretold long before His appearing. God purposefully did this so that we might believe upon Him when He came. Third, we see that Jesus was not only the Christ, the anointed one, but He was also prophesied to be our savior, the one who would save us from our sins. Fourthly, we see that God's intentions, which He prophesied through Isaiah, was that we would no longer find our righteousness in the law but in Christ who was to be our savior. No longer would our righteousness be by works but rather through faith. Finally, Paul teaches us that Jesus is in fact God. Isaiah is clearly prophesying about God, the one who created the heavens and the Earth. Furthermore, we see in Isaiah that is is this God before whom every knee will bow and everytongue confess. However, here in his letter to the Philippians, Paul affirms that Jesus' life, death, and resurrection were the fulfillment of this prophesy. In doing so it is clear that Paul was teaching us that Jesus, being the Son of God, is also, in truth, God Himself. How this could be and the exact nature of this union of God the Father and God the Son being one (along with the Holy Spirit) is a mystery, but Paul clearly declares it as being true, Jesus is God.

David Robison