CHRIST EXALTED

Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Peter 5:6,7; 1:3-9

I have been thinking about the exaltation of Christ. We have read, “Wherefore also God highly exalted him”. That has happened, and now the Lord Jesus is highly exalted. Every knee is going to bow to Him. At the beginning of Ephesians it says, “according to the working of the might of his strength, in which he wrought in the Christ in raising him from among the dead, and he set him down at his right hand in the heavenlies, above every principality, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name named, not only in this age, but also in that to come; and has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the assembly, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all” (chap.1:19-23). That is a full section, and gives an impression of how God has been pleased to exalt Christ. He has “set him down at his right hand in the heavenlies, above every principality, and authority”. The exaltation of Christ could not be greater: God has given Him the highest place. Christ has that place as Man.

Where we read in Philippians, the apostle gives wonderful expression to his appreciation of the way that the Lord Jesus has gone down. This has been described as ‘the going down mind’ of Christ. He was “on an equality with God”, because He was and remains God, “but emptied himself, taking a bondman’s form, taking his place in the likeness of men; and having been found in figure as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of the cross”. What a way the Lord Jesus has gone: He has come down from the heights of glory and has gone down into the lowest depths. He could not have gone any lower, and He has done that all for us. He became “obedient even unto death”. The choice and precise way that the apostle puts this protects the particular character of His Person: He “emptied himself, taking a bondman’s form, taking his place in the likeness of men; and having been found in figure as a man”. The blessed Lord Jesus here as a Man went down into death.

We were reminded in the preaching on Lord’s day of the two stoops in John 8, where the woman was being accused by the scribes and Pharisees before the Lord, and He stooped twice to write on the ground (vv.6-8). We have often been reminded that there was His stoop into manhood, and then there was the second stoop, the stoop into death. The Lord said to the woman, “where are those thine accusers? Has no one condemned thee? … Neither do I condemn thee” (vv.10,11). He was able to say that because of the work that He was about to do in going down into death, and “that the death of the cross”. But now God has “highly exalted him, and granted him a name, that which is above every name”. Every knee is going to bow to Jesus, and we can delight in that; it fills us with joy. It should do, and I am sure it does. The scripture speaks of “heavenly and earthly and infernal beings” bowing to Him. There will not be a created being that will not bow down to the Lord Jesus. It speaks of His name: “at the name of Jesus”; it is His personal name. Then the apostle adds, “and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to God the Father’s glory”. God has done that, He has exalted Christ to the highest place. What a blessed matter that is; we rejoice in it.

I was also thinking of the passage we read in Peter: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God”. The Lord humbled Himself, becoming obedient even as far as death. What a blessed Model He is for us!  Peter adds, “that he may exalt you in the due time”. For us, as lovers of the Lord Jesus, we await our exaltation; the saints will be exalted when we are with Christ. What a blessed matter that will be. Then it says, “having cast all your care upon him, for he cares about you”. How wonderful that the apostle could say that in this setting; he speaks of exaltation, that we will be with and like Christ. What greater exaltation could there be, that we, His creatures, should be with Christ and like Him, God’s beloved Son? And then we have, “cast all your care upon him, for he cares about you”: God is interested in every detail of our lives. We can cast all our care, in full confidence, on Him.

In the first chapter of 1 Peter, we have the saints referred to as exulting. I found it striking that these words ‘exalt’ and ‘exult’ sound so similar. There is the exaltation of Christ, who is given the highest glory and place in Philippians 2, and the saints will be exalted in the due time, when we will be like Him and with Him. There is then this word “exult”, which means ‘to rejoice greatly’. Peter explains the reason for the exulting: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance, reserved in the heavens for you, who are kept guarded by the power of God”. That is a suggestion of the exaltation of the saints: ours is “an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance”. How blessed that is. Then Peter adds, “Wherein ye exult”; that is, we await the blessedness of being like Christ and being exalted, and in the meantime, we rejoice in His exaltation. It says, “Wherein ye exult, for a little while at present, if needed, put to grief by various trials”. That is so unlike what we are naturally, and yet in God’s grace it can be for “the proving of your faith”.

We cast our care on God, because He cares about us. He is “the Father of compassions, and God of all encouragement”, 2 Cor.1:3. Peter speaks about “put to grief by various trials, that the proving of your faith, much more precious than of gold which perishes, though it be proved by fire, be found to praise and glory and honour in the revelation of Jesus Christ”. We will be involved in His exaltation; “every knee” will bow to Him as we have in Philippians, our own included; but how wonderful it is to bow to Him now, to own Him as “Lord to God the Father’s glory”, and to exalt Him now.

Peter goes on, “whom, having not seen, ye love”. He is tenderly drawing attention to the fact that we have not seen the blessed Lord Jesus, yet we love Him. Then, “on whom though not now looking” – we are not now looking on the Lord with our natural eyes, we do not see Him because He is not here, He is in glory – “but believing” – that is, we are full of faith in relation to it, and so we “exult with joy unspeakable and filled with the glory”. Peter goes on to speak of “receiving the end of your faith”. As we contemplate the exaltation of Christ and the greatness of the place that is His, we can be confident that God will exalt the lovers of Christ, those that belong to Him, who have been secured by His work. We await that; but in the meantime, we can rejoice, or exult, that He is exalted. May it fill our hearts! It says ye “exult, for a little while at present, if needed, put to grief”, and then Peter goes on to say, “ye exult with joy unspeakable and filled with the glory, receiving the end of our faith, the salvation of your souls”.

May we be encouraged. The Lord is highly exalted, He could not be exalted any higher, and in the meantime, we can rejoice, or exult, in His exaltation while we await the exaltation of the saints with Him. May it be so, for the His name’s sake.

Robert McClean