In Philippians 2:11, Paul teaches us that not only will every knee bow to the Lordship of Jesus, but also, “…every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” The word “confess” is a 24 upcompound verb. It’s preceded by the preposition “Ex.” It means to “confess out.” It’s not just a believing in the heart it’s a profession with the mouth in the presence of others. It’s to speak “out.” As Christians we “profess” our faith to others vocally. We often find ourselves doing that in a world that ridicules or mocks us and our faith. But there’s a day coming when everyone and everything we publicly and openly declare the absolute truth of the Lordship of Jesus. Jesus who was made low, or made himself low, will be raised up and seated at the right hand of God.

It’s fascinating to think that Satan’s experience was the exact opposite of Christ’s experience. In Isaiah 14:13-14, we read about how Satan said in his heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” UP, UP, UP! But the next verse declares God’s disposition of Satan’s case. It says, “But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.” In Philippians 2 we’ve been reading Paul’s description of Jesus’ case. Whereas Satan’s “parabola” was a swoop up resulting in his degrading eternity, Jesus’ “parabola” was a swoop down resulting in a swoop up. Jesus set aside his majestic glory and came down, down, down! He became obedient to death, even to death on a cross. Therefore, he was given a name above every name at which everything, or every person, or every spirit will one day bow the knee and publicly confess His worthiness to rule all.

This passage in Philippians chapter 2, exhorts us to have this mind or attitude in ourselves. If you want to go up, you must first come down! If we want to be great, we must become the least. If we want to be exalted the path is through humility. Jesus is exalted not just “because” of his humility and obedience. He is exalted “through” his humility and self-giving. Gary Weedman writes, “That is the whole anomaly of God’s kingdom; it is all askew. There is strength in weakness (1 Corinthians 1:25); there is wisdom in ‘foolishness’ (1 Corinthians 1:20ff); the last shall be first (Mark 10:31); the servant shall be master (John 13). And here, the one who poured himself out on behalf of His creation will be exalted above it.” In the Kingdom, the way up is always down!