December 2018 USPS Volume 57 Number 12. In This Issue: THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES

Transcription

1 December 2018 USPS Volume 57 Number 12 In This Issue: THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES

2 In the ancient customs of the Old Testament, and in Jesus day, people didn t have surnames or last names as we have today. My name is Robert Hardy. I m not just a Robert, but I am a particular Robert Hardy. (Then speaking to two brothers seated together): You are not just David, but you re a particular David. You are David Belt. Your brother next to you is not a David, but he is a Belt. He is Danny Belt. When Jesus died, there was a Joseph who came to get get Jesus body, and to distinguish this Joseph from all the other Josephs, he was called Joseph of Arimathea (Jn.19:38). This distinguishes him from Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. Another common name was Judas, but the one who betrayed Jesus wasn t just a Judas: He was Judas Iscariot, meaning he was from the city Iscariot. When people had the same first names, you had to add an adjective to distinguish them from others with the same name. Jesus was given the name Jesus, but there were many others named Jesus in that day. In Hebrew it is Yeshua and Joshua in English. Joshua was a very common 2 name, but Jesus wasn t the Joshua who led Israel into the Promised Land. He wasn t that Joshua, so we need to distinguish who this Jesus is. He s not just any Jesus, just as I m not any Robert. What s In A Name? The time came for God to bring Jesus His Son into the world. Joseph the carpenter was engaged to marry Mary, but he found out she was pregnant. According to the law, he could have had her stoned to death, but being a just man, he thought to put her away privately. But God in a dream sent the angel Gabriel: But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David (Matt.1:20). You see, he wasn t just any Joseph, but he was Joseph, the son of David. He had to be, because the Messiah had to be born from David s line. There were many Josephs in that time. Maybe there was a Joseph, the son of Aaron, or maybe Joseph, the son of Reuben, but this was Joseph, the son of David. The angel said, Fear not to take unto you Mary

3 your wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and you shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins (vs.21). Therefore, our first what s in a name of Jesus was declared by the angel to be Savior. He is Jehovah Savior, as Yeshua means Jehovah s salvation or Savior. This was the divine declaration of who Jesus is: Jesus the Savior. He was divine, because He came to save His people from their sins, and only God can forgive and save from sins. His first declaration of who Jesus is was God s Savior. Jesus the Babe of Bethlehem Upon His birth, in Luke 2:15-16, the angels told the shepherds to go into Bethlehem, the city of David, and there they would find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Jesus was the babe of Bethlehem. The Messiah, according to Micah 5:2, had to come out of Bethlehem: But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose going forth has been from old, from everlasting. Jesus was the babe of Bethlehem: Not just any Jesus, but this special one who would come, who is divine, and whose going forth has been from everlasting, which indicates that He is God s equal. Jesus the Boy and Man When Jesus was 12 years old, His mother and father lost Him in Jerusalem, but He was not really lost, because they found Him at the right place in the temple. (If you have lost Jesus because you are on a journey in the world, then come back to the temple, the house of God, and you will find Him!) After this episode, nothing is said about him for 18 years. Then at age 30, (the age when all temple ministers began their service), He was called Jesus the Carpenter of Nazareth (Mk.6:3). If you had gone to Nazareth looking for Jesus, they would have said, Which one are you looking for? The carpenter? There might have been many Jesuses in that city, but He was a particular Jesus, the carpenter. During those 18 years of being the carpenter s son, to His manhood at age 30, God was preparing Him for His ministry. He had to grow in grace and knowledge, just like you and I, because He was perfectly human. He didn t use His pre existent omniscience, knowing everything, but this divine attribute was suppressed. He lived as a perfect human, and as such, His body had to develop, and His wisdom had to develop (Lk.2:40, 52). His spirit knew all things, but the natural man didn t. The baby could not tell you anything. You could have gone to the 2 year old Jesus and asked Him theological questions, but He wouldn t have be able to tell you anything. 3

4 Jesus the Rabbi At age 30, He was sent forth as Jesus the Rabbi, the Master, the Teacher. Rabbi is from rabbah in Hebrew which actually means great and was reserved for great teachers. In England, they still have what they call the headmaster, which is the head of the school much like our principle. He is a head teacher, an educator with a master s degree. He cannot teach until he has a master s degree, and he cannot get a seat in a college as a professor without it. Jesus the Rabbi was a master teacher. Remember what Mary called Him when she was at the tomb and thought someone had stolen His body? The Lord appeared to her, but she thought He was the gardener, and when she realized it was Jesus, she said, Rabboni Aramaic for my master, my teacher, or my Rabbi. (The i on the end is the personal pronoun in the Hebrew meaning my.) John 3:1-2 proves Jesus was a rabbi: There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know you are a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that you do, except God be with him. Matthew 19:16: And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? So we see Jesus the Rabbi, Jesus the Master, and Jesus the Teacher. THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES 4 The Messiah, the Son of God The controversy over who Jesus was continued to follow Him everywhere He went. There was great speculation among both the religious leaders and the people. On one occasion, Jesus asked His disciples who people were claiming Him to be. It was Peter who answered with surprising divine revelation: When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am? And they said, Some say that you are John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said unto them, But whom say you that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ (messiah in Hebrew), the Son of the living God. Jesus response to this was that Peter had not received this secret revelation from flesh and blood, but from my Father in heaven (Mt.16:13-17). Jesus the Sinner As Jesus began to preach and to validate His message that He was called from God by doing miracles, some called Him a sinner: Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keeps not the Sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them (Jn.9:16). Some contended, He s just a sinner.

5 Jesus the False Teacher When the religious leaders had finally arrested Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, they first took Him to Annas and Caiaphas, the high priest, and before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council that judged religious matters, to try Him theologically to see if He was a blasphemer. Mark 14:57-58: And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him This was the trial of Jesus, and they had to have something to legally condemn Him, and they sought to do so by bringing false witnesses in to testify against Him. Yet none of these satisfied the high priest, because their accusations would not have sounded right to Pilate, the Roman governor, and he had to okay the crucifying of Jesus. And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. By this He was considered to be a false teacher, but this confession was not good enough to get Him crucified. So the high priest asked Him pointedly: Are you the Christ (the Messiah), the son of the Blessed? Many Jews believed Messiah would be divine and the son of God. What did Jesus answer? And Jesus said, I am. Then the high priest rent his garment, threw his hands up and said, What need we any further witnesses, you heard the blasphemy! Under the law, all blasphemers were to be stoned to death. If they could have stoned Him legally, they would have, but they had to get the order from Pilate to put Jesus to death. Jesus the Condemned The council condemned Jesus to die, but they could not execute it until they brought Him before Pilate. Pilate didn t want to put Jesus to death, but when he saw and heard all the people screaming that if he did not put Jesus to death, he was no friend of Caesar, he became alarmed, bowed to their pressure, and upheld the sentence of condemnation, ordering Jesus to be crucified, which was the Roman execution of choice. Jesus the Crucified One To add more shame to Him, Pilate wrote the title over His cross in mockery King of the Jews. Ha! That s what He wanted put on it. Ha, Ha, Ha! He has become Jesus the Crucified. Mark 15:25-26: And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, the king of the jews. The Messiah of God was the official King of the Jews. Likewise, also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. (vs.31) There were more than two malefactors who were crucified with 5

6 Jesus. Two were sent out with Him and two others later. One of the thieves crucified with Him didn t revile Him, but rebuked the other one for reviling Him: This man has done nothing wrong. Then he turned to Jesus and said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom (Lk.23:42). Jesus the Dead A dead Jesus on the cross can t help you. If you only know Him as Jesus the Dead hanging on a crucifix, you are in trouble. A dead Christ hanging on the cross can t help Himself much less you and me. He can t fulfill what the angel said, He shall save his people from their sins, only by dying on the cross, because He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification (Rom.4:25). He had to be raised up. The babe of Bethlehem can t help you; the boy in the temple can t help you; the carpenter can t help you; the Rabbi can t help you; the condemned can t help you, and a dead Savior can t help you. Jesus the Buried The buried Jesus can t help us either. We must get Jesus off the cross, out of the tomb, and where He belongs: on the throne at the Father s right hand. Matthew 27:59-60: And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES 6 sepulchre, and departed. (If there s a great stone separating you and Jesus, you can t get help. You have to get the stone rolled away.) Jesus the Risen Lord And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not: for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there shall you see him: lo, I have told you (Mt.28:5-7). Now we are getting to the good part: Jesus the Risen One! This is the ultimate revelation of the real Jesus. Will the real Jesus stand up? He stood up and walked out of the tomb! When He was crucified, all of His disciples ran in fear, and on resurrection morning, they were hiding in the upper room. They were afraid the religious Jews would come for them next to kill them. All of a sudden, the risen, glorified Lord, with His glorified attributes restored, with a body that has no limitations of physical laws, appeared in the midst of them. He didn t need to walk through a door. He didn t even need to have the door automatically open. He just walked right through the wall into the building and said, Here I am! I am no more dead. I am no more in the tomb. I am alive forevermore! Years later when He appeared to Apostle John on Patmos, He said:

7 I am the Alpha, and I am the Omega. I am the first and the last. I am He that was dead, but behold, look at me, I am alive forevermore! (Rev.1:8, 11, 18). But Thomas wasn t there that post-resurrection appearance with the others. O Doubting Thomases! Like many Christians, unless they see something, they can t believe. I ask you: Have you ever really seen the risen Lord in person? But you still believe, don t you? You don t have to see anything to believe. And everything you do see, you shouldn t always believe, because the hand is quicker than the eye. Thomas said, Except I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the print of the nail, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe (Jn.20:25). Suddenly, Jesus did a re-appearing act, and there He was in the room. He said, Thomas, come here. He had heard Thomas, because He is the risen Lord, and now knows everything. He is omniscient, with His divine attributes restored. They were laid aside during His earth walk, but not now. Jesus said, Reach forth your hand and put it in my hand, and reach forth your hand and put it in my side. Handle me and see that it s Me, not a spirit, not a ghost, not a phantom, that doesn t have a body of flesh and bone like I do (Lk.24:39, Jn.20:27). What did Thomas say? My Lord and my God. And all the disciples agreed with Him, because not one rebuked him for calling Jesus God. And Jesus said, Because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed (vv.28-29). We are blessed when we believe Jesus is the risen Lord and God. This is the secret revelation of who He is! Then He opened up their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, which were written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms concerning Him, that He was the Christ, who had to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day And you are witnesses of these things (Lk.24:44-48). Then for 40 days post resurrection, He appeared to them from time to time and separated them from their doubt and unbelief. They believed, but if they would go out witnessing without power, the world would not believe them! So Jesus said, Wait here in Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high (vs.49). The Power of Pentecost Luke continued his account in Acts 1:8 where Jesus said to them: But you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses. What He meant was, You are to witness that I am raised from the dead, and I am the Risen Lord. Ten days after Jesus said this, His 40 days of teaching were over, which equals 50 days total, and Pentecost means fifty. The fiftieth day from the resurrection of Jesus was 7

8 the day of Pentecost: And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven (Acts 2:1-5). The day of Pentecost was one of three holy days when every Jewish male was to travel to Jerusalem to appear before God. This meant that the city was overflowing with visitors from other countries. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? (vv.6-8). (Then he listed all the nations which were represented there.) And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What does this mean? (vs.12). What is this? They wanted to know, and this was an opportunity for Peter to tell them! And Peter, the THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES 8 one who had denied Jesus three times, now full of the Holy Ghost, stood up to answer them. Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, You men of Judaea, and all you that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. (nine o clock in the morning.) But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel (vv.12-16). From this point Peter quoted Joel 2:28-32: And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh Then he defined what he meant by all flesh : And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the lord shall be saved (vv.17-21). Peter proceeded to give the revelation and the interpretation of what this means: You men of Israel, hear

9 these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. (Because He was not a sinner, death could not claim Him.) David s Revelation of the Risen Lord For David spoke concerning him, I foresaw the lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because you will not leave my soul in hell (Greek hades, not gehenna fire; neither will you suffer your Holy One (Jesus) to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you shall make me full of joy with your countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. (In other words, this cannot refer to King David, because he is still in his tomb, and you go there every day and look at his tomb.) Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell (hades), neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this which you now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he said himself, The lord (jehovah) said unto my Lord (adonai) (There are two Lords here), Sit on my right hand, until I make your foes your footstool (vv.17-35). Now we come to the greatest thing Peter spoke that day: Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly (Let all the house of Faith Tabernacle know assuredly. Let all the house of America, and all the nations, and all the world assuredly know this!) that God has made that same Jesus Who was the babe, the boy, the carpenter, the rabbi, master, teacher, the man of Galilee, called the false prophet and blasphemer, the mocked King of the Jews know this assuredly, that God has made this same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ (vs.36). The Lord Jesus Christ! What is His name? The Lord Jesus Christ! The name above every name! Christ (messiah) was His 9

10 divine name; that s why Peter said He raised up the Christ. Christ means the anointed one. When Peter declared Jesus as Lord, from then on, none of God s people addressed anybody else as Lord. Paul later wrote: (As there be gods many, and lords many), But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him (1Cor.8:5-6). In Ephesians 4:4-6, he said: There is one Sprit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all I don t worship any other lords but the Lord! I don t call any other Lord. The saints never again addressed anyone as Lord but the Lord Jesus, including the early church fathers. Polycarp, who was a disciple of Apostle John, was burned at the stake, because he refused to say Caesar is Lord. The Romans believed in synchretism, that is, to believe in all kind of gods, as did the Greeks, such as Zeus, Apollo, Mercury. They told Polycarp, Just call Caesar Lord to save your life; you will just be adding him to all the others gods. But Polycarp said, There are no other lords! There is only one Lord Jesus Christ! So they put him on the stake and prepared the wood for the fire. They gave him one final chance to say Caesar is lord, but he said, Jesus is Lord! They lit the fire, and tradition says that his blood gushed out and put out the THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES 10 flames! Who Are You? The crowning verse for what s in the name is in Philippians 2, written by Paul, the Apostle to the Gentile nations. This highly-educated, religiously zealous Jew who formerly killed Christians for saying that Jesus was Messiah, was knocked down on the road to Damascus where he was going to round up more Christians. A voice spoke out of heaven, Saul, Saul, Why are you persecuting me? Paul was startled, bewildered, and said, Who are you, Lord? His usage here is a term of respect, as one would say Sir. He had no idea who was talking to him until the Lord, the Risen Jesus, replied, I am Jesus whom you persecute (Acts 9:3-5). Oh my soul, Paul must have thought: I am in trouble now! Later Paul said that God knew that he did it in ignorance. God saved him to be a chosen vessel, to use his zeal to preach to the Gentiles. Paul immediately went forth and preached Christ. Who do you think he preached? The babe of Bethlehem? The man of Galilee? The lowly Nazarene? The Rabbi? Or even the Messiah Jesus? The Exaltation of Jesus Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God (not shape, but His essential essence. He had the nature of God.) thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

11 (because He had the same nature.) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant The nature of a servant: Jesus came not to serve Himself, but to serve mankind. When He washed the disciples feet at the last supper, He said, You call me Lord and Master, and yet I have washed your feet. You are to do the same you are to serve (Ref. Jn.13:13-14). It was considered the job of a slave to wash feet. The Greek word is doulos, a bondslave. There are several words for servant and slave, but this denotes the lowest. We are to have the same mind: To empty ourselves of self and pride. Jesus said that the Son of Man has not come to be ministered to, but to minister unto, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Lk.19:10). And was made in the likeness of men: He was like any man, except He was not sinful. And being found in fashion (The Greek word for fashion translates into English as scheme. He was in the scheme of humanity.) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Jesus was the servant of perfect obedience. His Father said, You will to have to die. He humbled Himself and said, I will die. Not only must you die, but you must even die the death of the cross and become a curse. He was Jesus the Accursed, hanging on the cross. That s what the Jews stumbled over: How could anybody be accursed and be Messiah and Lord? (Ref.1Cor.1:23). Paul answered in Galatians 3:13 that Jesus had to hang on the tree to become a curse, so that He could deliver them who were under a curse (Deut.21:23). In other words, He was reckoned as sin that He might save the sinful. He had to be reckoned a curse that He might deliver those that were under the curse. Wherefore Because He humbled Himself, made Himself a bond-slave, and was obedient even to the death of the cursed cross, this is what His Father did for Him: Wherefore God also has highly exalted him The word highly means super abundantly! He didn t stick Him on a throne in the corner! and has given him a name which is above every name: Remember, He already had many names from the babe of Bethlehem to the King of the Jews on the cross. After He had been man for 33 1/2 years; after He had died and was buried, then raised and was seated on the right hand of the Father, God gave Him a name! That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil.2:5-11). Every time you and I say, Lord Jesus Christ, we are glorifying the Father and recognizing the Name. God doesn t want us to go around 11

12 saying, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. He wants us to say, Lord or Lord Jesus or His whole title, Lord Jesus Christ. Because when you say to a devil, Come out, in the name of the Lord, he doesn t know which lord. In Hebrew, Lord is adonai. It is what the Jews substituted for jehovah, so as not to speak God s holy name, making it common. The greatest Scripture to the Jew is Duet. 6:4: Hear, O Israel: the lord our God is one lord. So the name God gave Him is not just any Jesus: He is the Lord Jesus, Son of the Living God, the Christ! Confessing the Name Romans 10:8-11: But what says it? The word is nigh you (referring to the word of salvation), even in your mouth (Salvation must be confessed with the mouth.) and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed. Paul and Silas had gone to Philippi to preach Jesus the Lord. The people revolted, and the leaders of the city locked them up, beat them, and put them in stocks. At midnight, they were singing, having a praise service, THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES 12 when God sent a miracle earthquake, because it didn t kill any one. All it did was open the doors of the prison and shake Paul and Silas shackles loose. I imagine they were singing, Blessed be the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. They were not going to flee They were having a revival in the presence of the Lord! The jailer was going to kill himself, because if you were a keeper of the prison, you were responsible for your prisoners, and if they escaped, you forfeited your life. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm: for we are all here. Paul was saying, We re waiting on you; we re ready to bring the message. We ve been singing, and now we re ready for the sermon. Then he called for light, speaking to the jailer, and he came in trembling. Now he probably already knew why Paul was there, for he had heard him preach about another Lord. The Supreme Question Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? We are not to confess our sins, but to confess that Jesus is Lord, according to Romans 10:10. The jailer asked,

13 What must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shalt be saved, and your house (Acts 16:27-32). What saves us? Believing and confessing that Jesus is the Lord, the one whom the angel called Savior, who will save us from all our sins. Believe He is the Messiah, the anointed Son of God. Believe He rose from the dead, and He is now the supreme living Lord, whom God has highly exalted and seated at His own right hand; that at the name of Jesus, all principalities and powers, thrones and dominions, and every other name, not only named in this age, but in the world to come, is under his feet, and He shall reign until He puts all enemies under His feet, and the last one is death (Refs. Eph.1:20-23, 1Cor15:25-26). Paul described Christ before His incarnation as possessing the nature of God and as His equal. Although He shared the status and nature of God, He set aside His high position that was His by right, and deliberately humbled Himself to the lowest of all positions that of a mere man, and not only that, but a slave. Jesus became man in order to serve and promote the welfare of all. To obey was His pleasure, so much so that even faced with death the most cruel and abhorrent death of the cross He declared: Not my will, but Thine be done. Because Christ sacrificed Himself for the good of fallen man, God has highly exalted Him. We should continue to let this mind be in us that was also in Christ Jesus that by giving, we receive; by losing our life, it is gained, and by humiliation, we are exalted. In Philippians, Paul confirmed what Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, that God made this man Jesus, whom wicked men crucified, both Lord and Christ. By confessing Jesus Christ is Lord, the Father is glorified, because His purpose is fulfilled, His plan of salvation for this world is understood. For the same Lord is rich unto all that call upon him... For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom.10:12-13). 13