Phil. 2:9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, (10) That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (11) And every tongue should openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (12) So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
[Part 2 of 2]Proof that Paul's concept was that Christ would be exalted not only objectively in the universe but also subjectively and experientially in our daily life is found in verse 12. After speaking of the crucified life in verses 5 through 8 and the exalted life in verses 9 through 11, Paul says in verse 12, "So then..." The words "so then" indicate that what Paul speaks of in verse 12 is a consequence of taking Christ as the pattern of a crucified life in the preceding verses. These words indicate that Christ's crucified life should be our experience. It is also true that Christ's exalting life should be our experience. On the one hand, we may speak of Christ's exalted life; on the other hand, of His exalting life. No matter which expression we use, in 2:9-11 we have a life of exaltation. Such a life should also be part of the salvation worked out by us. The main elements of the salvation in verse 12 are Christ as the crucified life and Christ in His exaltation. This should be the salvation we work out by God operating in us. Surely the exaltation of Christ is the highest standard of our salvation. We should not simply be those who are saved, but we should be those who are exalted through Christ's resurrection power. It was not Paul's aim in speaking of the exaltation of Christ to teach doctrine objectively. Like all the other matters covered in this book, this point is related to Christian experience. We need to experience Christ in His humiliation. This means we need to experience Him as the One who emptied Himself and humbled Himself. Now that Christ has been exalted by God to the highest peak in the universe, we need to experience Him also in His exaltation. Oh, may the Lord open our eyes to the fact that we are far below His standard of salvation! The standard of the salvation worked out by us must be so high that it includes the exaltation of Christ. Christ's exaltation should be our consummate experience in salvation. This requires that Christ be not only our crucified life, but also our exalted life in the power of resurrection. The very power that has exalted Him in the universe is the power that causes Him to be exalted in us. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Philippians, pp. 95-96. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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