Self-centeredness and pride are nasty little sin-infections that can be almost invisible in our lives.

Like an invisible dose of cyanide, self-centeredness and pride can quickly infect the human heart with their deadly poison producing some of the most detestable fruit in our lives.

Where do you see the fruit of self-centeredness and pride in your heart right now?

The snide comment here…

The short word there…

The critical spirit that creeps in throughout the day…

The insecurity and fear that captivates our minds…

The self-congratulation we imagine in our minds…

Our impatience with other people’s shortcomings…

Our dismissive attitudes when we disagree with someone…

Being quick to mischaracterize someone’s intentions…

Turning a blind eye to evil atrocities in our world…

These are all fruit of a heart that is consumed with self-centeredness and pride.

The Scriptures are clear that “The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt. 23:11 – 12).

Likewise, we know that “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” therefore we are commanded to “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (Jas. 4:6 – 10).

Finally, consider this command too, “‘Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:5 – 7).

It appears to me that God has seen fit to confront our tendencies towards self-centeredness and pride in some very direct ways. He doesn’t gloss things over, and he doesn’t excuse our sin either.

Self-centeredness and pride are not new sins.

These sins were at the core of Lucifer’s fall from Heaven, Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden and Cain’s murder of his brother Abel in the field (Isai. 12:14 – 17; Gen. 3 – 4).

Human beings have been exalting themselves since the very beginning.

So, what is God’s answer to this ages-old problem of human self-centeredness and pride?

How does God enter into this sin-infection as a good healer?

What hope does God extend to us as we struggle with our own self-centeredness and pride?

Paul answers these questions in Philippians 2:9 – 11 when he says, 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Paul’s concern for the Philippian church in these verses is that they would “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” and the way he envisions them putting aside their self-centeredness and their pride is by having “this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:3;5).

In other words, Paul wants the Philippians to put on the humiliative-mind of Christ that already belongs to them by nature of their union with Christ.

This humiliative-mind of Christ is a mindset that belongs to us, that doesn’t seek equality with God, that takes on the form of a slave and crucifies one’s selfish desires so that others may flourish (Phil. 2:5 – 8).

And the fascinating thing about this humiliative mindset that we have in Christ Jesus, is that it is founded on the exaltation of Christ immediately following his humiliation.

Christ’s humiliation is the catapult for his exaltation (Hughes 2013: 91 – 92). After the humiliating death of Christ on the cross of Calvary for sinful rebels like you and I, Jesus was exalted to the highest place of honor at the right hand of the Father in Heaven (Heb. 1:3; Acts 1:11; 2:33).

In Philippians 2:9 – 11 we have Paul’s mountain top description of the exaltation of Christ, centered around his name.

Throughout these three short verses the word for “name” is used no less than three times and there are also three different titles or names given for the exalted Messiah (Jesus [vv.10; 11], Christ [v.11] and Lord [v.11]).

The apostle Paul paints the picture of an exalted Christ whose name is above every other name (v.9), whose name will cause universal submission (v. 10), and whose name is the confession of the gospel (v. 11). Let’s take those one at a time.

#1: CHRIST’S NAME IS ABOVE EVERY OTHER NAME (VS. 9)

The apostle Paul says that “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” (vs. 9).

The reality is that we know Jesus by many different names. We know him as Immanuel, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, The Chief Shepherd, The Good Shepherd, etc. (Hughes 2013: 93).

But the name that has been bestowed upon Jesus in this text is the name “Lord” which is found in verse 11. This name comes from the Greek word “Kyrios” meaning YAHWEH or “Lord” and it is the personal name for God that is found all over the Bible (Hughes 2013: 93).

The impression we get here when we read this name is that it is a name that reigns supreme throughout every generation. Christ’s name is above every other name.

#2: CHRIST’S NAME WILL CAUSE UNIVERSAL SUBMISSION (VS. 10)

The apostle Paul says that God has bestowed this name (Lord) upon Christ “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (vs. 10).

Scholars point out that this proclamation of universal submission at the name of Jesus as the Lord is a throwback to Isaiah 45:22 – 23. In Isaiah 45 God proclaims his powerful sovereign rule over all of history and over every element of human salvation.

Ultimately there is no knee that has existed or will exist that will not bow in submission under the sovereign rule of the exalted Christ (Hughes 2013: 94).

At the moment of Christ’s return every Christian will bow his or her knee and shout that “Jesus is Lord” with great joy while every unbeliever will bow his or her knee and shout that “Jesus is Lord” with great agony (Hughes 2013: 96).

The reality is that we cannot claim a Savior whom we do not submit to as our Lord. Christ’s name will cause universal submission.

#3: CHRIST’S NAME IS THE CONFESSION OF THE GOSPEL (VS. 11)

The apostle Paul says that God has given Christ the name that is above every other name and that his name will cause universal submission and not only that, but that “every tongue [will] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (vs. 11).

In this verse we have the confession of the gospel in the name of Jesus.

This threefold title, “Jesus Christ is Lord”, is apostolic shorthand for the gospel of 1 Corinthians 15; Jesus means the Lord saves; Christ means anointed Messiah; Lord means sovereign God (Hughes 2013: 95).

When every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, then every tongue is confessing the good news of the gospel even if some of those tongues have not believed the gospel for salvation. Christ’s name is the confession of the gospel.

APPLICATION…

Again, where do you see self-centeredness and pride creeping into your heart?

Humility is not a celebrated virtue in the world we live in. Self-promotion and pride have become the virtuous values of our day.

Anything to get ahead. Anything to advance our agendas. Anything to feel better about ourselves. “You deserve this” is the mantra of our culture.

In a nutshell, we live in a day and age where self-exaltation is encouraged and celebrated.

  • Sometimes we exalt others who advance our agendas or serve our desires for power, comfort, control and acceptance.
  • We rely on political force to satisfy our desires.
  • We elevate our spouses or our friends to thrones of self-gratification.
  • We expect our vocations to be the fulfillment of our deepest wants.
  • We amass wealth and possessions to build up our image.
  • We shape our children into images of our long-lost dreams for ourselves.

None of the things I’ve just mentioned (politics, marriage, friends, jobs, wealth, possessions, kids), none of these things are sinful things to pursue or engage in.

I believe there is a perfect design for all of those things to bring glory to Christ whom God has exalted.

The problem is that we often exalt many of those things to the status of ultimate pleasure producers and then we grieve deeply when they don’t produce what we expected.

When we learn once again that everything under the sun is broken we are right to grieve and lament the brokenness. But in light of the brokenness of the world we live in, in the midst of the grief we feel when we realize that things are not what they ought to be, we can find great hope in the exalted Christ.

Because Christ has been exalted, we can trust that his name is above every other name especially the names that remind us of the presence of evil in our world.

For some of you the name that reminds you of intense evil is the name of a parent who abused you. For some of you it’s the name of an ex-spouse. For some of you it’s the name of a political leader. For some of you it’s the names of people who have suffered injustice in our broken world. For some of you, you’re ashamed of your very own name.

But the good news here is that in the name of Christ we trust that Jesus reigns supreme over every other name through his life, death, resurrection and promised return.

The life of Christ is not only our substitute, but it is also our example. In Christ’s death we have the ransom for our sin-debt and we also have the imperative to die to our sin.

In the empty tomb we have the proof that Jesus reigns supreme over Satan, sin and death and we have the command to no longer live like dead men in our sin.

In Christ’s promised return we have the glorious hope of heaven and assurance in complete and final justice.

Because Christ has been exalted, we can trust that his name is above every other name.

Because Christ has been exalted, we can trust that his name will ultimately cause universal submission. This is the justice that we all long for in this broken world.

Every knee will bow in submission to Christ as Lord even though every knee hasn’t bowed in submission to Christ as Savior.

We have no excuse to stand idly by with blind eyes turned toward injustice in our world.

We are to take up the cause of the widow and the orphan and the oppressed and the helpless.

We labor for justice now as we look forward to complete justice at the end when every knee bows to the exalted name of Christ. Because Christ has been exalted, we can trust that his name will ultimately cause universal submission.

Because Christ has been exalted, we can trust that in his name is the hope of the gospel not just for salvation but for all of life from the moral to the ethical to the societal issues we are confronted with.

The gospel is like a song that inhabits the dance of our lives.

The Bible knows no such thing as the “just preach the gospel” movement that is sweeping through the church; as if the preaching of the gospel doesn’t also include moral, ethical and societal imperatives.

Those who merely want to preach the gospel as our only hope without human action have discarded most of the Scriptural commands to live righteously and to take a stand on moral, ethical and societal issues.

If the gospel is like a beautiful song of salvation then the outcome of that salvation-song are disciples who do the salvation-dance.

Disciples are to be formed into the image of their Heavenly Father and therefore they should be engaged in issues of injustice (such as abortion, sexual sin, ethnic equality, accountability in power structures, etc., etc.). Because Christ has been exalted, we can trust that in his name is the hope of the gospel

CONCLUSION…

Do you trust in the exalted name of Christ? God has instructed us to “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” and the way that God envisions us putting our self-centeredness and our pride aside, is by having “this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:3;5).

In other words, God wants us to put on the humiliative-mind of Christ that already belongs to us by nature of our union with Christ.

This humiliative-mind of Christ is a mindset that belongs to us, that doesn’t seek equality with God, that takes on the form of a slave and crucifies our selfish desires so that others may flourish (Phil. 2:5 – 8).

And the fascinating thing about this humiliative mindset that we have in Christ Jesus, is that it is founded on the exaltation of Christ.

Christ’s humiliation is the catapult for his exaltation and Christ’s exaltation results in our salvation and sanctification (Hughes 2013: 91 – 92).

After the humiliating death of Christ on the cross of Calvary for sinful rebels like you and I, Jesus was exalted to the highest place of honor at the right hand of the Father in Heaven (Heb. 1:3; Acts 1:11; 2:33).

This is why Paul says that, “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9 – 11).

Christ’s name is above every other name (v.9), his name will cause universal submission (v. 10), and his name is the confession of the gospel (v. 11).

The only question that remains is will you trust in the exalted name of Christ not just for your salvation (to go to heaven) but also for your sanctification (holy living now)?