Descending into Greatness

“Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name” (Phillippians 2:9).

I always hated Opposite Day. It’s a ridiculous (and completely made-up) holiday where everything you say and do is the reverse of what you think it should be. Oh, it’s not on anybody’s calendar. Hallmark doesn’t waste their time coming up with sappy or snarky cards for it. No, Opposite Day usually rears it’s nonsensical head when one of your goofy friends in middle school announced it out of nowhere. Suddenly everything gets flipped on it’s head. Yes is no. Up is down. Pretty is ugly. It made my head hurt. I guess it’s one of the many reasons I’m glad middle school is in my rearview mirror.

But what if everyday was Opposite Day? What if we lived on a planet where everything we did was backwards? What if down is really up? The more I read the Bible, the more it sure seems our world is actually running opposite of the way God designed it to work. Here in Philippians 2, Paul writes about how the Heavenly Father actually lifts up His Son because He went down. “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name” (v9). He lifts Him up precisely BECAUSE He dropped down. Apparently in God’s original plan, they way up is actually down. Bill Hybels coined the phrase “descending into greatness.” Jesus leads the way for us as we descend into greatness.

One cool way to think about Philippians 2:6-11 is as a mini-biography of the Second Person of the Trinity. The apostle pulls back the curtain heaven and gives us a sneak peek at Christ before He left paradise for the third rock from the sun. “He was in the form of God” (Phil 2:6). But here’s the goofy thing. From this point, Christ continually descends. Long before He hit the road for Israel, the Son of God didn’t exactly have a chokehold on His own divinity. He “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (Phil 2:6). Jesus “emptied Himself,” added 100% humanity to His 100% divinity and dove headfirst into the hot mess of our sin and rebellion. He descends. In Philippians 2:7-8, we read a super condensed version of His life as the radical Rabbi/Carpenter from Nazareth. Jesus does what we could never do. He descends to live a life of perfect obedience to His Dad. He descends further to take our place on the cross for our sin. He ultimately descends into the grave as a dead man. 

It’s at this point everything reverses. Instead of the downward trend, the Son walks out of the graveyard when His Dad raises Him to life. If that’s not crazy enough, the resurrected Jesus actually ascends back home to heaven riding a cumulonimbus cloud (I honestly have no idea what kind of cloud it really was, I’ve just always wanted to type the word “cumulonimbus”). Things continue to rise faster than internet start up. “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name” (v9). Jesus’ humiliation (Phil 2:5-8) results in His exaltation (Phil 2:9-11). In God’s economy, down is up. Our Savior leads the way to descend into greatness. 

Paul tells his friends back in Philippi how “God has highly exalted” His Son (v9). What we see as two words in the ESV (“highly exalted”) is actually one word in the original language (Gr. huperupso’o). It’s a compound Greek term that literally means to “hyper lift.” Forget cranking up the hyperdrive and traveling faster than light in the Millennium Falcon with Han Solo and Chewie. That’s playground stuff compared to God the Father giving His Son the hyper lift! That part sounds pretty sweet, doesn’t it? You may be down with the whole greatness deal, but not so hot on hitting the down button of humility. Could it be that Jesus did all that humble stuff so we don’t have to? I mean, my best life now certainly can’t include something as messy as humility, can it? I hate to break it to you, homey. Christ did all that humble to show EXACTLY what we should do. If we’re to follow Jesus, we’re to follow Him as He descends into greatness.

Just in case you think I’ve lost my ever-loving mind, check out just a handful of passages from both the Old and New Testaments on God’s view of humility. Do you want God’s attention? “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My word” (Is 66:2). Jesus tells His posse, “For he who is least among you all is the one who is great” (Lk 9:48). Not once but twice, Christ makes the point, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 14:11; 18:14). Apparently His boys weren’t quick on the uptake about this idea so He had to repeat Himself. And both Jesus’ kid brother and the leader of His apostles drop a quote from Proverbs 3:34. “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; 1Pet 5:5). Just in case you haven’t been paying attention, anyone who goes up against God loses. Every. Single. Time. Jesus calls us to follow Him and to descend into greatness.

Meanwhile back in heaven, we read how Father God “bestowed on Him the name that is above every other name” (v9). So just what name is Paul talking about? God already told Joe and Mary to name their oldest boy Jesus some 30 years ago. That can’t be it. It’s not Christ. That name means “Anointed One” and is equivalent to the promised Messiah we read all about in the OT. Let’s be clear about one thing. Jesus’ last name isn’t Christ. He’s not the Son of Joe and Mary Christ. Christ is His title. Are you tracking with me? 

So just what name is His heavenly Dad handing the resurrected and ascended Jesus? I think Paul solves the mystery for us down in verse 11. “Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil 2:11). There’s a boatload of stuff going on when the Father gives the Son the name “Lord.” The Greek word kurios means master, ruler, and the one in charge. Christ returns to His Father’s side and takes the reigns of Creation. He’s the Boss. But “Lord” is also the word the translators used in an ancient Greek version of the OT called the Septuagint. As an act of reverence, they couldn’t bring themselves to actually write out God’s personal name Yahweh. Instead they substituted Lord. Ever wonder why you see “LORD” in all caps in your Bible? That’s where it all started. I think there’s a very good chance the Father calls His Son “Yahweh” once He’s back home in heaven. 

So what do we do with all this? First of all, we can be confident of Jesus’ current location. He’s with His Father. Second, He’s not just boosted up a couple of inches. He’s hyper lifted! Third, we can be sure that He’s now fully in control of everything that’s going on in the universe. Fourth, Christ has led the way for us as His followers as we are to descend into greatness. In God's economy, down is up.