Jesus, Name Above All Names (CC)

WWW.ZIONTORRANCE.INFO WWW.ZIONTORRANCE.INFO SUNDAY JANUARY 1, 20 12 SUNDAY JANUARY 1, 2012 SERMON TEXT: PHILIPPIANS 2:9-13 "THEREFORE GOD EXALTED HIM TO THE HIGHEST PLACE AND GAVE HIM THE NAME THAT IS ABOVE EVERY NAME, THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH, AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER. THEREFORE, MY DEAR FRIENDS, AS YOU HAVE ALWAYS OBEYED - NOT ONLY IN MY PRESENCE, BUT NOW MUCH MORE IN MY ABSENCE - CONTINUE TO WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING, FOR IT IS GOD WHO WORKS IN YOU TO WILL AND TO ACT ACCORDING TO HIS GOOD PURPOSE. This is the Word of our Lord. Let us pray: Glorious and gracious God, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of each of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, our only source of hope and comfort. Amen. [Text taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, 1973, 1978, 1984, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.] Dear Followers of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: A simple question on a sheet when you apply for a job. A simple question that says: You're sitting in a room waiting for a meeting. Your boss walks in with a female that you do not know. What do you do? What do you do? It's an interesting thought. And I understand that there are more questions like this on job applications because employers want to know that the people that they are hiring have some kind of manners. Some understanding of etiquette. Who introduces people who come into a room for a meeting? Do you introduce yourself? If you are a man and it's a woman, do you stand up? Do YOU put your hand out first? All kinds of interesting situations that we find ourselves in, in our daily job ... in our daily lives. And it is important. It's important in a business setting. It's important in a personal setting. But yet, if you would look at the world around us, they wanna say that those things don't matter. There is no need for manners or etiquette; they're there just to entrap you and to ensnare you. Why do you need to sit down at a table with two forks and two spoons and not even know which one to use if it's embarrassing you? But manners and etiquette are not there to embarrass people. They're for the exact opposite purpose. So that you know what to do so that you will not feel uncomfortable. That you know that you start with the outside silverware, whichever it is. You start with the fork that's on the outside and work your way in. The spoon, that's on the outside, and work your way in. And you will be comfortable in any situation. But today we want to just think that we should not have to worry about those things at all. And then I wonder, how we as Christians, take that aspect of manners and etiquette when we hear what the Apostle Paul says to us this morning about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow. Everything in heaven and on earth will bow before Him because He IS the Lord ... the Creator ... the Savior of all! That we will bow before Him in what we've done. Are we truly prepared to do that? Because I think our sinful nature would like to think that if God came down to talk to us or send one of His angels to us that would be such an awesome experience. That we could have this wonderful exchange between our Creator and our Savior ... asking Him all of those thoughts and questions that we want answers to concerning our faith and concerning His work. But yet when we look throughout the pages of God's recorded Word for us when God sent His angels to people they were terrified. They were terrified and fell before them. So much so that the angels always said to them: Do not be afraid. Imagine! Standing in the presence then of the eternal God! They couldn't do anything but fall before Him. Fall before Him mostly in fear because of the sin that contaminates us. To stand in the presence of the Holy Son of God ... the sinless Son of God drives us to fall before Him. Because there is no making excuses for the behavior that we have done. There isn't going to be any way of talking ourselves out of the situations that we find ourselves in. There isn't going to be any hiding the motives of deception to keep what's hidden in our minds away from Him. He is all-knowing. He is all-seeing. He looks into our hearts and into our minds and understands EXACTLY what goes on there. He knows us most intimately! And standing in His presence, there is nothing for us to do but to fall before Him in fear and trembling at His wrath at the punishment that we know God demands for those who break His Law. It is a reminder to us this morning how easily we can go through our life without that recognition of the sin that we do. And we've already come here this morning hearing the words of the Second Commandment about not misusing the Name of God. And yet using It in ways that God sees and wants us to that pleases Him. And in our daily life, we can pass by those sins without even thinking of them sometimes. The fact that we DO misuse God's Name. That we do not always call on It in grateful worship. In praise. That we don't come and pray to Him first and foremost for our strength and our support and our needs. We realize that if we stood in front of God to give an accounting, we couldn't say that we were perfect. We would fall before Him ... ... not bowing ... out of respect but out of fear. But yet, we know that God has revealed to us, by that Name, that very Name ... Jesus. That He is the One who would save the people from their sins. The importance of that Name, that we were reminded of this morning. That when the angel came to Mary to say: This is what you will call Him. Repeating that promise also to Joseph: He IS the Savior! You will give Him the name Jesus. And Mary and Joseph willingly obeyed that Law. That Law that God had commanded. On the day that He was circumcised, as well as on the day that He came and was given that name Jesus. Reminding us that He is the One who kept God's Law perfectly! In every aspect ... where we could not! He came as our Savior ... to live as our substitute. To keep that Law. To be an example; to show us in our life what is God-pleasing behavior. And from the moment that we see Him next in those recorded Gospels, as a young man at the temple, being about His Father's business ... wanting to hear and learn and to study and to discuss that Word ... there is our example. Our example of keeping God's name holy by studying that Word. Realizing that Jesus IS our Savior. He is the One who has given His life so that we could have eternal life. He gave His life over unto death so that we could live with Him eternally. And He has removed the punishment of our sin so that we no longer fall before Him in terror of His wrath. But we bow before Him with respect and honor that He would be mindful of us the lowly creatures of creation. That He would come for us to save us to bring us to a knowledge of the truth. And to be able to confess Him as our Lord in our life. To be able to praise Him with the voices that He has given us. To use that Name. To share those blessings that are ours. To bring others to the knowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. Our confession is a tremendous witness of our faith. By saying the things that we believe by teaching others. By teaching them to our children. By living them as examples in our home. This is what God-pleasing behavior is. To reach out to those people who are still unaware that Jesus is THE ONLY WAY to heaven! That He is the ONLY Name given on earth to people so that they will be saved. How special that is! How wonderful that is that that knowledge has come to us and that we can confess His Name. Not to use It in useless cursing and damnation and false swearing and lying and deceiving. But to share that message. To confess Jesus Christ as Lord. To take hold and ownership of that precious Name. And not allow anyone to bring evil upon It. Or to misuse It. To stand on our Christian feet and stop hearing and listening how the world misuses It, treats It horribly ... even in our presence. We get more excited when someone says something bad about US whether it's true or not than we care about how people are misusing the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Because it doesn't matter to us what those people say or how they use It. But bowing in respect before our Lord and Savior means that we will do everything to confess Him as Lord, to keep His Name Holy among us. To share that Name so that others themselves may hear It and believe that He IS the Lord and Savior. And God has given us the strength and the ability to do that. The Apostle Paul reminded the Church at Philippi that it is God who works in us ... those good works. Those things that He wants us to do BECAUSE He has saved us. He has given us that strength. He has given us that ability. That strength of the Holy Spirit and the power of His Word that we own and that we use and that is a part of our daily lives. Paul encouraged the Church at Philippi to use It. To live their life of salvation. To live that life of sanctification knowing that God has saved us. That it is the Name of Jesus Christ that we confess as Lord. He will give us the strength. He is the One who will carry it on to completion ... ... until we join our exalted Lord and Savior in those heavenly realms. Where we will be before Him, bowing in worship and praise and adoration. Singing the glories with the angels. And the praises with the Church Triumphant. Reminding us that it is ONLY through the Name and the work of Jesus Christ, that we have heaven. That we, have been saved. That Name that is so sweet in our hearing. That Name that is so precious to us, is the ONLY Name by which people will be saved. And God has revealed that to us. And we bow before Him in thanks and in praise. In worship and adoration, we confess that Jesus Christ IS my Lord. And I continue to live that each and every day in my life. Not doing those things that God has said are not beneficial, but putting into practice all of those good things. Calling on His Name in prayer. Praising Him. And, in thanks, each and every day. That Jesus Christ IS our Lord and Savior. Amen. Let us rise. Now may the peace of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior be with us and comfort us with the knowledge that our sins are forgiven. To the glory of His Holy Name. Amen.