Every Knee Will Bow

Last week God brought to mind the phrase “every knee will bow” and on Sunday our pastor ended the message inviting each of us to bow our knee to the Lord. The first passage in scripture that records this phrase is found in Isaiah 45: 23 which reads, “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” God is God and there is no other. In verse 16 we read “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it, he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.” In Psalm 100:3 we read: “It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves” affirming that God is the creator of humanity. Humans are not self-made but are created by God, who is the source of our existence. The Bible is described as a story about God—His nature, actions, and desire to be in relationship with humanity. God created all things for His own glory, and every aspect of existence, including human life, is part of His grand narrative. In Genesis 1:1, which begins with “In the beginning God,” reveals that God is the central figure from the start, middle and end of history. Paul quotes the passage from Isaiah in Philippians 2: 10-11: “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.” The apostle Paul calls for a shift in perspective—from self-centeredness to God-centeredness. This involves surrendering one’s will to God, thinking soberly about one’s place in the world, and recognizing that our life is a gift from God to be used for His glory. As Paul wrote, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” The ultimate purpose of life is not self-fulfillment but the glorification of God, who is the source of all life and the center of all history.

Paul in Chapter 2 uses Christ as the ultimate example of humility that we should follow as Christians. It was Christ who, being in the very form of God, emptied Himself and took on the form of a servant. In doing so, He became obedient to God to the point of death. This He did for the sake of His people. Christ first humbled Himself and then submitted Himself in complete obedience to the Father. Afterwards, the Father exalted Him that every knee should bow to Him—things in heaven, things in earth and things under the earth. It is all about God and what Jesus has done for us. May He forgive us for every time we start to think that it’s actually all about us! Modern culture promotes the belief that life is about personal happiness, fulfillment, and achievement. However, the Word teaches that true life is found only in a personal relationship with God, who gives us the power to live, move, and exist. Until we learn this lesson individually and as a church, we will never experience what it really means to bow our knee to the Lord.

Why do we live halfhearted or lukewarm lives? Because we have an inaccurate view of God. We don’t see Him as He really is. We magnify ourselves and we minimize God. Our God is too small! Psalm 34:3 invites us to “Magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together!

Creation is all about God. This is God’s world. Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Earth is approximately 25,000 miles around and is inhabited by over 1.6 million species of plant and animal life. Our planet supports all this life because of a finely tuned balance of factors. If any of these factors were to change even minutely, life would cease to exist. Many scientists see this fine-tuning as evidence of God’s creative activity. Our galaxy is one of more than 350 billion galaxies in our universe. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” The universe is huge! God is bigger still. The heavens declare the glory of God! Take time to soak in the greatness of our God! Now, we ask the question— “Why did God create the world? Paul in Colossians 1:16 says, “For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” Everything was created for Him—that includes you and me! It all exists for His pleasure. Everything exists because God wanted it to exist. He created it for Himself. This is God’s world. And all of it shouts His praise! Let us bow the knee and give Him praise! It is all about God! History is all about God. History is His story, not ours. We think that it is all about us, and we forget that we are only little dust people in God’s great plan. The Bible says that our time on the stage of history is like a vapor escaping a teakettle; it’s here and gone in a moment. We are temporary—very temporary—and God is eternal. God’s story begins and ends with God! One writer puts it this way: In the beginning, eons ago, God created the heavens and the earth, because God wanted to. He created it for Himself. Were you there for that? God created human beings and offered them a relationship of love with Himself. God loved us. But we rejected God because we wanted to be the star of the story; we wanted to be our own god. So God began the long slow process of wooing us back to Himself. God called Abraham and God made a covenant with Abraham and His descendants to bless the whole world. God rescued the Israelites out of Egypt and made them a nation to bless the whole world. Are you in the story yet? God raised up David to be king, and promised that a Savior would come from David’s family to bless the whole world. God sent His Son to fulfill that promise. Jesus lived a perfect life, died on a cross in our place and was raised from the dead to save and bless the whole world! God sent His Spirit to fill the followers of Jesus to empower them to take this good news to the whole world. God promised that Jesus would return and that we will be with God forever in a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness reigns forever. Where is God in this story? Everywhere, from start to finish. In fact, He is the beginning and the end, the alpha and omega. Listen to how Paul describes the end of the story: 1 Corinthians 15:24–28 “Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. How does the story end? God will be all in all. God will be everything! It’s God’s story, from beginning to end. We are here for such a time as this and a part of God’s story, but it’s not about us; it’s about Him.

We are all about God. When we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord we are born into the family of God and are heirs with Christ. I Peter 1: 18-19 says, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefather, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” We are not our own. We belong to God’s family. I Corinthians 6: 19-20 says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.” The big lie in our world is: “It’s my life, I can do what I want. It’s my life, my time, my body, my money, my choice.” Jesus challenges that head-on. “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” That price was the blood of Jesus, the life of God’s Son. We are twice God’s: once because He made us for Himself; and twice because He bought us for Himself. We are not our own. We belong to God! 2 Corinthians 5: 15 says, “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” Therefore, we are not to live for ourselves, but we live for Jesus—we live for God! Whatever we do, we are to do it all for the glory of God. (1 Cor. 10: 31) The purpose of God for our lives is not for us to receive honor and glory. All the good things that we accomplish are only possible because of Him, and He alone deserves all the praise for anything we do. We must be careful not to allow pride and a desire to be lifted up to fill our hearts and deter us from giving all glory to God. We should seek to do all that we can for Him, in gratitude for all He has done for us, but our motive cannot be our promotion. The lesson for us living in the “here and now” is that if we have heard and responded to the gospel, then we must live each day in light of its truth, shining the light of Christ into a dark world. We live in a world that has been rigged to distract us. Each time we plow our way through the massive distractions to communicate with God, we achieve victory! Those who have not responded to the gospel are exhorted to respond today and not harden the heart. “It is appointed for each of us to die once and then to face the judgment.” (Heb. 9:27) Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Those who have responded to the gospel with faith and repentance will do so gladly and willingly. Those who have hardened their hearts to the call of the gospel will do so with great fear and trembling. No one knows the day or the hour of Christ’s return to earth for His Bride, so it is time for each of us to bow our knee to the Lord daily dying to self—it is not about us but all about God! Today let us take time to notice Him, to fellowship with Him, to trust Him and praise Him! “To God be the glory, great things He has done! So loved He the world that He gave us His Son.” (Fanny Crosby)

All glory, and honor, and praise belongs to the LORD God Almighty, the KING of kings and LORD of lords! “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.” (Rev. 5: 12) “For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.” (Rom. 11: 36) Hallelujah! To God be the glory! Amen. Let us bow our knee to Him today for He is worthy!