Philippians 2:8-11; “And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so 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.” (all emphasis mine)
For all who have received and accepted Jesus as our Lord, Savior and Messiah, the above verses are not taken as any inconvenience or threat. In fact, we’re actually looking forward to our first opportunity to bow at His feet in person and totally declare our loyalty and gratitude for the sacrifice He made for our sins – more personally, my sins. The hardest part will be to try and get back up to a standing position, as we will be in total awe and wonder. Listen to the lines in the song “I Can Only Imagine,” and you will be able to have an idea of our first meeting with Him.
Just knowing all that He gave up to come to this earth in human form is above our ability to understand and comprehend the works of our Triune God. John 10:30; “The Father and I are One.” He was present when this earth was created, has always existed, and will exist forever. John 1:1-5; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was [and is] God. He was in the beginning with God [Genesis 1:1]. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Jesus is the true Light of the world, and as stated in John 3:19-21, “And this is the judgment: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his/her works be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the Light, so that it may be clearly seen that his/her works have been carried out in God.”
Going to Revelation 21:23-24, we get an image of what our forever Home with Jesus will be like; “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the Glory of God gives its light, and the lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.”
There are many verses about our Savior being the Light, such as John 8:12; John 12:35; Romans 13:12; Colossians 1:12-13; 2 Corinthians 4:6, just to name a few.
On the other hand, Satan is all about darkness. Ephesians 6:12; “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Acts 26:18; “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to the Light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me [Jesus].”
Anyone who has done any study about anything pertaining to the end of this age would be able to understand the evil and negative attitudes that exist today, and especially against anything that pertains to Jesus. The progression toward the new world order taking over is rapidly advancing, and the events leading to it are accelerating daily, and in some cases hourly.
For a true believer, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would turn to the dark side, but the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not surprised by any of this. Jesus spoke about a turning away in the last days, and Paul made it clear what attitudes would be like during this time (Matthew 24; Luke 21 and 2 Timothy 3).
Reading 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12: “The coming of the lawless one [antichrist] is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing [unbelievers], because they refused to love the Truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the Truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
One may ask why a Loving God would place a “strong delusion” on anyone instead of trying to save them. After all, 2 Peter 3:9 states, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
Our Heavenly Father is our Creator, and He knows His creation better than anyone. He knows those who have refused, and will refuse, to accept the gift that Jesus paid for so dearly at Calvary. Anyone who calls on Jesus to be their Savior will be saved (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13). However, God will in no way force anyone to do so. Satan will use any and all ploys to draw as many away from the Savior as he can. He is a master of “mind games,” and there are some people who will accept this world rather than consider their eternal home. To them, anything that relates to Jesus is foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18).
A giant blessing that all believers have is the knowledge that we are, and will be, sinners as long as we’re on this earth (Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23). Once a person calls out to Jesus and confesses that they are a sinner, believes that Jesus died on that cross and was raised to conquer sin and death as a sacrifice we could never make, and calls out for Him to be our eternal Savior, we will be saved (Romans 10:9-13).
God has no illusions, and He knows we will sin right up until our last breath is taken on this earth. Go to 1 John 1:8-10 for the remedy He has provided for us to be forgiven. Also, Romans 8:1 gives us the promise that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
This does not relieve us of the consequences of our sins, and we are still subject to the Father’s discipline (Hebrews 12:5-11). This is not because He wants to cause us discomfort, but He lovingly wants us to learn from our mistakes and continue in our journey to our eternal home.
For this, “We Bow Down” willingly and praise and glorify the name of Jesus for being our most wonderful Shepherd. Please consider the words of this Twila Paris song of praise:
(1) You are the Lord of Creation and Lord of my life, Lord of the land and the sea. You were Lord of the heavens before there was time; Lord of all Lords You will be.
(ref) We bow down, and we worship You, Lord. We bow down, and we worship You, Lord. We bow down, and we worship You, Lord. And King of all kings You will be.
(2) You are King of creation and King of the heavens before there was time, and King of all kings You will be. (ref)
(3) We bow down, and we crown You the King; we bow down, and we crown You the King; we bow down, and we crown You the King. King of all kings You will be. (ref)
Very simple lyrics, but so full of praise for our Father, Savior and Holy Spirit. The moment in time is rapidly approaching when everyone – Satan and his demons and all disciples of darkness – will bow before the Savor and confess Him to be Lord of All. For those who follow Satan, they will follow this up by joining him in the Lake of Fire forever (Revelation 20:11-15).
For the flock of the Shepherd – all true believers – we will be with Him in our Heavenly home forever. The choice is that simple and totally up to you where you will spend eternity. No other options are available. Choose wisely. If you haven’t done so already, today would not be too late to have Jesus as your Savior.
Come, Lord Jesus!