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now or not yet | Philippians ii.11

now or not yet | Philippians ii.11

Last updated on: January 16, 2023 at 9:00 am by Rev. Jared V. Ingle

now or not yet | Philippians ii.11 2022-12-15T18:41:50-05:00 Rev. Jared V. Ingle

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now or not yet | Philippians ii.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. (Philippians 2.10-11, KJV)

this glorious hymn with wondrous truths about Christ, now focuses on us

There are many questions about these two verses.

Who are we referring to here: angels, demons, humans, animals, or all of the above?
Where are they at: Heaven, Hell, or on the Earth’s surface?
When will this take place: now, in the future, or has it already happened?

These questions are easy to ask, very difficult to answer, even by Theologians.

There seems to be one central truth almost everyone agrees on. You will bow before Jesus Christ!

In our faith tradition, we generally believe there are a couple of options you have:

Reject Jesus now, then bow on judgement day, and be escorted to Hell, or . . .
Bow before Jesus now, live for Him, and be escorted into Heaven, or . . .
. . . actually, there is no third option.

I highly recommend becoming a subject of Jesus now

There’s a line of end times Theology I agree with on some accounts: the now and not yet.

The idea is there will be a great day when God sets everything right . . . then . . . not yet. Of course, it can happen at any time. No prophecy is left to be fulfilled before the great day.

However there are glimpses of that day and wonders in our everyday . . . today . . . now.

It’s like the Not Yet is capitalized because we see it in Scripture. However the nows are lower case reminders to us of the one great day, the Not Yet. The theory is much more beautiful and wonderful than I can describe in a short section.

It’s the now and not yet view of the last days. However, there is no now or not yet in this passage. There is no choice. There is only the now. The Not Yet for this Scripture is too terrible to risk.

Elina Fairytale | life is now neon signage | 01.24.20 | pexels

One cannot take too many chances in life. With this Scripture, may I recommend starting with the now. Confess Jesus as Savior and Lord now. Don’t wait for judgment at the Not Yet.

there is a powerful phrase embedded in this portion of the hymn

. . . confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil 2.11)

This portion of the song is actually a rewording of a prophecy from Isaiah 45.23 in the Hebrew Bible:

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.

We will all confess who Jesus is or swear allegiance to Him. To confess can mean to agree with someone, to publicly profess someone.

We live in an age of endorsements. Every company wants to find a celebrity to sell their product, no matter whether or not the celebrity has ever tried the product. But the product sells because someone respectable is selling it. The bigger the name, the greater the person’s authenticity, the better the endorsement.

A confession is like an endorsement. We are endorsing Jesus to those in our world. Just like endorsements in advertising, it matters who we are when we endorse Jesus! Authenticity matters.

To confess is more than an endorsement. It also means to proclaim praise, and especially to give thanks. We agree with Jesus, with great gratitude for all He has done for us.

We are honored to confess Him, overjoyed to align ourselves with Him.

Philippians 2 series:

how to be the church with the mind of Jesus | Philippians ii.1 CLICK

being in the form of God | Philippians ii.2 CLICK

the form of a servant | Philippians ii.3 CLICK

how can man become like God? | Philippians ii.4 CLICK

in fashion as a man | Philippians ii.5 CLICK

the worse death known to man | Philippians ii.6 CLICK

when you suffer, look to the cross | Philippians ii.7 CLICK

why continue a series on a great, early hymn? | Philippians ii.8 CLICK

bearing in mind the exaltation | Philippians ii.9 CLICK

the name above all names | Philippians ii.10 CLICK

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