Let this mind be in you! Can we be so minded, to look upon anything God may

purpose for us as our necessary food? If we can begin, as the old hymn puts it, to

recognize that:

we have our feet on the first rung of the ladder which leads to that true humility which is

total submission to the demands of `the mighty hand of God'.

But what was the inspiration that carried our Lord through such depths of humiliation

for us? We read in Heb. 12: 2 that it was `for the joy that was set before Him (He)

endured the Cross, despising the shame'. "He shall exalt you in due season" (I Pet. 5: 6),

"He shall lift you up" (James 4: 10). If we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of

God, this will be the result. Christ Jesus having `endured the Cross, despising the shame,

is set down at the right hand of the throne of God'. This is very much in accord with the

passage we are considering, for it continues (Phil. 2: 9-11) "Wherefore God also hath

highly exalted Him, and given Him the name which is above every name, in order that in

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 Lord kept the end in view; His mind was set on things

above, not on the earth, and for the joy set before Him He endured even unto the death of

the Cross.

The end, for the Lord, was that He should be given THE Name which is above every

name, that for the glory of God the Father every knee in the universe should bow, should

submit, to Him, and every tongue confess (homologeo--say the same thing, agree) that

Jesus Christ is Lord. At last the conflict is over, every rebel knee has submitted. Yes,

every knee, even the knee of the arch-rebel Satan. This does not mean, as some have

feared and some have hoped, that Satan will be restored, forgiven, for it is clear from

Rev. 20: 10, 14 that the Adversary's end is in the Lake of Fire, which is the second

death; destruction is his lot. Yet ere that takes place the confession will have been drawn

from him that `Jesus Christ is Lord', and that not wrung from his unwilling lips by

inquisitorial methods, but to the Glory of God the Father. One meaning of doxa, glory, is

reputation; the end of all Christ's humiliation and sufferings will be that the Father's

reputation will be established, even from the lips of him who from the beginning has been

a liar. What joy that thought must bring to the heart of Him Who for the joy that was set

before Him endured!

It is not wrong for us to bear in mind the joy that is set before us; even if it is only a

little part we may have in establishing the reputation of God as we submit to Him, and to

Him alone. Indeed, as we have seen both Peter and James link the humbling of ourselves

before God with the fact that, in His Own time, He will exalt us, lift us up.

In Phil. 3: Paul tells how, in submitting to the mighty hand of God, he counts all

things but dung for the joy of coming to know Christ. His inspiration is the `prize of the

calling on high of God in Christ Jesus'--he pursues this prize, and the word he uses is