Saturday, April 28, 2018

"Every Knee Shall Bow"


Psalm 65 has this little treasure: "...to you shall all flesh come." Well, that sounds familiar. In fact, we often include a very similar concept in our dialog surrounding God and Who He is, whether that's in song or in conversation. I decided to take another look at passages that I could easily find that reference all people bowing before Him. I want to put this down in writing so I can come back to it. I might edit it later as I think about it some more.
  • Psalm 65 - While it doesn't say "every knee," it does say "all flesh." According to the context, God is the One through Whom all people groups will find salvation.
    "O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come." (v. 2)
    If I were to look up all of the passages about all nations coming to him for salvation, I'd be here for a few days. I'll just cover a few basics about "all bowing."
  • Isaiah 45 - This seems to be a central passage in the overriding concept that all people will bow to Him. The context is the absolute Lordship of the God of the Bible. Any other god is nothing before Him.
    "...that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other." (v. 6)
    Then, after talking about the futility of following false gods, He says,“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’..." (vv. 22,23)
  • Romans 14 - It would appear that Paul is essentially saying, "You're judging your brothers and sisters on foolish bases. Knock it off. You're not God and final Judge. He is!"
    "Why do you pass judgement on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God; for it is written, 'As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.' So then each of us will give an account of himself to God." (vv. 10-12)
  • Philippians 2 - My paraphrase of Paul and Timothy's admonition; "You're suffering for your faith. Here's a survival toolkit. Be like-minded, be humble, just like Christ. He bears the name that is above every name. He is 'The Name'.* That God humbled Himself to the humiliation of the 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.." (vv. 9-11)
In every context, He is the one true God. No other god can stand before Him. Praise be to Jesus Christ, God forever, King of kings and Lord of lords!

Now what does that change in my life?
----------------------------
*Thank you, Jim, for pointing out what should have been obvious.

No comments:

Post a Comment