Philippians 2:9-11 - "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Thoughts on today's verses:

Because of what Christ has done in his earthly ministry, namely being completely humbled, God has now highly exalted Him. We learn from this a couple of things. First of all, Christ is alive, something that we do well to remind ourselves of often.

Secondly, we ought not to take the name of the second Person of the Godhead lightly, especially not as a curse word, or vainly. His name is unique, and the day is coming when it will be acknowledged properly by all the people of the world. For the result of the exaltation of Christ is our proper worship - ascribing the worth to Him that is due His name. Unfortunately, not all will do this while on earth, and they foolishly think that they will never have to, and they go to their grave mocking the Lord Jesus Christ. God never said that the knees bowing and tongues confessing would take place now - it will happen later, but we manifest a grace-based relationship with the Lord when we acknowledge Him properly now, by faith!

I could tell you that a bridge is out ahead and you could either ignore me and keep driving, in which case, when you went around the corner and plunged over the chasm, you would acknowledge the truth of my statement, but it would not save you - it would be too late. Or, the second option is that you could believe me and your life would reflect the fact that you believe me, for you would change the course of your life.

This analogy breaks down somewhat because when God has told us that one day every knee will bow and tongue confess, we are not the ones who turn our lives around - our only duty is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31), but when we believe and confess Him, then He is the one who changes our lives and others will see.