You might remember that the Israelite nation was once enslaved to Egypt for 400 years. Their slavery was severe, and eventually, they were broken in spirit and crushed as a nation.
So, they called out to the Lord in their slavery. In their terrible misery, the Lord heard and was concerned for them, so He met Moses in the famous “burning bush,” and this is what He said to Moses:
Exodus 3:7-8 ESV Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, (8) and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
In God “coming down” to “bring them up” out of slavery, we have a foreshadowing of the work of Jesus Christ. Jesus, though equal with the Father, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped and to which He must hold. Instead, He lowered Himself, humbling Himself to become a Man, became nothing, and took on Himself the nature of a servant.
And then He humbled Himself further by taking on your sins, even becoming sin for you (2 Corinthians 5:21), receiving the wrath of God in your place, suffering your punishment and dying your death, the death of a common criminal. Jesus came down to bring you up out of the darkness of sin and into the glorious light of His mercy, grace, and love.
Friend, stop for just a moment and consider how far down Jesus went for you. He came down to be born in a manger, down to Nazareth, a city that was despised, down to a carpenter’s shop, down to hunger and thirst, down to agony and bloody sweat, down to a cross, death and burial in a borrowed tomb, down to the darkness of hell and to the spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:19).
Oh, how He really does love you! Embrace His love. Wash in His love. Thank Him for His love.
Next, let’s notice what happened to Jesus as a direct result of Him humbling Himself:
Philippians 2:9-11 ESV Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, (10) so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (11) and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Question 7. Why was Jesus exalted so high to be worshipped by all humanity?