By Robin Sam
‘Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time’ (1 Peter 5:6).
MOST Christians have a warped understanding of exaltation. Some believe success lies in large numbers – to them the author with the most number of titles and a huge sales of his books is more successful than someone who has written a life-changing single book. Some others believe success means being popular and influential. They would believe Michael Jackson achieved huge success in his lifetime than someone who kept a low profile all his life but raised God-fearing children. The world would compel us to believe that a high flying, tax-evading CEO of a brewery chain is far more successful than a struggling Christian entrepreneur who does not cook his accounts to show profit where there is none or show loss when he has actually made a profit.
Some others believe success comes from networking, collaborative work and pressing the right buttons. But if you are a Bible believing Christian you would have by now known ‘exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the judge: He puts down one, and exalts another’ (Psalm 75:6-7).
David’s son Absalom believed he could become the king if he made people believe he was in the reckoning to be the king among all crown princes and pretended to talk and act like a king.
This is what we read in 2 Samuel 15:1-3: ‘After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, “What city are you from?” And he would say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel.” Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your case is good and right; but there is no deputy of the king to hear you.”
But all of Absalom’s machinations could not secure David’s throne for him for ever. His self exaltation was short lived. His dreams and plans were soon dashed. How true is God’s Word! ‘He puts down one, and exalts another.’
Lot thought success lay in accumulating prime properties, in fact more fertile land than his kin Abraham.
‘Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord’ (Gen. 13:11-13). We know how poor Lot’s selection of the land was and how his tryst with Sodom ended.
Jesus Christ stated the Biblical model of exaltation in Matthew 23:12. ‘And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’ The Biblical model of leadership is servant leadership. ‘ But he who is the greatest among you shall be your servant.’
Exaltation is not about titles. Today, even a school dropout can get a doctorate degree. The scene in the Christian circles is no different. There are more Reverends, Apostles, Bishops and Prophets than ever before. And, the irony is that most of them give themselves these titles or get them for a price from some organization that exists only on paper!
Exaltation is not about how big your business or ministry is. Come to think of it, today many ministries are run like family businesses. Big time churches are run like business corporations.
Apostle Paul lists out five things that are more like a definitive guide to anyone who desires exaltation as mentioned in the Bible. In 1 Peter 2:16-17, he mentions them:
1. Be a bondservant of God
2. Honor all people
3. Love your brothers
4. Fear God
5. Honor the king
Out of the five things, two deal with your relationship to God, two with fellow men and one with the authorities of the world.
Jesus Christ, during His time on earth, and later the apostles pretty much said the same thing, although in a different order.
In this message, I am only dealing with the first exhortation of Peter that shape our relationship with God.
Be a bondservant of God
A bondservant is a slave. A slave has no rights of his own. A slave has one or many masters. When the Bible asks us to be a bondservant of God, how do we perceive it?
To understand this better, we need to examine our status in Christ now. Who are we in Christ? Galatians 4:7 has the answer: ‘Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.’ While Peter asks us to be bondservants of God, Apostle Paul states we are slaves no longer. Is the Bible contradicting itself? No. In 1 Cor. 7:22, Paul says this: ‘For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.’
We were slaves to many things and many people before we came to the Lord. ‘when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods’ (Gal. 4:8). But, now in Christ although we are free from the former slavery and are called as sons and daughters of God, we are still Christ’s slaves.
But Christ delights in calling us His friends.
‘No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you “ (John 15:15).
The redeemed people are God’s heirs and His own co-heirs, says the Bible.
‘The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together’ (Rom. 8:16-17).
Although all these verses should give us a spiritual high about the exaltation God has given us, we still need to circle back to 1 Cor. 7:22 which reveals our identity with respect to our attitude. We are Christ’s slaves. Being a bondservant of God and a slave of Christ means we put God before our self. Not just on Sundays. All days. Not just in our personal preferences. In everything. That is the attitude God wants us to have in our relationship with Him.
God knew we would have trouble being His bondservants. That’s why Christ demonstrated what it means to be a slave in one’s life and in death.
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2: 21-23).
Greek has a very special word for this experience of Christ where He emptied Himself of His own self and will, to be receptive to the will and pleasure of God, the Father. It’s called ‘kenosis’.
Kenosis simply means completely drained out or poured out. In other words, Christ made Himself nothing.
Through Philippians 2:6-7, Apostle Paul tells us how our Lord poured Himself out or made Himself nothing. ‘Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.’
The cross was not thrust on Jesus. He willed it for Himself and laid it on Himself.
Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me” (Heb. 10:5).
‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:6-8).
‘For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me’ (John 6:38).
When Peter in his epistle asks us to be bondservants of God, and Paul says we are Christ’s slaves, this is what God wants us to understand. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Although He was God, co-equal to the Father, He emptied Himself for us. He made Himself of no reputation and took the form of a bondservant.
God will never ask us to do something that is impossible. If Christ had done it, so can we. If Christ, being God, could do it how much more should we? Humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God is the only way we can be exalted in due time. God did it for Jesus Christ. He exalted His Son on the third day and made Him King of kings and Lord of lords. God will exalt you too. Amen.
