The Rest of the Story

Philippians 2:9 – “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.”

What a Scripture trip this has been. When we ended our study last time on this portion of Scripture, things were looking pretty gloomy for Jesus. Jesus was nailed to a cruel cross to suffer and to bleed and to die the most excruciatingly painful death that man could think up.

And He did it for us. He died to be our sacrifice for sin. He died in the place of we who were His enemies, and unrighteous, sinful people. He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world so He willingly laid down His life for us suffering our shame, punishment, and humiliation. He took our place, becoming our substitute on that cross. He gave up everything that heaven offered, every perk and privilege to humble Himself by become a man, but not just any man, a servant; a slave – even to the point of dying on the cross. That’s where we left Jesus last time - humbled to the point of death, even the death on the cross.

But, remember? We always read and understand Scripture in context. And the context is found in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” If Jesus thought this was what He ought to do, we ought to think the same way, right? We ought to have an attitude of humility and sacrifice just like Jesus had, right? We ought to have the mind of Jesus even if it means laying down our lives for the brethren. That’s what we read earlier.

We looked at 1st John 3:16, which said, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” But isn’t that what Jesus often taught? Aren’t we to emulate Him? He told us in Matthew 16:24, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

We read that right. Jesus was on His way to the cross, and on the way, He tells us to grab up ours. That’s an invitation to accompany Him to Calvary, to take a place alongside him. This is a requirement of discipleship. Jesus willingly made the ultimate sacrifice for us, we are required to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for Him. But He gave up His perfect divine life, and we live the lives of wretched sinners. What He gave up was so much more, yet total sacrifice is what He demands of us – all we have! Does that scare you?

But, can we really be expected to do that? To give our lives to Him? To sacrifice our wills to Him? Especially in light of the history of the church that is filled with the bloody martyrdom of the church’s finest? Should we be willing to make even that ultimate sacrifice?

The Scripture is clear – Yes! That is exactly what Jesus demands. When Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow Him, He gives us an invitation to an execution. At the very least, our old nature must die. Our old nature must be nailed to that same cross that Jesus hung on. Only then can we say, with Paul in Galatians 2:20,

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Can you say that? That your old nature, that sin nature, has been crucified? Can you say that Christ lives in you?

But how? How can Jesus ask so much of us? I know Jesus did it Himself, but He was God! How? It’s because He knew a secret - a not so secret, secret - but a secret that makes it all worthwhile. The truth is, death is not the end of the story. Death is merely a transition into eternity. And that’s where we’re going next, we are going into eternity. As Paul Harvey used to say (bless his dearly departed soul), “And now for the rest of the story.” The rest of the story is that the cross and the grave are not the end.

What is the rest of the story? What is the ultimate result of this short account of world history - an account that has taken us from eternity past all the way to eternity future? The answer is obvious –the rest of the story is the glorification of Jesus Christ. His humbling gave way to His exaltation. The grave could not hold Him. We are told in Philippians 2:9, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.”

That was what God really wanted to do all the time. He wanted to highly exalt His Son. He will also exalt you, if you are found faithful to the end.