Jesus Will Posses What is His

“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” (Phil 2:9-11).

This reality given to us by the apostle Paul is a reaffirmation by the Holy Spirit of a promise God made to Abraham in Gen 22, and Jesus claimed for himself in the gospel of Matthew. When Abraham and Isaac are on Mt. Moriah with Isaac bound and Abraham ready to sacrifice Isaac, the Lord stops him and then says, “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,” (Gen 22:17). The last phrase is the one that connects to Philippians 2, “your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies.” It is a promise of ownership and victory in conquest. It is foreshadowed in Joshua’s leading the Israelites in taking the Promised Land.

However, it is Jesus who ultimately fulfills this promise by crushing the power of sin and death at his crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus ultimate fulfillment is in his Lordship over all, he says “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18). He establishes his kingdom and he is the irresistible Lord that will posses what is rightfully his. The final fulfillment of this is seen in Rev 11:15 “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." Jesus Lordship is assured because God promised it himself to Abraham and the whole Bible points to the assurance that God keeps his promises and fulfills them completely. Let us submit to our Lord and follow him.