God's purpose for all of creation is to bow before His Son. Paul wrote,"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." (Philippians 2:9-11 ESV [emphasis added])
We ought to honor Him EXCLUSIVELY ("the name that is above every name"). No other person, ideal, philosophy or religion is greater than that of Jesus. No other pursuit is worthy of our time and energy as much as Jesus.
We ought to honor Him WITHOUT EXCEPTION ("every knee should bow"). Some will do this for the first time after death because they refused in life, and by then it will be too late. It is better to bow the knee today.
We ought to honor Him WITH ENTHUSIASM ("to the glory of God the Father"). Glorifying God is not some mundane, ho-hum thing we do on the weekends, it is what we enthusiastically do with our lives every minute.
The ultimate aim of all creation is to glorify God through honoring His Son. Everything we see is an outworking of that one purpose. Our greatest joy and full satisfaction will only be found in bowing before Christ. We may look in other places and in vain seek for satisfaction in other ways, but our only hope for lasting joy will come through obedience to Christ.
Christmas is a great time to think some of this through. This is not just a matter of what we believe, but also how we behave. What we claim in important, but how we live is just as important. Sometimes our lifestyle is a little hypocritical when compared to our doctrine.
There are three reactions to the Christ child recorded in the Gospel of Matthew: (1) hatred and hostility by Herod (Matthew 2:3), complete indifference by the religious (Matthew 2:5-6), and adoring worship by the Magi (Matthew 2:2, 10-11). When you compare and contrast the responses, where do you fall? Are you honoring God with every fiber of your being?
Merry Christmas,
Scott
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