Philippians 2:11 - "What is Thy bidding, My Master?"

’...and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, unto [the] glory of God [the] Father.’

-the end, the final outcome is glory.  the whole reason why any of this has taken place is to show off the magnificent splendor and breathtaking goodness of Almighty God.  it is the all-encompassing why behind all that He has ever done or ever will do.  He has taken the path of glory, the one which will in the end bring Him the most glory.  it is all about Him.  this theme resounds throughout Scripture.  it is all about bringing maximum glory to the all-glorious God.  everything God does is in relentless pursuit of whatever will most show off and increase the celebration of His breathtaking goodness (cf john 12.28, john 14.13, luke 2.14, romans 11.36, romans 15.7, romans 16.27, and countless other passages).  this is why God’s people are to embrace a mindset of going low in pursuit of others-first others-better.  this is precisely why Jesus made it all not about Him and emptied and lowered Himself - He was in hot pursuit of showing off God’s breathtaking goodness.  ultimately for those who follow Christ it needs to become not about me and instead all about Him.  He must increase and i must decrease (john 3.30).

-the way this glory will be shown is that every tongue should or will confess (or agree) that Jesus is Lord.  we know that this is the core confession of a truly regenerated Christ follower (romans 10.9), and we also know that it is only by the enabling of God’s Spirit that someone can even say that Jesus Christ is Lord (1corinthians 12.3).  and so this section begs the question still further - is paul talking about true Christ followers only, those who when they agree with the Kingship and Lordship of Jesus Christ do so with their whole heart, or are we talking about a universal confession which includes many who arrive at that agreement only reluctantly or even defiantly.

-ultimately, it is in honoring His Son Jesus Christ, and only in doing so, that the Father - hence God almighty Himself - is truly honored (john 5.23).  the two are inextricably One (john 10.30), and thus we even see that the deity of Christ is truly wrapped up in this confession.  but ultimately all things WILL be subjected to Christ and hence to God the Father (cf 1corinthians 15.24-28).  looking at the whole of Scripture it looks like we are talking about a universal confession and subjection, yes, but that it will be more of a process than an event.  by the end of history, when the devil and death are finally thrown into the lake of fire along with every other soul who lived their life in rebellion against their Creator and never emptied and lowered themself to trust in Christ’s payment for their sin (revelation 20.7-15), every created being, whether human or angelic, will either willingly or forcibly bend the knee and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is King and Lord.

-regardless, how unfortunate it is that the term 'Lord' has become one of the most overused and clichéd in the Christian vocabulary, whereas it really declares the true character and supremacy of Jesus Christ.  it is the fountainhead of worship and the bedrock of daily living for those who would truly follow Christ.  theirs is the posture of darth vader kneeling before lord sidious: “what is thy bidding, my master?”  or that of Christ Himself kneeling before His Father: “not what I want, but what You want.”  theirs is the unending pursuit of living into the answer to the question, “Lord, what do You want?”