by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Exalted through Christ’s Humiliation

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“For victory does not come from the east or west, or from the wilderness. For God is the judge. He brings one down and exalts another.”
Psalm 75:6-7 New English Translation

Much to the chagrin of Ohio State fans and other college football devotees, the Michigan Wolverines won the national college football championship on January 8 of this year. Wolverine fans will also be quick to point out that they have now beaten the Buckeyes three times in a row.

Every year one college football team is exalted, at least for a few weeks, and other teams are humiliated.

Michigan fans would claim that their victory came from hard work and good coaching. Granted, there was also a bit of luck involved as there is with any sports’ champions. Victory, though, is something that we achieve by our efforts.

The psalmist realizes that in our relationship with God, in what really matters, victory does not come from human agents. It is God alone who gives the victory. However, we might not like how he ends verse seven, “He brings one down and exalts another.” It might seem that God is mean and chooses whom he will exalt and whom he will humble without regard to what a person does.

And we would be correct, but our understanding of what this means would be incorrect.

Let’s look at the psalmist words through the cross. God chose to humiliate his one and only Son. Paul says it this way in 2 Corinthians,

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 English Standard Version

The Father humiiated Jesus so that he might might exalt us by his grace. We are called God’s children because of Jesus. We are not alone because of Jesus. We have the hope of glory because of Jesus. Thank God that Jesus suffered humiliation so that we could be exalted.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado