[Phil 2:5-11’s depiction of the exalted Jesus] does not replace God or
take worship from God. God is worshipped through the worship of the exalted
Jesus. The worship which is given to the exalted Jesus does not usurp the
worship of God, nor does it rival the worship of God; it rather complements the worship of God and
facilitates it. Paul thus includes the exalted Jesus within Christian worship.
The eschatological grande finale for
Paul is the ultimate and universal glorification of God which God has purposed
to be achieved through the worship of the exalted Jesus. The importance and
centrality of the risen Jesus in relation to Christian worship, which I have argued
from the beginning of this study, is evident here. God cannot be ultimately and
maximally glorified according to Paul, without, or apart from, the exalted
Jesus. Paul thus sees worship from a teleological perspective as fulfilled in
the ultimate expression of honor that is given to God by the entire cosmos,
through the agency of the exalted Jesus. (Tony Costa, Worship and the Risen Jesus in the Pauline Letters [Studies in
Biblical Literature vol. 157; New York: Peter Lang, 2013], 249)
For Further Reading:
