Humility – The Path To Exaltation

“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Luke 14:11

The one goal as a Christian in this life on earth is to accomplish God’s will. His will reigns supreme in heaven, and will one day have its dominion here on earth. Adam, who was of the earth (1 Cor 15:47), stood in between this. He chose not God’s will, but his own. Because of this, sin entered into this realm and the consequence was death. Man is both spiritually and physically dead. He is dead in his trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1), and needs to be brought back to life.

What does all this have to do with exaltation and humility? God’s way of exaltation is through humility. It is self that desires its own advancement. Man wants to become what man wants to become rather than what God desires for him to become. God had a purpose and plan for Adam. There was a course of action, and an outcome for following it. Man was to reign on earth supremely as God reigns in heaven. (Gen 1:26)

“For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him…”  Heb 2:5-8

This scripture lets us know that the world to come was not to be subjected to angels, but to a man: Jesus, the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45). The earth will one day be in complete subjection to Him (1 Cor 15:28). This is important to mankind because Jesus himself became a man (John 1:14) in order to regain this exalted position. The same path that He took while becoming flesh and blood is the same path that man must take (Mat 10:38, Mat 16:24, Phil 3:7-10, John 8:12, 1 Pet 2:21).

We are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17).

This reveals to us man’s position before God. Man is to be seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6). Satan deceived mankind into believing he can get there through his own power. This was not the path that God through His Son Jesus showed us. Jesus’ path was a path of humility and surrender. “Not my will, but your will be done” (Luke 22:42) was his victory over the Devil, this world, and the flesh.

This disposition must become ours. We must pick up the cross and follow Christ (Mat 10:38). We must deny ourselves. Self must accept its own crucifixion and death (Gal 2:20). We were never created to reign in our own stead, but to reign in God’s. The path of exaltation, the one that mankind has been upon since the fall of Adam is in humility, not self exaltation (Mark 9:34-35).

God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. James 4:10 reads “humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up”. The key words in this verse are “He will lift you up”. Only God can put us in that position and we must never forget this. Lucifer, before he became Satan, enjoyed the position he had because God put him there – the moment he thought of what God had placed inside of him as his own, he fell. His pride desired a position beyond the one that God had initially given to him.

Man’s purpose is God’s purpose and nothing other than that. My business is his business, and his doing is at my disposal. All that I can ever be is in direct proportion to what God has intended for me to be. That is true humility: the path to exaltation. 

“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Luke 14:11