Definition · Webster 1828 · Scriptures · Corruption · Roots · Usage · Related
📖 Biblical Definition
The state of exaltation is the condition into which the Mediator entered after His humiliation, wherein, His work of obedience and suffering accomplished, He was raised to glory, honor, and dominion. It is the second of the two great states of Christ, answering point for point to the depths of the first. The confessions enumerate its stages: His resurrection from the dead on the third day, victorious over death and the grave; His ascension into heaven, bodily and visibly taken up; His session at the right hand of God the Father, where He reigns and intercedes; and His return in glory to judge the world at the last day. The great text is again Philippians 2: wherefore—because He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death—God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. The exaltation is the Father’s public vindication and reward of the Son’s finished work: the One who was condemned is justified, the One who was crucified is crowned, the One who descended into the depths is lifted above all heavens. It pertains chiefly to His human nature, in which He had humbled Himself; for as God He could not be exalted, being already infinitely glorious, but in His assumed humanity He was raised to a glory and dominion He had not before possessed as the God-man. The state of exaltation is the believer’s assurance and hope: because the Head is risen and reigning, the members shall rise and reign; because He lives, we shall live also; and the same path of humiliation followed by exaltation is the pattern of the Christian life, for if we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified together.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828 defines EXALTATION as the act of raising high; elevation to power, office, or dignity; and notes the exaltation of Christ to glory.
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EXALTATION, n. — 1. The act of raising high. 2. The state of being elevated; elevation to a high station or rank; advancement to dignity, power, or wealth. 3. The refinement or subtilization of a body; elevation of character or condition; the exaltation of Christ.
EXALT, v.t. — 1. To raise high; to elevate. 2. To elevate in power, wealth, rank or dignity; as, to exalt one to a throne.
📖 Key Scripture
Philippians 2:9-10 — "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow."
Acts 2:32-33 — "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted... he hath shed forth this."
Ephesians 1:20-21 — "...when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might."
Romans 8:17 — "...if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition, but the exaltation is diminished by spiritualizing the resurrection and ascension into myth or symbol, or by neglecting the present, active reign of the exalted Christ.
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The state of exaltation is corrupted first by the liberal and modernist tendency to spiritualize its stages into myth or symbol—treating the resurrection as the disciples’ subjective experience rather than a bodily rising, the ascension as a pictorial way of speaking rather than a real event, and the session and return as religious metaphors. But the exaltation is a series of real, historical, and bodily realities: Christ rose in the same body that was crucified, ascended visibly into heaven, sits enthroned at the Father’s right hand, and shall return in like manner as He went. To dissolve these into symbol is to evacuate the gospel of its triumph, for if Christ is not really risen and reigning, our faith is vain and our hope a fancy.
A subtler diminishment neglects the present reign of the exalted Christ—treating His exaltation as a past honor or a future hope while forgetting that He reigns actively now, at the right hand of power, governing all things for His church, interceding for His people, and pouring out His Spirit. This neglect breeds a practical fatherlessness in the church, as though Christ were absent rather than enthroned. The recovery of the doctrine restores both the reality and the present force of the exaltation: the very Jesus who was humbled is now highly exalted, given the name above every name, reigning until He has put all enemies under His feet. And it anchors the believer’s hope, for the exaltation of the Head is the pledge of the members’ glory—the pattern is fixed, that humiliation gives way to exaltation, and those who suffer with Him shall also be glorified together with Him.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
The state rests on God who highly exalted (huperupsoō) Christ and raised (egeirō) Him, seating Him at His right hand—the answer to the humiliation.
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Usage
"The state of exaltation runs from Christ’s resurrection through His ascension, session, and return in glory."
"‘Wherefore’—because He humbled Himself—‘God also hath highly exalted him’; the exaltation rewards the humiliation."
"Because the exalted Head reigns now, the members have a living hope: if we suffer with Him, we shall be glorified together."