What's In A Name?

“Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name that is above every name, so that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

~Philippians 2:9-11

Do you like your name? I hated mine, or at least my first name. In fact, I hated it so much that I dropped it completely more than thirty years ago and have used my middle name as my first name ever since. Names are important; they determine how we feel and how we see ourselves. If you, or someone you know, has been ill for a long time and doesn’t know the cause, it makes you worry. Once the doctor puts a name to the illness, there’s some relief because now you know what’s wrong and because it has a name, it can be treated in certain ways. Some names make us cringe—Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein; we don’t even need to use their first name to know who we are talking about. Other names make us feel good, like Mom, Dad, Grandma, while names like Santa Claus brings joy and fond memories. Names can also make us feel shame or hurt our feelings, depending on what someone calls us—stupid, idiot, fat, worthless—and we learn that at a very early age. Playgrounds and school yards are full of name calling. But names can also make us feel loved and secure—wife, husband, sweetheart, honey, daddy’s girl—all have strong, intimate connotations. Whether we think about it or not, names mean something. But there is only one name that supersedes all other names and that is the name of Jesus.

“This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:11-12).”

There is no higher name in Heaven or earth than that of Jesus Christ. The name Jesus comes from the name Joshua, which comes from the Hebrew form of Yeshua, which means “rescue or deliver.” Yeshua comes from the Hebrew word YHVH* (YHWH), or Yahweh, or Jehovah in the King James Version. And when we understand that Jesus is God (John 1:1-3; 8:58; 10:30-33), His name makes perfect sense. The God of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New Testament. Our names may be random, or cute, or reflect the memory of a family member but the name of Jesus tells us who He is.

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing My recompense with Me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright Morning Star (Revelation 22:12-16).”

Jesus never had an identity crisis. He knew who He was, why He was on earth, what He was going to do while here, and where He would go when He left. Jesus knew that His Name would be known throughout the entire world, and that by believing in His Name, all of us could be saved from our sins and an eternity in hell. Jesus also knew who each of us could be in Him, through His Name. And if we could learn to put aside all the other names that have hurt us, demeaned and belittled us, all of those names that have been hurled at us like stones, and use the Name of Jesus and all that His Name means, we would truly be brand new people. There is no other name that can heal us, comfort us, or save us—only the Name of Jesus can do that.

“I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, do not withhold; bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by My Name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made (Isaiah 43:6-7).”

Read Psalm 52-59

(*For more information about Hebrew and the Bible, go to www.hebrew4christians.com)

©2018 Marie McGaha