What's In A Name?

I like my name. Not sure if everyone likes the name they were given at birth. Plenty of folks have even gone to legal lengths to change theirs. Being in Thailand, I am learning all kinds of new names I’ve never heard before, and frankly, some are pretty hard for me to pronounce. I know, I am such a farang. The shorter ones are easy, like Pom or Nok. But other first names, like Charoenrasamee, Khemkhaeng, or Xuwicha, well, I’m just glad Thai folks mostly go by their nicknames, like Apple or Boy. 

I have not been to many foreign countries, but I’m sure each one has first names (and last names, for that matter) that are different, interesting, beautiful, fun, and confusing to an outsider. I heard the Russian name, Gvozdika, the other day and thought the guy was ordering a Vodka tonic. Anyway. No matter where you are from, you may or may not like yours, but basically, all names are equal. 

Except for one. 

Maybe you guessed it, but that name is Jesus.  

The reason I can say that with certainty is because the Bible tells me so. That, of course, leads me to say that the Bible is true. How do I know it’s true, you may ask? Because the Bible says so. And the faith given to me by the Holy Spirit enables me to read, understand, and believe what God’s Word (aka, the Bible) says. 

But getting back to names and why the name of Jesus is above all names. That is because Jesus is God (and yes, the Bible tells me so). Jesus (aka, God) loved me enough to humble Himself and come down to earth in human form (aka, Jesus) to pay the penalty for not only my sins, but the sins of the world. And only God is perfect and without sin so only God had the ability to be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of you and me. 

So, what’s in a name? Everything. 

Let me unpack this a little further if you’ll indulge me: 

1. The Bible is God’s Word given to us. 

2. Therefore, as God’s Word, the Bible is true. 

3. God loves us and wants us to be with Him. 

4. God is perfect and without sin. 

5. God loves us so much that He came down to earth and took on humanity as the person, Jesus, who paid the penalty for our sins. 

6. Since Jesus is fully human and fully God, only He could pay the penalty for sin which he did by dying on cross in our place. 

7. After his death, Jesus rose from the dead and is now in Heaven, waiting for us one day to join him. 

8. Now it is our job, through the strength of the Holy Spirit within us, to share this wonderful message of salvation so that all who believe in Jesus as their God and savior who died for our sins will one day be reunited with Jesus (aka, God) forever. 

Better yet, let God’s Word explain it: 

 • You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God, as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. 

 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11) 

 • For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. (Hebrews 4:12) 

 • All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

• She (Mary) will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet (Isaiah): “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (Matthew 1:21-23) 

• (Jesus said) I and the Father are one. (John 10:30) 

• Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 

 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. (John 14:8-11) 

• For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) 

• Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)