My wife and I are blessed with three daughters. While they are all just about grown now, I still remember those months before their birth when Linda and I were discussing names. I remember us purchasing a book at Barnes and Noble that lists all the popular names. We each read through the names and made lists of the names we liked. We narrowed it down to a few and had many discussions about the name we would give our child, a name she would carry with her for life.
If you read the Bible, you’ll be struck with the importance of names. Names are repeated. We have lists of genealogy tracking families back for many generations. I love it that the Bible gives clear details. It’s not obscure. The names track history.
But there is a name that leaps out of the pages of Scripture like no other. It is the name of our God. Just listen for a moment.
Proverbs 18:10 - The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
Psalm 20:7 - Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
Normally when someone dies, their impact on this world begins to decline. Eventually, there is no one alive who knows your name. But it was different with Jesus. Jesus’ impact was greater 100 years after his death than during his life; it was greater still after 500 years; even more 1,000 years laters. But today, more than 2,000 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, it’s estimated that more than 2 billion people have confessed the name of Jesus. 120 in the upper room have led to 2 billion today because we have obeyed the great commission.
There is no name like the name Jesus. It is above every other name in significance, authority, and power. We acknowledge His lordship when we call upon His name.
In our culture today, it’s not uncommon to hear people use the name of Jesus as a curse word. In a moment of frustration people will say “Jesus Christ.” I cringe every time I hear someone do this. Your curse word is the name of my savior, the one I love, and the one who gave everything for me.
If there is any question in your mind about the importance, majesty, and power of the name of Jesus, listen to what the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:9-11…
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
List the names of the famous orators: Aristotle, Cicero, Socrates, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Kr, and Ronald Regan. Their speeches have gone down in history, but there is one who when they speak, the winds and waves obey his voice. Sick bodies are healed, blind eye open, and the dead are raised.
Matthew 1 tells us that Mary and Jospeh did not give him his name. It was given to him by his heavenly Father. Matthew 1:21 - “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
The name Jesus means “Jehovah is salvation.” Every time the name of Jesus is spoken it speaks of his salvation.
Acts 4:12 - “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
At the name of Jesus every knee will bow. Every leader. Every President. Every king and queen. every ruler. every court justice. will bow. Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Today’s Challenge: Join me today in expressing your worship and praise to the one whose name is above every other name. Make time to lift him up and to exalt him in worship.
