Called By Name

Matthew 1:21 – She will bear a Son and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins. (NASB)

Our neighbours have a dog named "Fluffy". This sounds reasonable, until you know that the dog is not a poodle, but a dachshund! If one dog is named "Fluffy" and another "Killer", of which would we be more afraid?

Names create expectations. They tell us something about a person. At the very least, they create pictures in our mind.

For example, the Bible explains that the first woman was called "Eve", because she was the mother of all the living. "Moses" means "drawn out of the water", and the disciples were first called "Christians" in Antioch.

What kind of picture is in our mind when we think of the Son of God? "Christ" means "Messiah", "the Anointed one". "Emmanuel" is "God with us". "Jesus" is the Greek form of the Hebrew word, "Joshua", meaning "Saviour".

There is power in that name, Jesus. And "at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth." (Philippians 2:10 NLT)

Yes, we will all bow at the name of Jesus. It can be now, by choice, or else, at the great judgement, it will be by compulsion.

John 3:16-21 – This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. (MSG)

Prayer Oh Father God, help us never to forget that, while You are a God of tenderness and love, You are also a God who must judge a people and a world full of sin. Help us to make the wisest decision of our life right now, and not wait till it's too late. In the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.