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In the Christian Life, the Name of Jesus Is Everything

The word of affirmation that the Spirit speaks to us comes through the name of God. If you look throughout Scripture, you’ll see that God’s presence and God’s power reside in his name.

In the very first sermon preached after Jesus’ resurrection, Peter would say (quoting the prophet Joel) that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21). That doesn’t mean some magical incantation. A person’s name reveals their character, so to trust God’s name is to trust who he says he is. It’s faith in the character behind the name.

Moses knew something of this name, but it must have been confusing for him. After all, how could God be simultaneously absolutely just (“by no means clearing the guilty”) and absolutely merciful? What Moses couldn’t quite grasp, however, we see clearly in Christ. We see how Jesus substituted himself for us, so that God’s justice could be satisfied and so that God could extend mercy to us.

That’s why Christians don’t just talk about God. We’re obsessed with the name of Jesus. God’s power and God’s presence reside in the name of Jesus.

The Apostle Paul would say that Jesus’ name is the one name at which every knee in the universe will one day bow (Phil 2:9–11). Every king, every cynic, every scoffer, every doubter … everyone past, present and future … when they hear the archangel proclaim the name “Jesus” across the skies, will drop to their knees before the rightful king.

The name of Jesus is everything. It is a fount of incredible power. As Paul said, all the promises of God “find their Yes” in the name of Jesus (2 Cor 1:20). By the name of Jesus, paralyzed men rose and walked; deaf men regained their hearing; blind men received their sight; demons fled in fear. And it was the name that the early apostles were willing to suffer and die for (Acts 5:41).

In the Christian life, the name of Jesus is everything. The name of “God” might evoke images of fear and distance, but the name of Jesus has a different effect. It doesn’t make me cower backward in fear, but come closer in worship, because the name of “Jesus” means “God saves.” When we know God as Savior, that produces a radical transformation in us that nothing else can.

 

This article on how the name of Jesus is everything is used by permission. To hear more, be sure to listen to the entire message here.