No Other Name Under Heaven

[dave c]

HEALING SHELTER MINISTRIES #132i, Re-Written 05SEP09

The Disciples’ Prayer—Part Nine: No Other Name Under Heaven

by rev dave c

Mt 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "`Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one' (NIV).

One of the first jobs assigned to Adam by God was the naming of the other creatures. In Genesis 2:19 we are told, Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name (NIV). This Divine assignment continues to this day as mankind continues to search out and name anything and everything that comes within our experience. When God made a female as the perfect complement to Adam and brought her to him, Adam’s response was, ..."This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called `woman,' for she was taken out of man" (Ge 2:23; NIV). Then, after the fall from grace and expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living (Ge 3:20; NIV).

In Part Eight of this series we discussed how the Hebrew and Greek definitions for the word name imply a close association between a person’s name and his, or her, character. In Matthew 6:9 of our key verses Jesus instructs us to declare holy the name of God—that is, set aside His name as sacred within our lives—but it is not just the names of the Divine that should attract our attention. Throughout Scripture we meet hundreds of people whose names are significant to understanding the role they play within the actions of a particular incident, or the unfolding of the overall Bible story. The who, what, why, where, when, and how of Bible names can be a fascinating study.

According to Tyndale’s New Bible Dictionary (2nd Ed., Intervarsity Press, 1982, p. 811), there are seven categories of “dynamic name giving situations” in the Bible. 1. The status-name (being given the honor/responsibility of providing names, such as parents for their children). 2. The occasion-name (to celebrate the birth of her first child, Eve named him Cain, “God has given me a man” ). 3. The event-name (God dubbed a city, Babel, i.e., Confusion, to mark the dividing of humanity through language barriers). 4. The circumstance-name (an Egyptian princess named the new found baby, Moses, because she “drew him out of the water”). 5. The transformation– or alteration-name (God renamed Abram, Abraham; and in the New Testament Saul’s name was changed to Paul). 6. The predictive/admonitory-name (Isaiah named his sons as the prophetic embodiment of the word of God). 7. Precative– and theophoric-names (a name that contains a prayer; Nabal, “Let him not grow up to be a fool,” Ezekiel, “May God strengthen!,” and Isaiah, “May Yahweh save!”).

The name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, does not, however, fit into any one of the categories listed above. His name is unique in all of history in that it stands as the perfect fulfillment of prophecy that began in Genesis 3:15 (...I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."-NIV), and continues through Revelation 22:20 (He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.-NIV). No one but the Living Son of God withstands the full measure of all of eternity...from before the “beginning,” and after the “end.” ...It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is "`the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.' Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Ac 4:10-12; NIV).

In Matthew 28, Christ announces, 18 "...All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (NIV). While “name” in verse 19 is singular, it refers to all three persons of the Godhead. It is significant that we are commanded in the Great Commission to baptize disciples in the name of God, not for, or by, or because of His name. When granted the gift of salvation, I was not only brought into the family of God—God was brought into me. In the Name that is above all names, I was reborn a new creation and I am being transformed into the likeness of my savior, and for His glory. Finally, in Verse 20, Jesus tells us that He is with us always, thus fulfilling Matthew 1:23...They will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us" (NIV). I pray that you have taken this Jesus, the very name of salvation itself, into your own heart, head, and hands. Amen.