A Name above all names

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father” (Philippians 2:9-11). 

Most of us have heard the phrase, “What’s in a name.” Studies have revealed that names play a significant role in peoples’ lives. Parents give their new-borns names that will stick for life. Some people feel that their names define them and does affect their personality. We all are identified by our names. We sign our name for legitimate reasons. Contracts usually require a signature to be effective.

The Bible tells us that an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph to inform him that Mary, his wife, “will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). 

Granted the name Jesus is a fairly common human name. However, the Bible makes is clear that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). We also read “But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name” (John 20:31).

The prophet Isaiah announced Jesus’s birth and glorious reign in this way: “For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His Name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6). Here we see the tremendous meaning of Jesus’ name.

So many things have been, and continue to be, accomplished in and through the all-prevailing and all-powerful name of Jesus. Christians can’t live without that great name in their heart and minds. The apostle Paul exhorts us, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17).

Not only is salvation in the name of Jesus, we are also “justified” in His name. “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God ” (1 Corinthians 6:11). To be justified means “to declare righteous,” Christians are treated as righteous because Jesus Christ bore our sins on the Cross, by being made sin for us. The Bible declares, “For our sake [God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

The following is a list of other things that are accomplished in the name of Jesus. Prayer is most effective when we pray in the name of Jesus. “Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). The name of Jesus also means security. “The Bible declares, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10).

The first apostolic miracle took place when a lame man was healed as Peter and John were entering the temple to pray. That healing occurred in Jesus’s name. “But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and anklebones were made strong” (Acts 3:6,7).

When Christ commissioned the eleven disciples, He told them, “And these signs will  accompany those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues” (Mark 16:17). Jesus’ disciples joyfully reported to Him that the demons were powerless because of His name. “The seventy-two returned with joy saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” (Luke 10:17).

The name of Jesus is also applied in the healing of the sick. “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord” (James 5:14).Paul points out that in the inner life of the Spirit-filled believer, giving of thanks to God is done in the name of Jesus. “Giving thanks “always and for everything to God the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).

Christians have so much to rejoice about because we have a great and wonderful Savior with a great, all-powerful name—the name JESUS. What does His name mean to you?