“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet.” So declares Juliet as she laments the name of her beloved in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
When people have babies they go through a myriad of names for boys and girls, before deciding on one.
Its funny when we think of things or people and how they became what they are called. We know back in olden days a person who possibly milled wheat was called a miller, or a person who worked shoeing horses and wagon wheels was known as a blacksmith. A person who made bread was a baker. Someone who made shoes was a cobbler or shoemaker. Names are important to distinguish who people are and what they do.
In the beginning when God created the earth and all that there is in it, Jesus was right there too. Because John 1:3, tells us that “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:4, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” God also said Jesus was the Word. If you remember before the birth of Jesus, God was silent in the world for 400 years. When God spoke again the Word was Jesus, who is the revelation or surprising disclosure of God the Father. John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
When God decided to bring His Son to earth, He already had a name for Him and even told both Mary and Joseph that His name would be Immanuel, meaning God with Us. Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” Matthew 1:21, when Joseph was told by the angel about the birth “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for he will save His people from their sins.”
Another name for Jesus is “The Lamb of God”. John the Baptist was a voice through God declaring Jesus to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29. Before Jesus came, blood from a pure, unblemished lamb was shed and painted on doorways at Passover to prevent death from entering into a Jewish home. Jesus, being unblemished and without sin, became our Lamb of God. When He was crucified and His blood was shed, it was to wash away our sin, allowing us to be saved from death and give us eternal life.
Because of His crucifixion for our sins, Jesus is our Saviour. Luke 2:11, “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Our Saviour gives us the opportunity to live in eternity with Him and the Father. John 6:47, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” Jesus being raised from the dead, after 3 days, provided us with the opportunity to also live again in eternity.
“Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:10-12
Many have said there are all kinds of ways to get to heaven. Christians are often criticized for claiming that Jesus is the only way to God the Father. Because our Lord first loved us, we can be confident that our relationship with Him is not based on what we do, it’s based on who He is and what He’s like. In truth, He is the only one and way to enter heaven. Jesus, Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6. His claim was bold. Only someone who really is God could utter such words. As for us, we have our faith, our belief that He is the Son of God. That is death, burial, resurrection and ascension brings us peace and eternal life.
Do you know such peace? Do you believe in the words of Jesus? If you do not know Him as of yet, by praying this little prayer you can set yourself on a path of knowing Him and living for Him and ultimately living with Him.
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”