What is your name?

UNDERSTAND WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST AND RECOGNISE GOD’S CALLING TO US, AS WE ARE, IN OUR LIFE.

 

As we approach the festive seasons, I invite you to reflect on the advent of the birth of Christ. Christmas brings glad tidings to all Christians around the world and also the peoples of different religious beliefs and cultures. Christmas brings a spirit of cheerful giving.

 

Advent reminds the church of the sacrifice that God made to bring us to Him. Our relationship with God was inexistent. Our own efforts and good works could not reconcile us to God the Father. The Gospels tells us of what it took our saviour, the creator of all things, to become part of his creation. Jesus died for us and reconciled us to the Father. And today, we remember his arrival and we thank God for his son.

 

We are going to reflect on who we are and how significant we are to God.

 

First, let us dwell on the name of Jesus. What was so special with his name? On the same token, what do you think your name mean? Does it define you?

 

Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi and said: “God has highly exalted him (Jesus) and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9)

 

If you recall Angel Gabriel spoke to Mary and told her that the name of the baby is going to be Jesus: “And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus.” (Luc 1:31). During the same time, the gospel says that an angel appeared to Joseph and told him that the child conceived is from the Holy Spirit and he shall call his name Jesus” (Matt 1:21). The angel told Joseph that the name of Jesus means that he will save his people from their sins.

 

Jesus had a calling. He was born for a mission appointed by God. In Gen 3:15, God prophesied on the virgin birth to bring down Satan: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

 

Prophet Isaiah prophesied the birth of the Messiah:

“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 Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9:6)

 

Our Lord Jesus was born under the Jewish Law. He was a sinless man and observed the law of Moses, “he was tempted like us, but never sinned” (Heb. 4:15) He was the incarnation of God. He was God and man. His name is Jesus. We may obviously say that Jesus is God and is able to be perfect and able to answer the call of God and respond to the calling of the Father in his life and we cannot compare ourselves to the deity of Jesus. The last message of Jesus to his disciples were: “Go and make disciples …. I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18) Jesus is with Us, we need not worry about us but have faith in his Words.

 

Now let me ask you a question. What name have you given yourself? Or what name have you been given? Lazy, Rebel, Snob, Easy, Non-achiever, Over-achiever, Loser, etc. the list sometimes never ends. Why do you accept this label? What does God say about you?

 

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things passed away; behold new things have come” (2Cor. 5:17)

 

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12)

 

When God calls us, he does not see our weakness as a stumbling block, but he sees us as his child who will be of service to him and he makes it all possible to fulfil the calling in our life.

 

Today the golden rule for our reflection is that God has called you as you are. God chooses you because he first loved you. When we are born again in the spirit, we become a new creation, we are clothed with the nature of the Spirit of God. We need to trust God that the Holy Spirit will regenerate us fully to a glorified spirit for the glory of God when we will meet Him, Christ.

 

Apostle Paul says: “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:23)

 

For a moment, stop thinking about your own potential or weaknesses, but rather, I want you to think of you in the light of the words of Apostle Paul: “those whom he pre-destined, he also called, and those he called, he also justified” (Rom. 8:30)

 

Our God is a sovereign God, He is the designer of his great plan for his church. He has called each one of us for a specific task because in each of us, we have been given talents and those talents are our instrument to be the salt and light in our own community, our home, our neighbourhood and our workplace.

 

Do not look down on yourself. You are special because you are chosen and called. You have a new name. You are a child of God: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And so, we are” (1 John 3:1)

 

We are now going to look at two characters in the Bible, two men who had a challenge in their lives when God called them. God gave them new names which identified their calling. Their new names did not define their capacity or potential, but God fulfilled his calling in their lives.  

 

Nowadays we do not really identify with the meaning of our names. Most of the time, our parents choose a name because it sounded nice or they want to honour our ancestors. However, in the Old Testament, names were bearers of the person’s identity. This is why God took care to change the name of Abram (high father) to Abraham (father of multitudes) when God made a covenant with him, promising him a lot of descendants. God told him that he will be the father of many nations, like the grains of the sand and the stars in heaven (Gen. 17:1-8). Now who was Abraham, he was an old man, and his wife was sterile and was nearly 100 years of age. He knew it was impossible for his to bear children. Yet God calls him a father of many nations.

 

In the New Testament, Jesus changed the name of Simon (who hears) to that of Cephas (which means stone) (John 1:42). If you remember, Luc 22:54-62 relates the story of Peter denying that he knew Jesus. What does that tell us as his character? He was afraid and weak. Yet, earlier in the gospel, our Lord Jesus changed his name and prophesied that He will build His church on the foundation of the ministry and calling of Apostle Peter. Our Lord had a calling in his life and the Scriptures and history tells us that this was fulfilled. He went from the guy who gets told what to do, to the one who is so strong in his convictions that he became one of the founding fathers of the early church.  

 

Above any other name, Jesus is the Greatest and Most Powerful and Beautiful of all. He was born in a manger, his earthly family was from a trade of manual labourers. Yet he is born King of the line of David. When the Pharisees did not accept him and said: "Is he not the son of Joseph?" (Luc 4:17) and rejected Him as the promised Messiah (Isaiah 61:1-2).

Friends, it is not about your name, or what your parents named you or what you have been labelled all your life, but it is all about God and His calling in your lives. All believers have a calling in their lives. Because our Lord commissioned his disciples that they will make disciples who will further make disciples to build his church. (Matt. 28:16-20). Otherwise, when you are born again, God would have taken you up with Him. You are here for your calling. Do not forget. Be the light and the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13-16).

 

Let us all ask God to help us identify his calling in our lives, just as we are. Do not be afraid, Jesus is with us always, to the end of age (Matt. 28:20b). I want you to go to your secret corner of prayer and reflect on who God says you are and seek the calling of God in your life. We can pray with you if you want. We will ask the Holy Spirit to help us discern our calling and how we can best serve God.