Everything has a name. Naming has many dimensions. To have a name verifies existence, for things both seen and unseen. For example, the Greek philosopher Democritus named the atom about 2,500 years ago – long before their existence was proven. The name itself means “that which couldn’t be split.” There’s even variety among atoms. According to the Jefferson lab, there are 90 kinds of atoms that occur naturally, and 25 more are lab-created.
Naming Implies Authority
Every believer will receive a new name. Stones (Photo credit: echiner1)
But names imply more than just existence. The act of naming implies authority and power. Parents have authority to name their children even before birth, and writers name their work according to the limits of their intent and imagination. The Bible shows us many times and ways that naming is used. God used His authority as Creator to name Heaven, Earth, sea, and land. He created a man, and called him Adam. The name Adam means, “man.” It also means “of the red earth,” after the ground from which Adam was made.
Names Indicate Characteristics
Blood circulating to the skin makes your complexion red. Blood is red because of iron at the center of hemoglobin, that binds oxygen. Both iron and oxygen are elements formed from the explosion of stars, connecting all humanity to the universe. So the name Adam gives insight into the class (mankind, different from other animals), characteristics (red, containing oxygen and iron), and origin (of the ground, connected to the Universe), of mankind.
Ruddy Adam was given authority over all the animals of the Earth. With this authority came the right to give a name to all the animals. Thus man at the beginning had insight and intelligence to order, name, and rule over all the animals of Earth.
Name-Calling
People will sometimes call you “out of your name,” in order to slander or hurt you. By calling you a name that implies qualities that do not apply to you (like “stupid,” “ugly,” or “whore”), the name-caller assumes an authority that they do not have. They do not have the authority or ability to re-create or conform you to any monstrosity of their imagination. This is one of the deep evils of racism: the attempt to demonize the race that is hated. Name calling is a form of verbal assault and abuse, a manifestation of bullying, and an attempt to bring you down. What to do about people who call you names? Ignore them! Live the life being the person the good Lord made you to be! Magnify the Lord, exalt His name, and watch the devil and his demons run!
The Name, Christian
Like other names, the name Christian was given to followers of Jesus the Christ (“Anointed One”), the Son of God. Jesus was fully God and fully man (ruddy, of the red Earth), had authority to lay down His life as a ransom for spirit of man, so that by faith in him, mankind could be reconciled to God. Faith in Christ creates new life of the spirit, paid for by His blood. The life of Christ confers power over things both seen and unseen, but Christians do not always use this power wisely.
Names Written in Stone
After the apocalypse, every believer will have a new name. In Revelation 2:17, Jesus says: “I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” Those who are “born again” have the benefit of eternal life paid for by the blood of Jesus. Because Jesus is the “Author and Finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2), we are His. We belong to Him Who holds us safely. In His authority, Jesus gives us a new, secret name, written upon a white stone. The white stone signifies we are declared innocent before God.
The name on the stone is known only to the one who receives it and the Savior, Jesus, Who has the “Name above all names”(Philippians 2:9). This is an intensely intimate gift, the manifestations of which exceed our imagination. Whatever your new name will be, chances are, it will reflect the origin, characteristics, and authority given to you by God. Perhaps the lives we live everyday, the things we ponder in our hearts as believers, write the letters of our new name.
What’s your name?
Twitter handle: @vlights
