Names are powerful.
In Biblical times it was widely believed that if you knew a person’s
name, you had some control over that person or power.
Names also identify.
Many times in the Bible God is identified as “the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob.” The quality, conduct and
histories of these men and their families said a lot about the God they
worshipped and served.
In the account of Moses being told by God to liberate the
Israelites from Egypt, Moses says to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and
say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ And they ask me what
is his name? Then what do I tell
them?” God replies to Moses, “I AM WHO I
AM.” In this God is expressing that God
is the Name above all Names, the ultimate Power. Importantly, God makes a promise then and
through all the generations, even now, In Exodus 3:12 God says, “I will be with
you.”
“I will be with you.”
This is the very character of God and promise to us now. God is and will be with us. We can bank on that. We can draw comfort and support and strength
from that. God is with us!
Jesus fleshed out the
nature of “I AM” through seven statements in the Gospel of John. He says I AM:
The Bread of Life (John 6), The Light of the World (John 8), The Gate
(John 10), The Good Shepherd (John 10), The Resurrection and the Life (John
11), The Way, The Truth and The Life (John 14), and The Vine (John 15). Jesus is present for us now. He says, “Very truly I
tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they
will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I
will do it.”
The way I read this is that when we prayerfully request that
which is accordance to who Jesus is and when we align our wills with God’s,
powerful things happen. In our scripture
for this morning in Acts 3 Peter and John heal a crippled beggar. Peter says, “Silver and gold I do not have,
but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
walk.” We will see the result in this
passage in worship.
The takeaway for us today is that God’s name, God’s being,
is powerful and present. As we journey
forward together, the best we can do is to seek to align our wills with the
will of God revealed in Christ, asking boldly in prayer and proclamation. As we do that, Amazing things are possible!
Blessings,
Tim
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