JESUS: THE FAMILY NAME

Wednesday 11 December

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named… Ephesians 3:14-15 (NKJV)

Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit… Matthew 28:19 (AMPC)

When it comes to newspapers and print media, the name ‘Murdoch’ is well known in Australia and the United Kingdom. Lachlan Murdoch Rupert’s son, has the right and privilege to use that name and have the benefit of receiving opportunities that have been granted him through association with his family name. Lachlan owns the name as much as his father because he was born into it. He owns it and can use the influence it holds because of his genetic claim as a legitimate son of His father.

It is the same way in the Kingdom of God. We have been named with the name of Jesus. I’m not talking about Jesus Christ, with Jesus being His first name and Christ being His surname. Truth be told though, our surname after salvation is technically Jesus. Not the Jesus of the four gospels but Jesus of the New Testament. Not Jesus the anointed One, but Jesus the highly exalted One. There is a huge difference between the two.

When we talk about the name of Jesus we are talking about the identity and authority that is backing the name. For example, There are many people who have the name Jesus in Israel and South America. Just because their name is spelled exactly the same doesn’t mean they are the same person. The identity as Jesus the ‘Christ’ or the Anointed One is what separated Him from all others.

Why is this important to differentiate? Because only the glorified, exalted Jesus was given the name that is above all names. The anointed Jesus or Jesus the Christ, did not receive that honour in His name. Here is the point. Until that name was bestowed on Jesus, He could not give it to us.

In the four gospels, He gave His disciples the authority i.e. privilege to use His name as if He was the one present using it. We call this the power of attorney. When someone holds the power of attorney they are able to act for the person who delegated the authority to them to do so. This is what happened when Jesus sent out the twelve and later on the seventy disciples with the ability to act in His stead.

This is not what we have as sons of God today, although most believe it to be the case. This was what they had in the gospels which were virtually set in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, we have a ‘better covenant based on better promises.’ It was only temporarily lent to them as a privilege to be able to heal the sick and cast out unclean spirits. Remember no one was born of the Spirit or filled with the Spirit until after the Christ’s resurrection at Pentecost.

We have something far greater than what they had in the four gospels. Firstly let’s look at how Jesus got His name. There were three ways. By birth. By conquest and by bestowal. By birth when the angel told Joseph ‘you shall call His name Jesus for he shall save His people from their sins.’ Notice how his name was limited to initially saving the Jews only. The next way was by conquest. This happened when Jesus triumphed over the Devil and every demon through the victory of the cross. Lastly, because He won the victory over his enemies, He was given a name above all names. This means all authority in heaven and earth was bestowed upon His name. The same name but with all authority now vested in it.

From this position of all power and authority in His name that He gave us the family name to own with all the rights, privileges and abilities that His name now carried. When we say the name of Jesus with this revelation, we are taking full advantage of all that His name represents. He gave it to us as a gift. When He said in Mark 16:17 ‘In my name’…. He was talking about the name of the King of kings and Lord of lords, the name of the church, the name of citizens of the Kingdom. Our family name!

APPLICATION

Be confident that you are a part of the greatest and most influential family on the face of the earth and you have been named with the name of Jesus with the authority, right, privilege and power to use it.