WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NAME 4/3/2023

 Proverbs 30:4 ESV

Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
  Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
    Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son's name?
    Surely you know!

Philippians 2:9-11 ESV

Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Have you ever noticed how often ‘the name of God’ or ‘His name’ is mentioned throughout the testimony of Scripture? If so, have you ever really thought about why the name of God is so significant and even central in the Word?

Why is His name a refuge and strong tower (like we’re told in Proverbs 18:10. 

And in Ex 20:7, why is it so important that we never take the name of the Lord in vain?
(There are far too many verses to list) but, why is it imperative that we bless His name and exalt His name and praise His name?
And why, if we pray in His name and ask for anything, (as John 16:24 tells us) will He respond? 

I think, in today’s world, the notion that a ‘name’ would be so important, may seem a little strange and not make much sense to us.
But it is important, and this is why - you see, biblically, a name is not just a name, it’s an entire identity.
It’s a story. It’s a revelation. It’s a message. It’s the description of the unique attributes, character, and personality of an individual. 

The reason that we sing “What a beautiful name” is not because “Jesus” is a beautiful word or an especially nice-sounding name, it’s because Jesus is a beautiful and glorious Person. 

When we run into the strong tower of His name we are safe.

It’s not because His name has special protective powers, but because Jesus Himself is our refuge and our strength.

We end our prayers “In the name of Jesus,” because we enter into His presence with thankfulness and with the confidence to draw near to the throne of grace because of Who Jesus is and what He’s done.

In fact, the only way we can truly enter into His presence with boldness, is through our certainty of Who He is.

If we think about the commandment to never take His name in vain, it parallels the command for us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our mind and all our strength.

We must never take God for granted or belittle who He is... especially with our lips.

His name is holy, because He is holy. His name is the reflection of, and testimony to, all of the glory and goodness that makes Him who He is.

The whole of our worship is wrapped up in the wonderful name of Jesus because our faith is wrapped up in the identity of the beautiful God-Man -Christ Jesus.

Jesus is the name that is above every other name, because He is supreme and preeminent in His identity and existence.

Just as Colossians 1:16-18 says, "For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent."

 You see, this is the God who created the stars, the planets, and the galaxies, and holds them all together by His Word.

For He is the One who put the mountains in their places and set the boundaries of the oceans, He tells the flowers to bloom in Spring and opens His hand to feed and satisfy every living thing.

God is the One who sustains the very breath in your lungs.

He is the incomparable One who is slow to anger, rich in mercy, abounding in love, compassionate, kind, faithful, true, and just.

Our God... left His throne with a multitude of angels singing His praises, and the Word was made flesh.

The God who made the heavens in all its glory was born in human flesh and laid in a dirty manger in Bethlehem.

He grew in wisdom and in stature.

And all the while, with every word He spoke and every movement of He made, He was revealing the God Most High.

Jesus, God-in-the-flesh walked the long road of Calvary carrying a Cross that was not His.

He let men, with the very hands that He Himself knit together in their mothers’ wombs, nail Him to that Cross of shame, and cried out “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.”

God, the Son, gave His life so that we could be with Him where He is.

But even death itself could not contain the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.

Indeed, the Risen Christ overthrew the power of death, and before returning to His Father and His throne, He made sure His disciples knew He hadn’t left them and He never would, even to the end of the age.

This is our God, who even now sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for you and for me and watches over our lives with His loving-kindness.

And we look up with a longing for His return and say… “Come, Lord Jesus, come.”

We remember and Think on His goodness, His glory, His beauty, His tender mercies, His justice, His faithfulness, His kindness, His patience, and His great love, and we bless His Name, a beautiful Name! 

We remember how He’s helped us with such faithfulness and kindness.  and how we see how His hand has helped and guided us, and we sing praises to His wonderful Name, a beautiful Name!  

We realize that there is no one like Him, no one who even comes close to Him and we fall to our knees and worship His holy Name.

We worship His Name, we pray in His Name, and we hide ourselves in His Name.

And we sing of His Name, we delight and exult in His Name, and we never ever take His Name in vain, all because - this Name is the fullness of who God is…

It is the revelation and identity of God Himself in all His unsearchable glory.

What a beautiful Name it is… the Name of Jesus Christ our King...

What a beautiful Name it is… because absolutely nothing compares to Him.

 

Blessed be the name of the Lord, from this time forth and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised! (Psalm 113:2-3 ESV)

 

Charles Spurgeon said: “Let the music of His name ring in your ears all the day long; and if you would have it ring in your ears, it must ring from your tongue. Whenever you have the opportunity, tell the marvelous story of His great love…”