What is in a Name?

 

"For this is the message you have heard from the beginning:  You should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother.  And why did he murder him?  Because his own actions were evil and his brother's righteous.  Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.  We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.  Anyone who does not love remains in death.  Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.  This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.  This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his  presence whenever our hearts condemn us.  For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.  Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command:  to believe in  the name of the his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. "  I John 3:11-22

 

Yesterday's verse said we get what we ask, because we keep his  commands. Today's verse goes on to explain his  commands: 1) believe in the name of Jesus; 2) love one another.  Both of these things are pivotal to leading a life pleasing to the Lord.

The first command is to believe in the name of God's Son, Jesus Christ.   The name of Jesus contains so much power, so much potential, and so much authority.  And the utterance of his name should contain reverence.  Why do Christians jokingly throw around the name of Jesus, as if it were common?  We must recognize the sacredness of the privilege to speak his name and to operate in the authority of his name.  When Jesus ascended to heaven, he left us with his  name, allowing us the right to use the name of Jesus both in prayer, and in battling the enemy of our soul.  To truly "use" the name of Jesus correctly, we must first believe.  We must believe that he is indeed God's son. We must believe that he is Messiah, our Savior and Redeemer.  We must believe that he died for our sins and raised from the dead.  We must believe that he ascended to the right hand of the Father where he makes intercession for us.  Knowing these things builds our faith in who he is and in what can be accomplished in his name.

Secondly, he is concerned with us demonstrating his love for others.  I John is full of "love talk."  It is one of the major themes of the book.  We can never succeed in loving God until we succeed in loving others.  Humanity was created in the image of God and for his glory.  We must always have a reverence for the lives of others created in his image.

As we head into the Easter (I prefer to say Resurrection) weekend, take some time to reflect on the redemptive work Jesus completed at Calvary and all it means to you.  As you do, you will no doubt experience a rise in your faith in that matchless name!

Dear Lord, help me believe in you and reverence your name as you have commanded.  Anoint me to love others as you do.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Sherri