The name of Jesus
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· 29 viewsA public declaration of faith in Jesus Christ, acknowledging both his divinity and his lordship. Without such, salvation is impossible.
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I want us to spend some time this morning thinking about one thing.
I want us to spend some time this morning thinking about one thing.
In actual fact this sermon is about what every sermon should be about - the person of Jesus Christ.
Since all of scripture, all of the Bible is ultimately about none other than the person of Jesus it therefore means that every sermon should ultimately be about Jesus.
This morning I want us to think specifically about “the name of Jesus”.
I don’t mean that we spend time looking at the historical roots of the name and why He was called Jesus as opposed to another name.
However, in case you are interested:
The name Jesus used in the English New Testament comes from the Latin form of the Greek name Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous), a rendition of the Hebrew Yeshua (ישוע), related to the name Joshua.
The name is thus related to the Hebrew verb root √yšʿ "rescue, deliver" and one of its noun forms, yešuaʿ "deliverance".
Yet this morning I want to take some time considering the significance of “the name of Jesus” for every one of us here today.
Please don’t miss what I just said, “It has significance for EVERY ONE US this morning.”
The news in the papers and on TV is full of names.
Lately we have been treated to the names of Harry and Meghan, other names keep popping up such as Trump, Kim and Foster.
We are constantly hearing different names and we are expected to understand their significance to us.
When a child is born one of the first questions we ask is what are you calling him or her.
That name then travels with them throughout the rest of their life, it’s who they are, it’s how we identify them.
Some names are unique and stand out others such as John Smith are very common and if you happen to be called John Smith you are very popular as it is believed that there are over 80,000 of you in the world.
Sadly Alan Johnston is not that unique either so don’t worry.
We gave our three children ancient Irish, Scottish and English names - after the third one we decided not to go for the Welsh one.
The name Jesus is also a popular name in Spanish or Portuguese speaking countries and as such it carries a certain superstitious hope.
Manchester City have a Brazilian player called Gabriel Jesus playing for them.
It sounds like his parents we trying to cover a number of bases with his name.
There may be many people called Jesus in the world.
But there was only ever one Jesus, whose name was above all other names.
The question I want to ask this morning is, “
Why is the name of Jesus so important?”
In our reading this morning we read Paul’s plea is to those within the church to be united in Jesus Christ.
There were problems in the church and it would seem from the first part of Chapter 2 that Paul was pleading that there would be unity and that people would consider others more important than themselves.
He wasn’t telling them that they should be united because it was the right thing to do, or that it was socially more acceptable or that it would be more productive or that it would increase their prosperity…No! None of these are mentioned, so then, where does their incentive come from to be united?
Verse 5: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”
HE is simply saying to them and to every church today that we should not be thinking about ourselves as individuals but rather we should all be thinking of the person of Jesus and His life and witness.
He doesn’t leave them wondering what he’s talking about, rather he then goes on to make an example of Jesus:
“…who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Paul very clearly shows us the person of Jesus.
His humility, His submission to His Father, His sacrifice, even unto death on a cross.
In other words, Paul says, look at Jesus!
He had everything and yet gave it all up for us.
He could have come in power and authority.
He could have come demanding that people take notice of Him.
And yet He didn’t, He gave up everything and made Himself as a servant…
C.S Lewis:
Did you ever think, when you were a child, what fun it would be if your toys could come to life? Well suppose you could really have brought them to life? Imagine turning a tin soldier into a real little man. It would have involved turning the tin into flesh. And suppose the tin soldier did not like it. He is not interested in flesh: all he sees is that the tin is being spoilt. He thinks you are killing him. He will do everything he can to prevent you. He will not be made into a man if he can help it.
What would you have done about that tin soldier I do not know. But what God did about us was this. The Second Person in God, the Son, became human Himself: was born into the world as an actual man-- a real man of particular height, with hair of a particular colour, speaking a particular language, weighing so many stone. The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a foetus inside a Woman's body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.
So, what point was Paul trying to make here?
Paul’s point?
If Jesus was prepared to humble himself, then so should we.
But it doesn’t finish there.
Paul then continues with one of the most amazing passages in all of the Bible, some believe that these words may have been part of a well known hymn at that time:
Paul’s point?
If Jesus was prepared to humble Himself, then so should we.
But it doesn’t finish there.
Paul then continues with one of the most amazing passages in all of the Bible:
“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Christ humbled Himself even unto death...and because of this, God exalted Him and made the name of Jesus a name that was and is above all other name.
So, for us today, what is the significance of “the name of Jesus”.
I want to make three clear points from this text and also use other texts to support what this text is saying.
I want to make three points, and I know it isn’t very Presbyterian of me but each point is relevant and massively important.
Confession of faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation
Confession of faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
One commentator writes:
One commentator writes:
This describes an outward expression of inward trust.
Paul does not regard “believing in the heart and confessing with the mouth” as separate activities, but as parts of a singular expression of faith in Jesus’ lordship.
If you believe in Jesus as being the Son of God and you have repented of your sins and trusted Him with your daily life and with your eternal life then you have to confess Him as Lord and Saviour.
Story of Margaret.
The name of Jesus must be confessed by your mouth, signalling your salvation and faith in Him.
If you can do this Paul says “you will be saved”.
That’s how important the name of Jesus is.
When we confess Him as Lord, Philippians ch.2 says that every knee will bow, at that moment we give up ownership of our lives and hand everything over to our Lord and saviour.
Confessing Jesus Christ as Lord is only possible by the Holy Spirit
Confessing Jesus Christ as Lord is only possible by the Holy Spirit
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
Baptism
Baptism
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
See also ;
A change in lifestyle
A change in lifestyle
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Persecution
Persecution
(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)
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Demons confessed Jesus Christ’s divinity
Demons confessed Jesus Christ’s divinity
And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
See also
It is only by the Holy Spirit that anyone can hail Christ as Lord.
it is only by the Holy Spirit that anyone can hail Christ as Lord.
Obviously a mocking unbeliever can mouth the words Jesus is Lord.
Paul is not denying this.
He is saying that the words can be uttered with full meaning only under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
The Lordship of Christ is not a human discovery.
It is a discovery that is made and can be made only when the Spirit is at work in the heart.
PAUSE
There was a time when Jesus wanted to see what the disciples would answer to difficult question.
For us today the question doesn’t seem too difficult because we are familiar with the concept and the answer.
For Jesus’s disciples this was a very different question and one which needed discernment to answer.
Jesus had asked them, “Who do people say I am?” And He got various answers which were all quite interesting .
Then the makes the question personal, and friends Jesus will always make it personal because He wants a personal relationship with you more than anything else you can offer Him.
It’s as if Jesus has heard all the talk but he wants to hear if the disciples have grasped who He is and so He asks them, “…but who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
Jesus then declares that the only way that Peter could have made this confession is if the Spirit of God had revealed it to him.
The same can be said for every one of us.
There is no way we can confess Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord unless God, by His spirit reveals this to us.
Before you knew Jesus as your Lord and Saviour you were spiritually dead.
In other words there was no spiritual life about you.
It is not as if you were sleeping and you woke up, or you were daydreaming and you had to bring things back into focus.
No, we are told that we were dead before God brought us to life.
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
Just as the Prodigal Son in , ‘was dead and is alive again’, so God made you alive with Christ.
As a man who is dead is unable to help himself by any power of his own, so an habitual sinner is morally impotent: though he has a natural power, or the power of a reasonable creature, he has not a spiritual power, till he has the divine life or a renewed nature.
Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 2333). Peabody: Hendrickson.
A dead person cannot raise themselves from the dead likewise a spiritually dead person cannot raise themselves from the dead. This can only be done by God.
As a man who is dead is unable to help himself by any power of his own, so an habitual sinner is morally impotent: though he has a natural power, or the power of a reasonable creature, he has not a spiritual power, till he has the divine life or a renewed nature.
A dead person cannot raise themselves from the dead likewise a spiritually dead person cannot raise themselves from the dead. This can only be done by God.
Therefore confessing Christ as Lord is only possible by the Holy Spirit.
Ultimately all will confess Jesus Christ’s lordship
Ultimately all will confess Jesus Christ’s lordship
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.
Notable confessions of faith in Jesus Christ
Notable confessions of faith in Jesus Christ
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
See also ; ; ; ;
At the name of Jesus even knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
At the name of Jesus even knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Now it is important that we fully understand what is being said here.
If we are not careful we could be tempted to believe that what Paul seems to be saying is that there will come a day when God will bring all people together under His control and that at that point in time He will allow everyone to realise just how wonderful Jesus is and how much they want to make him their Lord.
The temptation here is to believe that at that point everyone will be saved and everyone will then enter into Heaven regardless as to what had happened in their life up until the moment they died and they found themselves in Judgement day before the throne of Jesus.
Just to be clear, because I would hate for any of you to misunderstand this verse and come away from church this morning with a false sense of assurance.
This verse is not a “get out of jail free” card that you can keep in your back pocket and on the day in which you stand before the Lord you can produce it and make everything alright.
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Nor, can you find some sense of, “Well I don’t really believe this Christianity stuff but just in case it’s good to have this verse as a backup.”
No, that’s not what the verse is saying.
The verse does in fact say that there will come a day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord but this will be because no one will have any choice.
Those who have accepted Christ as Lord in this life and are trying by the help of the Holy Spirit to live God glorifying lives, they will see the fulfilment of their salvation.
They will see the resurrected Jesus in all His glory and the sight of this wonder will cause them to fall to their knees in awe and wonder and joy inexpressible and with triumph proclaim the Lordship of Jesus Christ over their lives.
What an amazing day that will be, I hope and pray that there are many here this morning who like me are looking forward to this day.
See also
For those who until this point in time have rejected Jesus as Lord and saviour they too will be on their knees and they too will be declaring that Jesus is Lord.
But not in the same way.
For them they will be overcome with such a shocking realisation that all they had trusted in and believed to be false was in fact true.
They will be face to face with the living and glorified Son of God and they will not be able to deny His Lordship over all of creation.
As one commentator wrote:
“By sadly recording that a confession made for the first time in response to the visible manifestation of his glory will not be a saving confession, but a grudging acknowledgment.… All will submit, all will confess, but not all will be saved.”
Because you are not my congregation I don’t know if this message is personal for you today.
Only you know that.
But I also know that I may never get the opportunity to speak to you again and so if there is someone here today and you have not yet accepted God’s love for you in Jesus could I plead with you this morning to consider Jesus.
For there will come day for each one of us when the name of Jesus will bring us to our knee either in wonder awe and praise or in complete sorrowful surrender.
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
Let’s pray:
What a powerful Name it is
Nothing can stand against
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
You have no rival, You have no equal
Now and forever, Our God reigns
Yours is the Kingdom, Yours is the glory
Yours is the Name, above all names
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus