The Name Above Every Name

Sometimes I definitely feel that the writings of the Apostle Paul need to be de-coded in order to be understood. And I often feel that I have not quite cracked the code. So it is when I read the first chapter of his letter to the Ephesians where he writes about the mysterious Name of God to which I referred in my previous post, the Name above every name . Listen to what he says.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. - Eph 1:16-23 ESV

Of Christ, he writes,

He is seated at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places,  far above . . . every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come (Eph. 1:21; Phil. 2:9). 

What does it possibly mean to you and to me that Christ is now seated at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places? And that He is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named? In what way is that Good News? Are we talking about some place to which Christ was raised and seated? What is the secret code here? About what do we need enlightenment? Permit a little rambling.

In the USA there is currently a huge controversy among citizens and politicians about the National Security Administration's (NSA) surveillance practices. How much information about any or all of us is being collected from the electronic media we all use—including the one on which this is being written? And now much should the government know about us, where we live, what we say, where we go, who our friends are and even what our thoughts and opinions may be? Such knowledge is power and such power may easily be misused or corrupted.

We have all had marketers and various other devious people use the media, seeking (phishing) to obtain information about us, like our bank account numbers, social security numbers and phone numbers, together with any other information about where we live, what we eat, who our friends are and where we have been. This is used to target us with an endless array of ads aimed at getting us to buy this or that product or reveal where we keep our assets and how they may get them from us.

All this information is wrapped up and hidden in my name! That's a ton of information and with that a lot of power. If you have it in your hands you can do whatever you want with me. And many try to do just that, especially if they are able to steal my identity—and all the information wrapped up in my name. With that information you could utterly destroy me and my family.

Now imagine that you have access to every name that is named, both now and yet to be. Imagine that you know all about that information and the people represented by those names. Imagine that you have some super, unlimited, all-powerful computer that easily and immediately provides you with all that information and all those names, enabling you to do whatever and whenever you want. Now multiply that power by a trillion and you have a tiny glimpse of what it means that Jesus is at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places.

And now consider that Jesus is your Big Brother, with full access to the Father by whom all these hings have come into being and for whom all things exist in this age or in that to come. As a reborn member of the family of Jesus, a child of God, a fellow heir with Christ, you are invited to come to the Father unafraid. You are permitted to call this Great Father "Abba! Father!" (Rom. 8:15-17). Ask whatever you will in Jesus' Name, and be assured that He listens carefully and with love to your petitions.

So we are taught to pray, "Father in the heavens, hallowed be Your Name." And with that in our hearts and minds we are confident that He both hears us and is able and ready to answer our prayers and fulfill our every need in the best possible manner. Let His Name indeed be held holy by all of us.

God's NAME Is A Sacred Four-Letter Word

Last week I began a series of meditations upon prayer, especially The Prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray. The Prayer he gave them is known by millions around the world as the LORD's Prayer. So far we've pondered what it means to call upon Our Father in the heavens (Matt. 6:9). We continue our prayers by asking that our Father's name be hallowed (Luke 11:2).

I've often led my readers to ponder the Name of God, the Name above all names, shared by all three persons of the Holy Trinity, the name we have translated as I AM. This is the Name God first revealed to Moses when He sent Moses to stand before Pharaoh in ancient Egypt.

Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his Name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my Name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. - Exod 3:13-15 ESV

This ancient believers in Old Testament times would not even pronounce The Name, because they held it so sacred.   The four-letter Name looks like this in Hebrew.

Believers feared to offend God in some way or to leave the impression they held some other god before Him (Exodus 20:3). Thus, to avoid speaking this sacred Name in anything less than reverence, fear and deepest awe, they would instead speak their name for LORD, pronounced as Adonai. Even that Name was used only in prayer. Elsewhere the pious believer would speak only of The Name. In our English Bibles translators usually indicate the presence of The Name in Hebrew by writing LORD. 

Now our LORD Jesus, who shares The Name with the Father (Rom. 10:9), teaches also us to hold the Father's Name in deepest reverence. Surely we too must hold this God in the same deep awe as did believers in the days of the Old Covenant. By Him all things were made. In Him all things hold together. 

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens (Shamayim), who spread out the earth by myself, - Isa 44:24 ESV

Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; ... to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; - Psa 136:3, 5 ESV 

 And yet our Father has chosen us to be His children and invites us to draw near to Him as dear children draw near to their earthly fathers, completely unafraid. More next time on how to hold God's Name holy and yet come to Him as our Papa in childish delight and confidence. 

Jesus, Right Hand Of The Father

Wikipedia reports that the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and its TV adaptation Game of Thrones have a broad and active international fan base. In 2012, Vulture ranked the series's fandom as the most devoted in popular culture, ahead of that of Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Harry Potter or Star Wars.

The series begins with Ned Stark, Lord of Winterfel, being asked by his longtime friend, King Robert Baratheon, to be his chief advisor, also known as the Hand of the King.

I read George R R Martin's five-books-and-counting series, A Song of Ice and Fire. The books are close to 5,000 pages of swordfights, intrigue, mystery, exotic settings, startling revelations, and lots and lots of uncomfortable sex scenes. If you want to understand modern culture you must have at least some acquaintance with these books and/or the HBO TV series.

What interested me is this thing about the Hand of the King. The Hand is the equivalent of the modern Prime Minister or maybe Secretary of State in the USA. He is the king's advisor and second-in-command, answerable only to the king. He speaks and acts for the king. This is how Jesus is described in the Bible. He is the Right Hand of the Father. Listen to Psalm 110.

A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! - Psa 110:1-2 ESV

The LORD speaks to David's Lord. The LORD is a translation of the Hebrew YaHWeH, the NAME of God, the name above all names that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come (Ps. 8:1; Eph. 1:21). It is the NAME shared by all three members of the Holy Trinity, i.e. the NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Isa. 9:6; John 16:23; Matt. 28:19). So precious and  holy is the NAME that OT believers would not pronounce it. They chose rather to speak their word Adonay (Lord) wherever it appears in the text rather than chance to speak the NAME in blasphemy. Such blasphemy is common in American culture as men and women daily use the name Jesus and the name Christ carelessly or as a curse.

Jesus' disciples, however, openly acknowledge that he shares the NAME. The apostles openly teach that Jesus shared the form of God, his glory and appearance. In humility he emptied himself of what was always his in order to appear in the form of a man and humbly submit to death on a cross. Paul writes,

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 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. - Phl 2:5-11 ESV

Paul teaches the same in his letter to the Romans as he speaks about putting your faith in the completed work of Christ.

But the righteousness based on faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 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. - Rom 10:6-9 ESV

We who are disciples of Jesus have always understood that Jesus bears the NAME. He is LORD along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. So in Psalm 110 we hear the Father speaking to David's Lord who is the Father's Hand. He shares the throne with the Father. He is the eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek, that mysterious king of Salem who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings (Gen. 14:18-20). The writer to the Hebrews interprets Ps. 110 as a description of Jesus, the eternal priest who intercedes on our behalf before the throne of God (cf. Hebr. 7:1-8:1).

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, - Hbr 8:1 ESV

The Scriptures leave no room for any teaching about many paths leading to God's mercy and forgiveness. There is but one High Priest, one King, one Lord, Jesus who sits at the Father's right hand, the one who is the HAND OF GOD!