Make One Or Accept One!

When I was born I did not choose my name, my parents gave it to me. It is a name I have accepted, by which I have become known, and to which I respond when I hear it mentioned. My full name identifies me with the family to which I belong. However, there is another sense in which some focus on their name and that is in light of a desire to make a name for themselves. Such a desire dates way back in the history of mankind.

Following the days of Noah we read…
“(1) Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. (2) And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. (3) And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. (4) Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and LET US MAKE A NAME FOR OURSELVES, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.’” ( Genesis 11:1-4 ESV)

This desire to keep from being dispersed was in direct violation of God’s command to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. ( Genesis 9:1 & 7) Perhaps even today when the focus is on making a name for oneself, God or His Will is often left out of the picture. As we read through the pages of Scripture we find a number of times when God gave a NEW NAME to those who acknowledged Him and were striving to live in accordance with His Will. Among these we find Abram who became Abraham, Sarai who become Sarah, Jacob who became Israel, Simon who became Cephas (or Peter), and then there is Saul who at some point became known as Paul, though I am not sure of the origin of that change.

I think it’s important to note that the name of Abraham became great because God made it so. ( Genesis 12:2) It is those who are willing to humbles themselves before God who will be exalted by Him. ( James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6) Do we have a given name that we have accepted with humility and honor? It was prophesied that a time would come when God’s people would receive a NEW NAME. ( Isaiah 62:2) In Revelation we also read of a NEW NAME for the redeemed of God. ( Revelation 2:17)

Peter encouraged those to whom he wrote…
“(14) If you are insulted FOR THE NAME OF CHRIST, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. (15) But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. (16) Yet if anyone suffers AS A CHRISTIAN, let him not be ashamed, but let him GLORIFY GOD IN THAT NAME.” ( 1 Peter 4:14-16 ESV)

The name “Christian” is a name that associates and identifies one with Christ! Though this name may have arisen as a derogatory designation ( Acts 11:26) it was accepted as a badge of honor. People are not Christians because they are living good lives, but because they belong to Christ! Being a Christian identifies us with Christ and with the family of God as we wear HIS NAME and live to glorify Him! May we humbly accept HIS NAME and whatever comes with it as we live thankful to God to belong to His family.

Have a great day GLORYING IN WHAT CHRIST MAKES OF US!
Carl

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