In John’s Gospel, Jesus makes some metaphorical statements which help us see that Jesus is More Than Just a Name. These powerful proclamations help us better understand who He is and help us see God’s purpose for Him.
Service Type: Sunday Worship
In John’s Gospel, Jesus makes some metaphorical statements which help us see that Jesus is More Than Just a Name. These powerful proclamations help us better understand who He is and help us see God’s purpose for Him.
This message focuses on Jesus’ birth account, where He is referred to with an earthly name as well as an eternal and divine name. Do you see Jesus as “The Lord is Salvation” or as “Jesus the Christ”? In Matthew’s Gospel we see the use of Jesus’ human, earthly name, in conjunction with His divine name. When taken together, it is safe to conclude that Matthew wants us to know that Yeshua is ““The Lord who saves is the One appointed by God.”
God’s name is unequivocally the most complex and most important name ever! Because of this, we need to recognize the significance of His name and understand that when we speak of God, we are speaking of More Than Just A Name. We are referring to Jehovah, the “Self-Existent One”. Jehovah Elohim, the “Creator”.
It’s more than just a name… Everything is in that name: reality, eternity, life, magnificence, glory, and it all can be had when you have a genuine relationship to the living God. To know the names of God is to know God as revealed in His Word.
What do we mean when we refer to salvation, or to being saved? It means you have been rescued from the inevitable results of living in your sin. It means death is not permanent. It means, because of Jesus and His work on the cross of sacrifice, in the tomb of victory, and through the hope of a heavenly future, you do not have to go to hell.
The plan for man’s salvation was established from the very beginning. Foretold through the prophets, fulfilled by Jesus during the events of Passion Week, and continually echoed today through the apostle’s writings. Let us never forget that Jesus was the plan from the beginning.
Jesus said we are to thirst and to hunger for His righteousness. That means we are to desire an authentic Christian lifestyle. The fourth beatitude says those who are filled are not those who have their hunger and thirst met, but those who are continually hungering and thirsting. Don’t settle for the bits and pieces either. Go for all of it. If you want to be like Christ and live like Christ, then you must hunger and thirst for the full righteousness of Christ.
The gospel is the best and most important news ever given to the world. It’s good news because it comes directly from the Creator. It’s good news because it tells us what Jesus Christ has done for us. It’s good news because it transforms those who put their trust in it. The gospel is the central message of the Bible.
Both Old and New Testaments speak frequently about how people were designed and created to live in community. This foundational truth, found throughout Scripture, challenges us as followers of Christ to commit ourselves to living together for the purposes of providing support to one another, nurturing one another, and assisting one another as we grow and thrive spiritually.
