What’s your name? What does it mean? In the West, we don’t attach a lot of significance to our given names - so if you don’t know its meaning, you’re not alone. I had to look mine up. Jennifer apparently means “white wave” or ”fair one” – which only left me scratching my head. I doubt my parents picked it for any desired outcome for me, but rather they liked its sound.
God doesn’t have a name in the sense that we use it –rather His names are all titles or revelations of His character. Except for the all encompassing – I AM, no one name can embody Him. He is El Shaddai (God Almighty), El-Roi (God who sees), Jehovah Nissi (Lord is my Banner). Sometimes we simply refer to a title – Lord, Father, or King.
When God arrived in bodily form He was given a name like us … sort of. His friends and family called Him Jesus, or Yeshua, which means to rescue or deliver. Although many were called by that name in His time, only He became the true Deliverer.
God has promised each of us a new name, a true name. The One who knows us fully will reveal who we are with a word. It is a frightful thought - except that He chooses to see us through Jesus’ blood. He washes away the stain of shame and selfishness and lovingly reveals what is left.
I have a new name. And like a Father’s playful beckon or a Bridegroom’s yearning whisper, it is an intimate name – and I anxiously await His voice.
I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it. Revelation 2:17
