A New Name

Isaiah 44:28

“Who says of Cyrus: ‘He is My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure; saying to Jerusalem: “You shall be built,”; and to the temple: “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’

I like the name Cyrus. Had we had another son we might’ve considered it. Names are important. Parents usually labor over the names they choose for their baby, only to settle on the ‘perfect name'. God, who originated the idea, has some perfect names of His own for His people. He calls Adam the firstborn of all creation and Abraham the Friend of God. He calls Isaac as the Promised son through whom the Messiah would come and the world would be delivered from sin etc..He also changed Isaac's name to Israel. And of course He calls His Son Jesus The Christ, the Savior of the world; through Him sin and death would ultimately be vanquished. So if you ask what’s in a name the answer is: a whole world.

Cyrus was a name that God revealed to the Prophet Isaiah circa 700 BC. He prophesied that a man by this name would be the person to send the Israelites from Babylonian captivity back to Israel after having been there for 70 years. Ezra 1 is where we will find the written account of Cyrus The Great (as well as the reference to several prophecies) where he literally sends them back to rebuild the beloved city and lay the foundation of the second temple. The first temple was destroyed when the Babylonians overran the city. But, Isaiah saw this man and the return almost 200 years before Cyrus own birth. There are very few times in scripture where God gives the exact name of a person, describes the exact exploit they’d do and shows how it fits into His divine plan of salvation for mankind, centuries earlier!

Isaiah 45:1-5: “for Jacob My servants sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you even though you have not known Me”. This is arguably the most powerful prophecy you will EVER read anywhere!

You and I have been named by our birth parent(s) most likely and that name has meaning of course. The name first given to us, to me, it indicates there was ‘divine direction’. That name can define much about our life simply because it has a history and almost a code written into each of us. You know how a Michael is are as well as a typical William. Notwithstanding any deplorable or painful situations associated with a name or the family name etc…God, who is in the business of restoration, has a new and better name for you and I. He has a new name for Israel: "Jesurun" which literally means: ‘Ideal Israel’. But this is the new name for the ultimate ‘overcoming Israel’ which has yet to fulfill its destiny. Hence, our new name is also conditional upon overcoming this life.

This of course is the ultimate story of humanity itself. Agreed? Overcoming the failures of the flesh; knowing that the failures of the flesh are what drive us? However, this overcoming attitude masquerades itself as “healthy anxieties” designed to propel us towards excellence in life; to get things done; to make a name for ourselves; to accomplish great exploits in the name we have been given. In my view of course, these are rabbit trails in penultimate fashion because we are not able to overcome death. It remains our only true future. Contrarily, the only person who has overcome death permanently is Jesus Christ. Life on this earth is all there is to the story of who we are, apart from Christ. In order to overcome life we are compelled to identify ourselves with Christ while we are alive and before we face death.

When we walk in newness of life in Jesus Christ by faith He alone gives us a new name and a purpose. The only thing different at this moment in your life maybe the likely fact of you doing everything in your own name, everything in your own strength and everything for your own purpose and glory APART from God. It is in this state that we have not yet discovered the glorious existence that awaits us when we lay down our own will, name, strength/exploits and purpose, and pick up that divine purpose He has for us. Jesus created you and I before the beginnings of the foundations of the world and named you and I just like He did Cyrus. Therefore, He knew you and named you. That’s an overwhelming reality and when it gets down into our souls, it's a new life. That we aren't just a creation like an animal but sons/daughters

through faith, is beautiful..

Faith in Jesus is just the starting point of the divine purpose. In Revelation 2:17 Jesus tells us: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (that’s you and I as believers in Christ). To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna (eternal sustenance) and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no-one knows except the one who receives it”. A specific and prescient name that when we see it we will know it as if it had been ours all along. It will describe us to the depths of our soul. It won’t be hobbled by an otherwise bad choice of an earthly name like Nailer, Barker or Ichabod. It will however be ultimately perfect.

So our name is not in the Bible and we weren’t prophesied by name by a prophet to exist and do biblical exploits for God, big deal! One thing is for sure: we are guaranteed eternal life in Jesus Christ by a confession of faith in what He did for us on the cross. And, we are guaranteed a new perfect eternal name once we’ve each fulfilled our divine purpose here on earth. A divine purpose that is orchestrated by the Holy Spirit and gives to The Father the ultimate Glory for having; created us in the first place thru Christ; given the opportunity to become a child of His by faith; equipped and challenged us to walk out that purpose and enabled us to bring to Heaven all who God has chosen should go because of our existence. How about a new purpose and of course a new and perfect name? It all starts with a relationship with Jesus and a confession of faith in Him.