HIS NAME
1 Peter 4:14
Morning Meditation 9/9/17
"If ye be reproached for the NAME OF CHRIST, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified."
The word "LORD" is the descriptive name of God. He revealed His name and as we progress in our study of the Word, we will discover that God revealed Himself to His people by His names. God has one name in one place and another in the next. Each name of God that He gives has a meaning, and that Name will progressively reveal the character and essence of God.
THE LIFE WE HAVE IS REVEALED IN THE NAME OF GOD
Exodus 15:3, "The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name. "The name "LORD" in this verse means, "THE ETERNALLY EXISTING ONE." There is not a hint of a beginning or an ending in the name JEHOVAH. God wants to be known by His people as the Self Existing One. He needs nothing to maintain His existence. He is Self Existing. He does not need the things we need to exist. He does not gain strength by eating. He does not become healthy by drinking water. God needs none of those things that our bodies require to maintain His existence. There is no beginning or ending with JEHOVAH. He is the eternal one without beginning or without end.
This life is a state of being. When God gives eternal life to one, that one partakes of the life of God which is eternal. It is a quality of life which has no beginning or end. When God gives us this life there is never an emphasis on a beginning nor an ending. God's quality of life is not subject to death. Looking at it from a rational standpoint it has a beginning for us, i.e., it begins with the New Birth. In other words I did not begin to live until I was saved. But the life God gave, and I obtained at salvation, had a beginning for me but no ending. But if we look at it that way, it leaves us totally blind and confused when we try to explain some of the verses in Scripture that are based on this truth.
For instance, in Romans 6:6-11, "Knowing this, that our old man is (was) crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." His life is my life. The only way this life could be terminated would be for Jesus to cease to be. Because what He is, I am. He is me in the presence of God. I am He, in this world to represent Him in preaching the message of the gospel. John says in 1 John 4:17, ". . . because as He is, so are we in this world." How can He be described now? He is seated at the right hand of God, glorified, protected, and awaiting the day when He will get His bride so she can be forever in His presence. How can we be described today? The same way He is.
The words "Knowing this" translates "ginosko" and means, "to learn, to know, come to know, get a knowledge of, to perceive, to understand." It is a present active participle. The present tense is continuous action in the present. It is active voice which means that we have made this our choice. Now that we have made this our choice, this continuous knowledge constantly continues to flood our minds with the blessed truth of an unbroken on-going relationship with the ETERNAL SELF-EXISTING ONE through Jesus Christ our Lord.
THIS QUALITY OF LIFE IS PRESENTLY EXPERIENCED BY THE BELIEVER
The Bible tells us that we have this quality of life at the present time. 1 Peter 1:3-5 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (Emphasis mine).
The word "begotten" is the language God uses to describe where this quality of life begins for the believer. It is a word that describes the birth of a child into the human family. It is also a word that describes the spiritual birth of a believer into God's family. The life that we receive at the new birth is not a beginning of the life we receive, but it is a beginning of it for us. We pass from death into life. It is the life of God that never had a beginning and will never have an end. For us human beings it is a renewing of a life lost. Since this is true, when we receive the life of God, it is retroactive so that God sees us as having died with Christ on the cross, and having been predestinated from the foundation of the world. We share a life that eternally exists along beside life that is not eternal. It is temporary and when the sinner dies he will then understand that he missed life and chose death.
THIS QUALITY OF LIFE IS OBTAINED BY FAITH IN THE NAME
Matthew 1:21 says, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."
The Father in heaven gave the Name of His Son and defined the meaning. Jesus is the Greek equivalent to God's Name Jehovah in the Old Testament.
Now to connect the name with Jehovah in the Old Testament we look at John 8:58, "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM." Here Jesus claims that He is Jehovah, the great "I am." He is the self existing one. Faith in the Name of Jesus is an essential to salvation. John 1:11-12, "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, EVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE ON HIS NAME:" (emphasis mine).
Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call upon the NAME OF THE LORD shall be saved."
John 3:18 says, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, BECAUSE HE HATH NOT BELIEVED IN THE NAME of the only begotten Son of God."
Acts 4:12, says "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is NONE OTHER NAME under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Philippians 2:9-11, "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that EVERY TONGUE SHOULD CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, to the glory of God the Father."
It is either bow to that name today or bow to it in the final judgment. If you bow to it today, you will not have to bow in the final judgment because Jesus will have taken away all your sins and cleansed them by His precious blood.
Jesus told the story of two men dying. One was a rich man and he died and went to hell. The other was a poor beggar and he died and went to paradise. At that time paradise was called the bosom of Abraham and one could talk with those who had gone to hell. In the rich man's case he said in Luke 16:24, "And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; FOR I AM TORMENTED IN THIS FLAME." When he could get no mercy for his sufferings he said to Father Abraham in Luke 16:27-28, ". . . I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment." Here is a missionary minded man in hell. He had discovered that the only opportunity that one has for salvation is before he dies. The rich man did not want his loved ones coming to that horrible place.
There is power in the Name of Jesus to save anyone who calls on that Name for mercy. There is only one person besides yourself that knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are saved. It is you and God. If you are not for sure, you can be. And it is worse than a child playing with a loaded gun for you to put off your salvation. I am afraid that there are too many people feel because everything is going smoothly today, that they have plenty of time to be saved. You may have many more chances to be saved. I hope you do. But there is sudden death. There are those who died of a heart attack and strokes when they had no time to prepare to meet God. May the Lord help you to realize that this is true and that you will do the wise thing and be saved today.
THERE IS CERTAINTY BY FAITH IN THAT NAME
1 John 5:13 says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."
God has made salvation simple so that no man will have an excuse if he is lost in the final judgment. This text speaks to those who "believe on the name of the Son of God . . ." What did he say the result would be for those who believe on the name of the Son of God? He said, "that ye may know that ye have eternal life . . ." John by inspiration of the Holy Spirit tells us that we can know that we are saved. Now if you believe in salvation by good works, there would be no certainty. We would have to wait to see if we had done enough good works. Those who are uncertain of their salvation believe that they are saved by good works and they believe that one will have to wait until the final judgment to know if we are accepted. But those of us who believe that we are saved by grace, and it is a gift of God, can say we know we are saved, because this is an extreme confidence that Jesus has satisfied His Father for my sins. He said He had and I believe Him. My good works are an expression of my gratitude for what He has done for me. 2 Corinthians 9:15, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift."
Jesus has put His power behind His name to save and keep. Hebrews 7:25, "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."
Jesus is busy today making intercession for those who have come to Him for salvation. And I will assure you that He will not lose a one.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
