Tuesday, July 14, 2015

NAME CHANGER AND GAME CHANGER



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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.

The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

Isaiah 62:1-5

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

All of us have a name that was given to us at birth and there could be any number of reasons why we received the name we did.

Maybe we were named after one of our parents or a relative. I know that bear my father’s middle name and his middle name had come from his father. One of my sister’s first and middle name came from each of her grandparents.

Sometimes our names are straight out of the Bible. I know of families who named each of their children after biblical characters.

Still other times, the names of children are simply the popular names of the period. It seems like every year there is a top ten list of names for boys and girls, a list that is used to draw a name from for many couples.

Yes, names form our identity but one thing we rarely see happen is for names to change. We usually hold onto our names, and thus our identities, for a lifetime.

But as we are going to see in today’s devotion, the Lord, the One capable of transforming and altering anything for good, has a way of changing names as well and by doing so, changing identities and lives.

He is the ultimate name changer and game changer.

First, consider three instances in the scriptures where the Lord chose to change someone’s name.

In Genesis, chapter 12, we find an elderly man and his wife, Abram and Sarai, who had been given a promise by God. They were to go to a land that He would lead them to and in return, He would make Abram into a great nation and bless him. All he and Sarai had to do is be obedient to God’s calling. They did as He asked and in chapter 17, we find God changing their identity for good.

The scriptures tell us that God changed Abram’s name to Abraham. Abram simply meant high father but it was God’s intent that Abram be the father of all nations and so it was necessary for him to bear a new name that would match the way he was now exalted by His heavenly Father. Likewise, Sarai’s name, which meant my lady or my princess, had to change for she would now be the mother of all nations and thus have to bear the name Sarah.

Both name changes were brought by God to match up with what He was anointing His chosen ones to do. He had changed the game regarding the course of their lives and the place they would hold in history and so their names changed to mark that occasion.

Fast forward in Genesis to chapter 32 and you’ll find God at it again, this time with Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, who encountered God in a unique way.

You may remember that just before Jacob was to meet his brother Esau, who was harboring anger and bitter resentment for the way Jacob had deceived Isaac and taken the birthright that was rightfully his, he wrestled with God through the night. After God wrenched Jacob’s hip, He told Jacob to let Him loose but Jacob refused unless God blessed him. And at that moment, God told Jacob that his name was being changed to Israel because Jacob had overcome great struggles with God and humans, overcoming them all. With the name Jacob, he was remembered only for grasping the heel of his brother as they were born together. Now, Jacob would be destined for greatness and bear the name that would show that God would prevail, no matter what happened in life. His descendants would be known as Hebrews, Jews, and/or Israelites, of course.

One more instance where the Lord was a name changer and game changer.  

Consider the sixth and seventh chapter of Acts where we meet Stephen, a disciple of Jesus who was chosen to assist the Twelve with ensuring fair assistance for the widows, particularly in the matter of food distribution. You’ll recall that Stephen was hauled before the Sanhedrin, accused of blasphemy, and given the death penalty by stoning, an execution presided over by a man named Saul.

Saul, a devout Jew, was a persecutor of Christians and thus it was no surprise that he was traveling a road to Damascus to carry on his work when Jesus intervened to change the game and then change his name forever.

You remember what happened, right?

Saul was on the road to Damascus when he was struck blind and then questioned by Jesus as to why he was choosing to persecute Him. Unable to see, Saul was helped into Damascus by those traveling with him. Three days later, Jesus sent a man named Ananias to place hands on Saul’s eyes and restore his sight. It was a moment of complete spiritual rebirth for the man who once killed Christians. For afterwards, He would proclaim the name of Jesus in the synagogues and become one of the greatest apostles, if not the greatest apostle, of all time. And of course, He gained a new name: Paul.

Three occasions. Three game changes in mission and identity for God’s people. Three connected name changes.

With this, let’s look at our scripture passage from the opening verses of Isaiah 62 and yet another instance of God changing the identity of His people, and subsequently their name as well.

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.

The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.  Isaiah 62:1-5

Judah and Jerusalem were overrun by the Babylonians. The once great southern kingdom of God and its most holy city were laid to absolute waste and the people were hauled away into a seventy year exile, oppressed and isolated in a foreign land among foreign people. The scriptures tell us of their new identity in captivity. They were simply known as Deserted and Desolate.

But good news was dawning. The seventy years would be coming to an end and as a result, God was soon going to restore His people back to their homeland. Once again, He would be their God and they would be His people> They would once again be betrothed to Him and with the change, they would now be known by new names: Hephzibah, meaning my delight is in her, and Beulah, meaning married.

What a joyous encouragement these words had to be to a people who had endured such a long separation from their Lord, a joyous encouragement we all have to chance to experience as well through Jesus Christ.

For our identity apart from Jesus labels us with the following unflattering names: Wicked, Evil, Defeated, Doomed, and Hopeless. Without Jesus, we are on the way to hell and this worldly life is all there is for us.

But what happens when we choose to believe in Jesus as Savior and receive the salvation promise given through Him?

Our identity changes, just like that. In the blink of an eye, we are no longer known as Wicked, Evil, Defeated, Doomed, or Hopeless but rather Saved, Righteous, Redeemed, Pardoned, and Victorious. We are set free to live and love and learn through life in service to our Lord, living as Jesus did while looking forward to a day when we will be liberated and set free from the things that afflict us in this world as we enter into life eternal with God and Jesus forever.

In other words, Jesus has become the ultimate name changer and game changer.

Have you accepted Him in your life today?

Amen

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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