What's in a Name?

Note this was written as note on the PWOC Japan Region Facebook page, but I thought some of the thoughts are worth capturing here as well. 

Psalm 8 begins, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth….”

The Bible reveals Jesus to us; the names of Christ are part of the revelation. Our family used to try to focus on EVERY Advent activity we came across. Our Advents were hectic and scattered. We’ve learned to simplify….part of this has been a choice to  yearly focus on EITHER the Jesse Tree tradition (tracing prophecies of the Messiah through the word) OR the names of Christ.  This year we focus on the names of Christ. I invite you to share the journey this season as we consider the names of Jesus.

Why focus on the names of Jesus? In every culture a name is important. Parents spend hours considering the implications of each possibility in the weeks before the arrival of their child. We are going to spend the next 23 days considering the implications of the  names for Jesus before we celebrate His arrival as God in flesh, with us.

Names were even more significant in Biblical times. A person’s name denoted  character or something related to the current time period in which a person lived. Have you considered how often people’s names seem to have changed in the Scripture? Meeting Jesus transforms our characters. People were given a new name to match their new character.  Consider Abram  became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, Saul  became Paul, Naomi  thought she was Mara but in the end realized she was indeed Naomi, Jacob became Israel, and Simon became Peter.

You may find it meaningful this season to  consider the names you have called yourself or the names others have called you. Have you been transformed since walking in deeper intimacy with Jesus? What new names has He given you?

There are over 100 names of Jesus mentioned in Scripture. Why so many?  There are so many facets to Jesus quite possibly we need 100 names to begin to fully describe His character. Names are also restrictive – there are limitations to what is conveyed by one name. No one name can begin to define or describe Jesus.  His name is majestic in all the earth.

What’s in a name? Identity. Intimacy. Revelation.

I hope to post at least one name of Christ daily. These will be brief. I invite you to consider the impact of Jesus’ character and identity on history and in our daily lives. We’ll use the revelation of Christ as a  springboard  to worship our Savior, the babe born in the manger.  We will not cover 100 names.  I invite you to share the daily names of Jesus status reports on your PWOC pages and your personal pages. Feel free to share this note on your  PWOC and personal blogs –  just tell folks to search “PWOC Japan Region” to find our page and join the journey.

I believe knowing WHO Jesus is deepens our intimacy with Him, strengthens our love for each other and calls for a more vibrant worship of Jesus, the Christ.

Worshiping with you is pure joy.
De’Etta Goecker
PWOC Japan President


Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...