We have four very significant Scriptures in the Bible regarding the name of Jesus -- Matthew 1:20,21; Luke 1:30-33; Acts 4:10-12 and Philippians 2:6-11.
THE SAVIOR
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
THE KING OF KINGS
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
THE DIVINE HEALER AND SAVIOR
10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
THE LORD OF LORDS
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
It is God the Father who sent His angel Gabriel to both Joseph and Mary with a very specific command: The child who would be born supernaturally to Mary must be called “JESUS”. And in the passages above Jesus is presented as (1) the Savior, (2) the King of Kings, (3) the Divine Healer, and (4) the Lord of Lords. But His name “JESUS” is prominent in each case.
We need to note several things about the name of Jesus (which is the English equivalent of His Hebrew name Yeshua):
1. God the Holy Spirit chose the Greek language for the New Testament, and in Greek His name is Ἰησοῦς, which is transliterated as Iésous, and translated as “Jesus”. There are people today who mistakenly insist on calling Jesus “Yeshua” while rejecting "Jesus" (as though it makes any difference to God, who hears the name of Jesus in every language under the sun). The critical issue is the significance of that name.
2. Today Jesus in Hebrew is “Yeshua” but in the Bible it is Yehoshua, which became Joshua. But Yeshua is derived from two Hebrew words -- YAH and SHUA, which means “GOD IS [OUR] SALVATION” or “YAHWEH IS SALVATION”. And since Yahweh is the personal name of God. Jesus was also called EMMANUEL (which means God with us).
3. As we can see those who deny the deity of Christ are ignorant of the meaning of “Jesus” otherwise they would also believe that He is God. But they should clearly understand that unless they believe this, they cannot (and will not) be saved.
4. We will notice in the New Testament that after the resurrection of Christ, He was not simply called “Jesus”. He was called “the Lord Jesus Christ” since (1) He conquered sin, death, Hades, Hell, and Satan at the cross and in His resurrection and (2) He plainly said that all power and authority in Heaven and earth had been given to Him. He is presently Lord of all creation and Lord of every believer. And Peter made this clear on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:36):Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. This revelation is not just to Israel but to the whole world now. Therefore sinners must "call upon the name of the Lord” in order to be saved (see Romans 10).
5. But God the Father has an even more glorious reason for that name as we see in Philippians 2:10,11: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
So there is coming a day when absolutely every creature in God’s universe will bow the knee to Jesus. For those who never received Him as Lord and Savior, it will mean that they will regret the fact that they failed to obey the Gospel on earth, when they had the opportunity to do so. For those who are children of God, they will reign with Christ as kings and priests -- a Royal Priesthood.
THE SAVIOR
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
THE KING OF KINGS
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
THE DIVINE HEALER AND SAVIOR
10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
THE LORD OF LORDS
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
It is God the Father who sent His angel Gabriel to both Joseph and Mary with a very specific command: The child who would be born supernaturally to Mary must be called “JESUS”. And in the passages above Jesus is presented as (1) the Savior, (2) the King of Kings, (3) the Divine Healer, and (4) the Lord of Lords. But His name “JESUS” is prominent in each case.
We need to note several things about the name of Jesus (which is the English equivalent of His Hebrew name Yeshua):
1. God the Holy Spirit chose the Greek language for the New Testament, and in Greek His name is Ἰησοῦς, which is transliterated as Iésous, and translated as “Jesus”. There are people today who mistakenly insist on calling Jesus “Yeshua” while rejecting "Jesus" (as though it makes any difference to God, who hears the name of Jesus in every language under the sun). The critical issue is the significance of that name.
2. Today Jesus in Hebrew is “Yeshua” but in the Bible it is Yehoshua, which became Joshua. But Yeshua is derived from two Hebrew words -- YAH and SHUA, which means “GOD IS [OUR] SALVATION” or “YAHWEH IS SALVATION”. And since Yahweh is the personal name of God. Jesus was also called EMMANUEL (which means God with us).
3. As we can see those who deny the deity of Christ are ignorant of the meaning of “Jesus” otherwise they would also believe that He is God. But they should clearly understand that unless they believe this, they cannot (and will not) be saved.
4. We will notice in the New Testament that after the resurrection of Christ, He was not simply called “Jesus”. He was called “the Lord Jesus Christ” since (1) He conquered sin, death, Hades, Hell, and Satan at the cross and in His resurrection and (2) He plainly said that all power and authority in Heaven and earth had been given to Him. He is presently Lord of all creation and Lord of every believer. And Peter made this clear on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:36):Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. This revelation is not just to Israel but to the whole world now. Therefore sinners must "call upon the name of the Lord” in order to be saved (see Romans 10).
5. But God the Father has an even more glorious reason for that name as we see in Philippians 2:10,11: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
So there is coming a day when absolutely every creature in God’s universe will bow the knee to Jesus. For those who never received Him as Lord and Savior, it will mean that they will regret the fact that they failed to obey the Gospel on earth, when they had the opportunity to do so. For those who are children of God, they will reign with Christ as kings and priests -- a Royal Priesthood.
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