Daily Devotional – I’m Normal.™ I AM Ministries
“To promote Godly living in a culture committed to destroying it”
Monday, December 19, 2016
A Name That Saves
Parents spend time and emotional energy selecting just the right name for their child. It’s an important responsibility and decision because the child will carry the chosen name for life. The next step can be just as intimidating – revealing the choice to family and friends, perhaps before the birth (assuming the decision has been made), perhaps after (for myriad reasons).
When God created the world, He had already chosen His Son’s name, even though His Son would not come to Earth for many generations. But how did God choose the name Jesus, when and how did He choose to reveal it, and what does it all mean to us?
God chose the name Jesus for His Son. Jesus is the Greek form of the name Joshua, which means “the LORD saves.” Jesus Himself said He came, “to seek and save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10). We should all be thankful He did.
Here is what God was doing in Christ Jesus, also called Immanuel, or “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23, Isaiah 7:14). Man had been created in the image of God, and was enjoying perfect fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden, exercising dominion and authority over all creation. Unfortunately, man forfeited his fellowship with God and his authority in life when he rebelled and sinned. At that moment, he died spiritually and lost his relationship with God. Man was spiritually bankrupt and had nothing with which to regain what he lost in the fall.
God chose to reveal the name of our Savior before His birth. God sent a special messenger, who also revealed the reason God chose the Savior’s name. Before Jesus was born, God sent an angel to Joseph in Bethlehem (Matthew 1:20). The angel told Joseph, “You are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21). This is Good News, because every man and women since Adam has been under the curse of sin.
Jesus lived a perfect, pure, spotless, and sinless life, then gave His life as a payment sacrifice to atone for our sins. He paid a debt no man could pay; He paid a debt He did not owe. Yet He gave His own blood as the full atonement price for our sin. That is exactly what the angel meant when he said, “You shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21).
There is only One Way to God, and that is through Jesus Christ. Jesus told us plainly, “I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). Paul reminded us, saying, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). To be sure we get the point, the Holy Spirit prompted Timothy to emphasize, “For there is One God and One mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.” (1 Timothy 2:5). He saved us, because we cannot save ourselves.
The world does not need a guru because the problem is not religious. The world does not need a teacher because the problem is not education. The world does not need a politician because the problem is not politics. The world needs a Savior because the problem is sin! Jesus will save us from our sins if we come to Him.
Jesus saves His people from their sins. Sin is not someone else’s problem, it is your problem; it is my problem. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). Each of us needs a Savior to deal with the sin in our lives. Sin is the source of suffering and death, “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23). Jesus is that saving name. Jesus came to save you from your sins.
It is normal for Jesus to save and His name tells us so. Jesus did not come to Earth to be a great teacher, a moral model, a political leader, a military commander, or a religious figure. Jesus came to be a Savior, to save you from your sin.
If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, you don’t know Him at all. He is not a historical figure you should know about, such as Caesar, Joan of Arc, or Abraham Lincoln. Jesus is someone you need to know personally. Without a personal relationship with Him, you are lost for eternity.
The name of Jesus can be a saving name for you today. That is why God said, “Everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved.” (Romans 10:13). Praise the LORD! Jesus is a saving name!
Jeff Myers
A servant of Jesus Christ
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