Click for Chapter 23
The Name of Jesus
We studied in our last lesson that God has brought forth in Christ a New Creation. We have seen that upon the grounds of this redemption in Christ Jesus, that a man by receiving Jesus into his life is made a New Creature, a new person.
We have seen that an actual New Creation takes place within a man’s spirit when he receives Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Also, spiritual death (Genesis 2:17 cf. Ephesians 2:1-5) is eradicated from the life of man, and he is taken completely out of Satan’s control and dominion.
Colossians 1:13 "Who hath delivered us from the power (authority) of darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son."
Then eternal life, the nature of God, is imparted to his spirit causing the New Creation to take place (John 1:12-13, 2 Corinthians 5:17). Man is born again, begotten of God. 1 John 5:1 "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God."
1 John 5:15 "He that has the son has life, and he that has not the son of God has not life."
This one who has become a new creature in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17), has become a child of God and a joint-heir of Christ (John 1:12-13, Romans 8:17). "The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ."
"If any man be in Christ he is a new creature (a new creation); old things are passed away, behold they are become new" - 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Need of the Name of Jesus
Although the one who has been made a new creature in Christ is transferred out of Satan’s power (or "authority;" see Colossians 1:13), he is still in a world ruled by Satan.
In Ephesians 2:2 he is called the prince of the power of the air. "Wherein you once walked according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience."
Jesus called Satan the prince of this world. The Apostle Paul called him the god of this world. Thus satanic forces still have the opportunity to attack the child of God through temptation and trials. The atmosphere and environment is filled with hostile forces that are attempting to destroy our fellowship with the Father and deprive us of our usefulness in the service of Christ.
Our heavenly Father in His provision has given to us a weapon to use in this combat with Satan, not only for ourselves, but also for the Satan-ruled men around us. That weapon is the Name of Jesus. Before we study the authority vested in that name, we shall study how Jesus obtained it.
The Three-fold Greatness of the Name
There is authority within the very Name of Jesus, because He inherited His name, because He achieved the authority of His name by conquest; and because His name was conferred upon Him.
We cannot measure the vastness of the power of the name of Jesus, when we realize that He inherited His name from God, the Creator.
Hebrews 1:2 "Has at the end of these days spoken to us in His son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds, who being the reflection of His glory and the exact representation of His being." And in verse 4: "Being made so much better than the angels, He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."
As the one who is in the very image of the Father’s substance, His very outshining and heir of all things He has inherited in His name. The power of His name can only be measured by the power of God.
Secondly, He achieved the authority of His name by conquest. Colossians 2:15 "Having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." The picture given to us here is of Jesus in awful combat with the hosts of darkness. Also, it gives to us the glimpse of tremendous victory He won before He arose from the dead. The margin reads: "Having put off from Himself, the principalities and powers." (In connection with spiritual warfare, note Daniel 10:10-14 and compare with Ephesians 6:12-17.)
It is evident that the whole demon host, when they saw Jesus in their power, simply intended to swamp Him, to overwhelm Him, and to hold Him in fearful bondage, because of His identification with fallen man; until the cry came forth from the throne of God that Jesus had met the demands of justice, and that the sin problem was settled and that man’s redemption was a fact. When this cry reached the dark regions, Jesus arose, hurled back the hosts of demons, and met Satan in awful combat described in Hebrews 2:14, "In order that through death He might bring to naught (or "render powerless") him that held the dominion of death, that is the devil."
In other words, Jesus had put off from Himself the demon forces and the awful burden of guilt (by assuming our sin and penalty), sin and sickness, that He had carried with Him down into the realm of death; He grappled with Satan, conquered him, left him paralyzed, whipped, defeated, and with his (Satan’s) lordship over man broken.
The words that Jesus spoke in Luke 11:21-22 are fulfilled: "When a strong man fully armed guardeth his own court, his goods are in peace, but when a stronger man than he shall come upon him, he takes from him his whole armor and divideth his spoils."
So when Christ arose from the dead, He not only had the keys of death and hell, but He had the very armor in which Satan trusted. He had defeated the devil; He had defeated all hell, and He stood before the three worlds -- heaven, earth, and hell -- as the undisputed victor over man’s ancient destroyer.
He conquered Satan before his own cohorts, his own servants in the dark regions of the damned, and there He stood absolute master and Lord.
Is it any wonder that fresh from the victories He should say to His disciples: "All power (authority, the right to rule) in heaven and in earth has been given to Me." (Matthew 28:18). Thus He stands as the Master and Ruler of the universe.
The authority that He has won, Satan’s dominion over man, is now invested in the Name of Jesus Christ. The deliverance of man from sin, and sickness, or any other satanic influence or power is invested in the name of Jesus Christ.
Thirdly, The greatness of that name was conferred upon Him.
In Philippians 2:9-10, we find: "Wherefore also God highly exalted Him and gave unto Him a name that is above all names; that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of the beings in heaven, and the beings upon earth, and the beings under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
The inference is, that there was a name known in heaven, unknown elsewhere, and that this name was kept to be conferred upon someone who should merit it, and Jesus, as we know Him -- the eternal Son as He is known in the bosom of the Father-- was given this name! This is the name, to which every knee shall bow in the three worlds, Heaven, Earth and Hell, and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord of the three worlds to the glory of God the Father. Men will both bow and confess on this side of Glory willingly, or they WILL on the other side bow their knee and confess that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord. There are no "second" chances. I trust you have willingly bowed and confessed His Lordship over your life. If not, why not bow your head right now and ask Him into your life. Simply from your heart, say: "Lord Jesus, I believe in you. I believe in your sacrifice in my behalf. I confess I am a sinner. I believe you died, paid for my sins, and rose from the dead to justify me. I receive you as my Saviour. I receive you as Lord of my life. Thank you for the gift of salvation. Thank you for giving to me the gift of righteousness. Thank you that I am now a child of the Living God, and it’s all because of you, Jesus. I praise your Name. Amen."
We now ask, "Why was this Name given?"
We notice this tremendous fact. Every mention of the Name that He inherited, achieved, or had conferred upon Him, shows that He received the greatness of His Name after His resurrection from the dead.
Hebrews 1:3-7 shows us that He inherited His name when He was made alive out of spiritual death. (Verse 5) It was when the Father said to Jesus, "Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee."
Acts 13:33 reveals that this took place at Jesus’ resurrection. "That God hath fulfilled the same, in that He raised up Jesus even as it is written in the second Psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee."
It was after His resurrection that He revealed that all authority in Heaven and Earth had been given to Him (Matthew 28:18).
Ephesians 1:19-23 informs us that He was raised far above every power and dominion.
Philippians 2:8-10 reveals that it was after His resurrection that the Name above every other name was conferred upon Him, when the Father God highly exalted Him.
We ask, why was this name conferred upon Him? Why was it vested with such vast authority and dominion? Was it for Himself?
During the period of almost 2000 years that He has been at the Father’s right hand, has he used His Name, or had need of it? The scriptures give us no inkling of the fact that Jesus Himself has used His Name, or has needed it. He rules creation with His Word, He exists on an equally with God.
Every mention in the scriptures on the use of the name of Jesus has reference to His body, the Church. The Name was given to Him that the Church might use it. The ones who have need of the use of the name are those who have become joint-heirs with Him and are here in contact with men and women who need deliverance from sin and Satan.
All that He is by inheritance is in that Name, and all that He has done is in that Name, and that Name is for man.
God has made this investment for the Church; He has made this deposit on which the Church has a right to draw her every need. The Name that has within it the fullness of the Godhead, the wealth of the eternities, the authority over every other power or authority known in Heaven, Earth, and Hell has been given to us.
If we could search heaven with all its power and omnipotence, if we could search the dark regions of Hell’s domain with its dominion over mankind, and if we could search the whole world through, we could not find a dominion, an authority or any power greater than the Name of Jesus.
We have the right to use the Name against our enemies. We have the right to use that Name in our petitions. We have the right to use it in our praises and worship. That Name was given to Him for us, and is our today. It has lost none of its power.
Use of the Name
Let us now study what this Name means to us. We shall first look at the prayer promises Jesus made in regard to His name. We have the charter promise given to us in John 16:24, Jesus says: "Hitherto you have asked nothing in my Name, Ask and you shall receive that your joy be made full."
Jesus said "Hitherto," or "up to this time," you have never prayed in my Name, but now whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my Name, He will give it (to) you. This promise is the most staggering statement perhaps that ever fell from the lips of the man of Galilee; that we are to have the use of His name, that Name of omnipotence.
He does not say, "If you believe, or if you have faith." He has given us His name. It is ours. We do not have to have faith to use it. When we were born into the family of God, the right and privilege to use the Name of Jesus became ours.
The name of Jesus takes the place of Jesus in performing miracles, delivering from Satan’s authority, and brings God upon the scene.
The disciples while Christ was with them, had no need of the Name of Jesus. He met every need, but now the time has come for Him to leave them, so He said to them, that whatsoever they would ask of the Father in His name, the Father would give to them.
Jesus gave another tremendous promise concerning His name in John 14:12-14. He had spoken to His disciples of His departure from this world. Their hearts had been saddened and troubled at the thought that Jesus would leave them. To them it meant that everything would cease. His ministry on earth would come to an end, and that all of His marvelous works that had brought healing and deliverance to the multitudes would cease.
Now Christ says this to them: "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that believes on me, the works that I do, shall he do also because I go unto the Father and whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
His works, He tells them are not to cease, on the other hand, they are to be multiplied. While Jesus was here in the flesh, He was limited by a human body. He could only be in one place at one time. But now when redemption shall have been completed, so that man may become a child of God, each child of God will be able to do locally what Jesus could do locally.
The reason for this is the authority of the Name, the Name of Jesus. Jesus said: "You will do greater works than I do because I go to my Father and whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my Name I will do." He is really saying this: "You will take my place down here on earth, I will be your representative in Heaven, and whatsoever you ask in my name I will make it good. It will be as though I were on earth asking the Father."
He realized that the heart of our conflict would be with satanic forces. So He said in Mark 16:17, "In my name ye shall cast out devils." He has fully equipped us for our place as His representative by giving us authority over every satanic force and influence.
In Mark 16:18, he tells us that in His name we shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. Demons and disease must obey the name of Jesus as they obeyed Jesus’ own words while on earth.
Oh, that our eyes were opened, that our souls would dare to rise into the realm of omnipotence where the NAME would mean to us all that the Father invested in it.
This is practically an unexplored tableland in Christian experience. Here and there some of us have experienced the authority vested in the Name of Jesus. But none of us have ever been able to abide where we might enjoy the fullness of this mighty power.