The Perfect Name By Marvin Williams

The Perfect Name By Marvin Williams




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The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14



READ Isaiah 7:10–17
On a hot and humid day one August, my wife gave birth to our second son. But he remained nameless as we struggled to settle on a given name. After spending many hours in ice cream shops and taking long car rides, we still couldn’t decide. He was simply “Baby Williams” for three days before finally being named Micah.

Choosing the right name can be a little frustrating. Well, unless you’re God, who came up with the perfect name for the One who would change things forever. Through the prophet Isaiah, God directed King Ahaz to ask Him “for a sign” to strengthen his faith (Isaiah 7:10–11). Though the king refused to ask for a sign, God gave him one anyway: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (v. 14). God named the child, and He would be a sign of hope to people going through despair. The name stuck and Matthew breathed new meaning into it when he wrote the narrative of Jesus’ birth (Matthew 1:23). Jesus would be “Immanuel.” He wouldn’t just be a representative of God, but He would be God in the flesh, coming to rescue His people from the despair of sin.

God gave us a sign. The sign is a Son. The Son’s name is Immanuel—God with us. It’s a name that reflects His presence and love. Today, He invites us to embrace Immanuel and know that He’s with us.





REFLECT & PRAY
What keeps you from believing that God can breathe new life into your dark times and desperate circumstances? How will you embrace Jesus as Immanuel this week?

Heavenly Father, thank You for Immanuel—Jesus, Your Son. May I rejoice in His presence and love today.




SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The “Immanuel” prophecy of Isaiah 7 has long challenged scholars. In its immediate context, Isaiah 7 spoke to the Southern Kingdom of Judah as they were being threatened by an alliance of neighboring nations. In response to that danger, God sent Isaiah to remind Ahaz (Judah’s king) that God Himself was their safety and security (vv. 5–9). In that declaration, however, Isaiah presented the prophecy that has been seen for centuries as an anticipation of the coming of Jesus—the true and ultimate manifestation of Immanuel (“God with us”). This seems to be an example of an Old Testament figure (like David in Psalm 22) who is speaking into the story of his own day and time, but whose words are used by God to speak of a greater story—the story of Christ. It’s a small part of what makes the inspired Scriptures such a marvel.

Bill Crowder



Isaiah 7:10-17
King James Version
10 Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,

11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

17 The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

Amen.

amigo de christo said:

My friend is lit up on fire for the LORD . march on my friend .
I would also add this .
What JESUS do we trust in . What JESUS do we have our faith in .
For there is only ONE TRUE JESUS .
If i needed a plumber and one tells me to call JOSE RODRIGUEZ and That he can fix my plumbing problem .
SO i pick up a phone book and in it i see the name of JOSE RODRIGUEZ and many also that have that same name .
And i call on just any jose rodriguez , but it aint the PLUMBER , MY PLUMBING wont be fixed .
SO Too if men call upon another jesus , one which men fed them , expecting THE SAVOIR
THEY aint gonna find that SAVOIR by the name of another jesus .
THE ONE IN THE BIBLE . THAT IS THE ONE . CALL UPON and LEARN THAT JESUS . For no other jesus can save .

Click to expand...

Some time ago, I shared this on another group and would be good for a reminder...



C. S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity writes the following: “I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [Jesus Christ]: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to” (Macmillan, 1952, p. 55–56).

So, who did Jesus claim to be? Who does the Bible say He is? First, He is God in the flesh. Jesus said in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.” At first glance, this might not seem to be a claim to be God. However, look at the Jews’ reaction to His statement. They tried to stone Him “for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33). The Jews understood Jesus’ statement as a claim to be God. In the following verses, Jesus never corrects the Jews or attempts to clarify His statement. He never says, “I did not claim to be God.” When Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), He truly was claiming equality with God.

In John 8:58 Jesus claims pre-existence, an attribute of God: “‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’” In response to this statement, the Jews again took up stones to stone Jesus (John 8:59). In claiming pre-existence, Jesus applied a name for God to Himself—I AM (see Exodus 3:14). The Jews rejected Jesus’ identity as God Incarnate, but they understood exactly what He was saying.

Other biblical clues that Jesus is God in the flesh include John 1:1, which says, “The Word was God,” coupled with John 1:14, which says, “The Word became flesh.” Thomas the disciple declared to Jesus, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28), Jesus does not correct him. The apostle Paul describes Jesus as “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). The apostle Peter says the same, calling Jesus “our God and Savior” (2 Peter 1:1).

God the Father bears witness of Jesus’ identity as well: “But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom’” (Hebrews 1:8; cf. Psalm 45:6). Old Testament prophecies such as Isaiah 9:6 announce the deity of Christ: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (emphasis added).

Why is the question of Jesus’ identity so important? Why does it matter whether Jesus is God? Several reasons:


• As C. S. Lewis pointed out, if Jesus is not God, then Jesus is the worst of liars and untrustworthy in every way.

• If Jesus is not God, then the apostles would likewise have been liars.

• Jesus had to be God because the Messiah was promised to be the “Holy One” (Psalm 16:5, NASB). Since no one on earth is righteous before God (Psalm 53:1; 143:2), God Himself had to enter the world as a human.

• If Jesus is not God, His death would have been insufficient to pay the penalty for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). Only God Himself could provide an infinite, eternally valuable sacrifice (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

• God is the only Savior (Hosea 13:4; cf. 1 Timothy 2:3). If Jesus is to be the Savior, then He must be God.


Jesus had to be both God and man. As God, Jesus could satisfy God’s wrath. As a man, Jesus had the capability of dying. As the God-man, Jesus is the perfect Mediator between heaven and earth (1 Timothy 2:5). Salvation is available only through faith in Jesus Christ. As He proclaimed, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).