The Amazing Names of Jesus

On November 25, I will begin a Christmas sermon series on “The Amazing Names of Jesus.” Bill Crowder writes the following about this theme:

 

“During World War II, my father-in-law spent 18 months in a prisoner-of-war camp. In the camp, loudspeakers often played music, including a song entitled "Lili Marlene." Somehow it gave him hope, and he fell in love with the beauty of that name. Years later he gave that name, filled with personal significance, to his only daughter—my wife, Marlene.

 

“Names are like that. They have great importance in human relationships. Nowhere, however, is a name more important than in our relationship with our God. In a way that sets Him apart from all others, He ties His name to His reputation and introduces Himself to us as ‘God with us.’"

 

This series of sermons is about the amazing prophecy of Isaiah 9:6 about the birth of Jesus, where the prophet, 700 years before the coming of Jesus, described the One whose names reveal his importance to us. 

 

Jesus is given his name by the angel that spoke to Joseph in Matthew 1:21 and told him to give his son the name Jesus, “for He shall save His people from their sins.” The name means “the one who saves.” The New Testament tells us why it is important to honor the name of Jesus:

• It is the name by which we must be saved — Acts 4:12.
• It is the name that establishes the tone for everything a Christian does — Colossians. 3:17.
• It is the name at which, one day in the future, every knee shall bow — Philippians 2:10-11.

There are numerous names for Jesus throughout the Bible that describe his character and the scope of the ministry of the One who saves us. Among those descriptions are the amazing names in Isaiah 9:6. Those names clearly point to his human birth and his divine nature. As we examine those names through December, we will once again meet the One whose birth we celebrate at Christmas.