pastor's letter • december 18, 2016

God The Father gave Salvation a name and that name is Jesus.  But not only did the Father announce the name, He commanded that Joseph would identify with the baby that Mary bore.
 
Matthew 1:21 NIV – “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus...”
 
 “She” and “You” – Not only is God identifying with this baby, but He is requiring that Joseph do so, as well…emotionally and legally.  SHE will give birth, but YOU are to give him the name.  Just as Zechariah had to name John the Baptist, so too, Joseph had to identify Jesus as his child, and forever be identified WITH Jesus.
 
The naming of a child is both Formational and Transformational.  Formationally, it states to whom the child belongs.  By naming a child, the Father was acknowledging the baby as his, committing himself to the child's protection and provision.  Transformationally, when a father adopted a child, he was giving his own name to the child and identifying the name by which the child would be identified.
 
We do not “name” ourselves, someone else does that.  In so doing, we are identified as belonging to them and given the very first framework for self-identification.  Our name, therefore, also serves to identify us to others.  It is one of the first things we communicate to total strangers: “Hi, my name is…”  The identity of Jesus, his introduction, his self-identity, the manner in which he makes himself known to a world that had been estranged from Him was, in essence, “Hi, my name is Salvation!”
 
Matthew 1:21 NIV – “…Give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
 
God the Son was FORMED as the Son of God in the womb of Mary by the “power of the Most High (Luke 1:35).”  Later during His earthly ministry, this same Son of God was TRANSFIGURED (in a very real way TRANSFORMED) before his disciples and at that very moment, the Father then speaks…
 
Luke 9:35 NIV – A voice came from the cloud saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.”
 
Therefore, our Heavenly Father claims the Christ as His own, identifies His Person, and states for all time and eternity, the Mission of Jesus: He will save!  As Christians, Christ has claimed us as His own.  He has given to us a new identity in Him; and defined the mission of our Lives: proclaiming the Good News of Salvation to everyone, because Salvation has a Name.
 
Romans 10:13 NIV - For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
 
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