There is something about a name. Names can bring pain, sadness or bondage. Names can bring hope, freedom and victory. Names declare our identity, define our character and reveal our most valued relationships.
Almost 600 years before Jesus came to earth, the Israelites were held captive by the Babylonians. Captivity, bondage and desolation were their identity. In Isaiah, chapters 40-55, the prophet announces God’s intention to bring about the defeat of the Babylonians; setting the Israelite captives free. In chapter 62 these demoralized, oppressed people are given a new name!
Read Isaiah 62:1-5. The Israelites are battling being known as forsaken, but God is giving them a new identity. Notice God’s promises in vs. 1-3: her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
The vindication of these exilic people bursts forth in brightness and her salvation will become a burning torch. Her new life will stand in stark contrast to her previous identity. Her suffering and devastation are recognized, yet her emergence will be like an epiphany revealing her beauty, her royal stature, and her new identity because God will give her a new name. She will be a crown, a royal wreath in God’s own hand.
We too live in bondage but God has promised freedom from captivity through the blood of Jesus Christ. (Eph. 2:13) We, as sinners, have been renamed as God’s beloved children. We have received the priceless gift of love and a new future. Our new
identity is that of being a child of God. (John 1:12, 1 John 3:1-2) We are a chosen people; a royal priesthood. (I Peter 2:9) We are a new creation. (2 Cor. 5:17) We are heirs of God; sons and daughters of the King! (Gal. 4:4-7)
Do you believe in the gift that God has given you through His Son, Jesus? Will you receive this new identity of being God’s own precious child? He has given you a new name. He calls you beloved!
Thank you, Jesus, for sacrificing your life for me, for calling me your child and giving me a new name. I choose today to live in the freedom of your mercy and grace; as a holy, loved, and cherished child of the King. Amen.
Lynette Fuson
Women’s Ministry Director