“You are to give him the name Jesus…”

                 “This is so unbelievable.  Could this really be happening…to me?!  I know the prophets spoke of the Messiah, but here?  Now?  With Mary…and me?”  Such may have been the immediate thoughts of Joseph, husband of Mary, after an angel visited him in a dream to declare this incredible move of God on humanity to reclaim sinners.

Indeed, rocket scientists are not needed to figure out that the world is completely riddled with problems.  While natural disasters make frequent headlines, most news is captivated by the fact that man cannot live peaceably with his neighbor.  Whether it is a domestic disturbance, gangs fighting in the city or nations at war, mankind daily demonstrates his inability to live the way life should be lived.  As sinners we “fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) everyday.

Enter Jesus into the framed continuums of time and space.  His name describes two things.  First, it tells us who He is.  Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Jehoshua, which comes from Joshua or Yeshua.  All of them literally mean “God our savior” or “God who saves.”  It is unmistakable that this is God in the flesh.  Two verses later we see that “they will call him ‘Immanuel,’ which means ‘God with us’ ” (1:23).  It was so amazing, so incredible that God would take on human form and nature, that an innumerable company of angels were compelled to praise Him at the birth of Jesus saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14).  In all of Scripture such a large group of angels had never been seen before on the earth until this.

But his name also tells us what he would do:  “for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).  Not only was it important to God for us to know who it was who was coming, but also what he would do precisely.  The centerpiece of the salvation that God offers is Jesus, who he is and what he did.  Everything stands and rests squarely and only on him.  Without him what do we have?  What can we offer to God that is acceptable to Him?  What do we have that is valuable enough to please or satisfy God’s perfectly righteous and holy standard?  We know the one answer to these questions — nothing!  Absolutely nothing.

These two inseparable facts are part of the core of doctrinal truth in the Bible.  Recently I have been helping a teenager in our church youth group sort out the anti-Christian doctrinal positions stated in one Bible teacher’s website that claims to be scriptural.  One of the beliefs of this teacher is that Jesus is not God in human form.  Another is universalism, the idea that everyone ultimately will get saved.  Still another is that there is no hell to fear or avoid.  Of course, believers must contribute toward their salvation according to this man’s thinking.  In the process of my helping out this young person see the issues, the person and work of Jesus quickly come to the surface repeatedly.  This man denies the clear words of Jesus, rejects his divinity and says his work on the cross is insufficient.  Truth must always line up with reality, and vice-versa.  It was no strange statement, therefore, when Jesus said, “I am the truth” (John 14:6).  As the praise chorus goes, “Jesus, name above all names…”

Because Jesus came to earth and suffered all that he did (see Philippians 2:5-8), the Holy Spirit told Paul, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (vs. 10-11).  There is coming a time when every single knee will bow to Jesus and every single person will confess him as “Lord.”  Think deeply about that.  Can you by faith see a moment in the future when all humanity — past, present and future — will together proclaim that Jesus is the name above all names and that he is Lord?

Does this future scenario stir your heart?  Does the image of everyone confessing the Lordship of Jesus motivate you to live for him?  Will you likewise glorify the Father today by your confession of him in life and word?