"A name you can trust."

"Just mention my name."

"We sell only name brands."

Names today not only identify people, they are closely associated with reputations, products and services.

Names have great significance in the Bible. They reflect more than reputation or trade. They usually disclose some insight such as a personality trait evident from birth, or the personal perspective of the parent at the time of the child's birth. Names often reported the current hopes, fears, circumstances and observations of the parents, neighbors or nation. The name became a unique identifier. Instead of asking, "What is your mother's maiden name?" as a security check, they might ask, "What was your mother going through when she named you, 'son of my sorrow' or 'the glory of the Lord has departed'?"

Adam named his wife, 'Eve', perceiving her as a 'life-giver'. They named their first child "Cain" (acquired) in hopes that he would be the Messiah, the promised seed (Genesis 3:15). They named their second child, "Abel" (not satisfactory) reflecting that parenthood brought a reality-check; a realization that their children were no sinless Messiahs. The third son was named "Seth" (meaning, 'substitute'), hinting that they were coming to understand that God's plan of salvation would come through a sinless substitute.

In Biblical tradition it was common for the mother to name the newborn child. Often the names gave clues to their personal circumstances, secret longings and emotional struggles. This is evident in the naming of the 12 sons in Jacob's highly dysfunctional family (Genesis 29:31-30:20). We learn of Leah's desperate hopes of gaining her husband's affections through producing boys- naming her offspring Reuben ('see here, a son!'), Simeon (God's 'heard' my prayer), Levi (now my husband will feel 'attached' to me) and Judah ('praise'- this just might work out!). Jacob's second wife, Rachel, expresses her frustrations through the names she chooses for the children born on her behalf by her maidservant, Bilah, who functions as their surrogate mother: Dan (God is my 'judge' and has vindicated me) and Naphtali (I have 'wrestled' with my sister and have won). Leah then aspires to maintain the upper hand in her struggle with Rachel. Her servant Zilpah bears her two sons whom she names Gad ('good fortune') and Asher ('happy'). Leah then bargains for sexual relations with Jacob. (Rachel offers Jacob to her in exchange for her son's mandrakes, small perennial plants whose roots and berries superstitiously were believed to have value as a fertility drug.) As a result of 'hiring' Jacob for paternity purposes, Leah bears two more sons- Issachar (reward for hire) and Zebulun (perhaps now my husband will honor me and take me into his 'habitation' because I have born him 6 sons). She also gives birth to a daughter named Dinah (God has given me 'justice') who is eventually raped (Genesis 34). Only when the Lord 'remembered' Rachel did she conceive. She bore Jacob a son and named him 'Joseph', informing us that she was not yet satisfied but hoped that the Lord would 'add' another son. With great difficulty she eventually gave birth to what was to be her last child, whom she named Benoni (son of my sorrow) whom Jacob renamed Benjamin, 'son of my right hand' (Genesis 35:18).

These children were named by their mother's sad stories. Sometimes we are spiritually named by our circumstances: poverty, broken home, unloved, or forsaken. We may be scarred by life's 'name-calling'. The God of the Bible calls us by a new name. He names our potential and projects it out in front of us, casting a vision for our future possibilities. They are ours if we cooperate with His plan of grace. He names that which is not yet, but one day can be. "He calls those things that are not, as though they were" (Romans 4:17). He can make a holy nation out of a dysfunctional family. He renames that natural schemer 'Jacob' (whose name means 'cheater', 'supplanter', 'heel catcher') and gives him a title that promises him future participation in God's plan- 'Israel' (God rules, God heals). He is invited to be a prince with God. The Lord projects a future before us (Jeremiah 29:11) and names us accordingly. He names us with the words that He speaks to our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 4:4). "You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow." (Isaiah 62:2).

God had a good dream when He thought of you! He chooses not to know you after the names that reflect the external and temporal factors evident to natural perspective. He sees us in our potential, as glorious by-products of the redemptive work of Christ. We are a part of His blood-bought, Spirit-wrought new community, the purchased bride of Christ. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation! Old things have passed away behold all things have become new." (2Corinthians 5:17).

He calls us the light of the world; the salt of the earth; signifying that our functioning as the body of Christ is the only redemptive hope for our planet. He has named us His royal priesthood; a holy nation; His ambassadors; His habitation through the Spirit; His inheritance; The sheep of His pasture; The flock of His hand; His glorious church, which is destined to reign with Him for all eternity as the bride of Christ.

Yes, there are times that we need to name our sins (1John 1:9). But don't forget that He has already named us 'saints'. We don't need to wait for any canonization. (Believers are called 'saints' nearly 60 times in the New Testament and 'sinners' only twice!) "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1John 3:1).

Laying claim to the new name,