The only name under
heaven...
Taken from the Hebrew Yeshua, Jesus
is a masculine personal name meaning Jehovah is salvation (or deliverance), and
it was chosen and revealed as the personal name of our Lord.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth
a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (Luke 1:31.)
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
It is clear that no other name could be better suited for “the
Word made flesh”. This name - also found as Jeshua, Joshua, and Jehoshua - was
very common among the ancient Jews. Variations of the name include Hosea,
Hoshea, and Oshea - all meaning deliverance.
Even though it was a common name anciently, its use by the Lord
God Omnipotent as his personal name has given it a sacred connotation for all
succeeding generations.
Accordingly, its
profane and repetitious use is not in keeping with the true spirit of reverence
and worship.
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a
virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
(Isaiah 7:14)
Immanuel means God with us, signifying that Jehovah condescended
to earth to be with, and save mankind. Therefore, even though we have no
evidence that Jesus bore the name Immanuel on earth, yet he did, since it is
almost synonymous with the meaning of Jesus; God with us – Jehovah is
salvation.
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost
shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:
therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the
Son of God. (St Luke 1:35)
13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down
from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (John 3:16)
The Christ – The Messiah.
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God
hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Acts
2:36)
The Christ (Greek Khris-tos), is the same word as the Hebrew
Messiah, and it means the Anointed One.
To have been anointed means to have gone through a ceremony where a
certain oil (usually olive-oil), particularly set apart for the purpose, was
applied to the head, and other parts of the body, as a symbolic preparation and
endowment of power to perform in sacred duties. Kings and High Priests are
typical officers that would have been anointed.
Jesus was not only Chief High Priest of the Kingdom of God
on the Earth, but he was also King of Kings. When the actual anointing of Jesus
took place, to be King of Kings and Chief High Priest, has not been revealed,
nor has it been revealed who it was who actually performed these anointings. But
it seems likely that it was done by someone who had greater or equal authority,
which could only be one individual in the entire universe. What an emotional occasion
that would have been, God the Father anointing his Only Begotten Son, to the
greatest mission ever to be performed, dwarfing every other.
Jesus Christ is the Son, but he is also correctly called Father
for two reasons. The first reason why we might correctly call him father is
that he is the Creator, the Maker, the Organizer of the heavens and of the
earth, and all things that in them are. The second reason why we might call him
Father is that he is the Father of all those who are born again, who are begotten
sons and daughters unto God through his atoning Sacrifice, who are spiritually
begotten through faith, thus becoming his sons and his daughters.
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
The fact that we rightly call Jesus Christ Father, does not in any
way imply that Jesus is the one and the same individual as God the Father. It
is not so. God the Father is the father of Jesus Christ, and is as distinctly
separated from him physically as you and I are from our fathers. But they are
one in purpose. The Father being a separate being, in total unity with his son,
Jesus, is made quite clear at the baptism of Jesus, when the voice of the
Father, coming from Heaven, reaching his son on earth, saying; “You are my
beloved son in whom I am well pleased”.