Ps 138:2-3 I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
From the very earliest parts of the Biblical record God begins to establish the importance of honoring His name amongst His people. Time and again it is reported in the book of Genesis that Abraham “called on the Name of the Lord.” After this, as Moses begins his ministry as the leader of God’s people the Lord further exalts His name amongst His people. In Ex 3:15 “God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob — has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” The Lord later builds upon this foundational statement in Ex 20:7 where He says to His people "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”
In the book of Leviticus four different references establish the importance of using the name of the Lord reverently and by Deu. 21:5 the priests are established as ministers who “pronounce blessings in the Name of the Lord.” In I Sa. 17:45 David charges into his conflict with Goliath not in the confidence of his own might but rather declaring “I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel.” His power and boldness in battle was because he came as a representative of the “name of the Lord.” Elijah also entered boldly into his confrontation with the prophets of Baal in “the name of the Lord.” His challenge to them in 1 Kings 18:24 was very direct and unmistakable as he said “you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire-he is God," and of course, the Lord answered by fire, thereby exalting His name above the name of Baal. Isaiah as well was a servant of the name as he declared in his writings such statements as Is. 50:10 “Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.”
Throughout the Old Testament men fought in the power of the name, prophesied in that name, pronounced blessing in the name of the Lord, and raised a standard of holiness of heart all because of that name. Yet it is in the earthly life of Jesus Christ and the ministry of the apostles where the name of God finds its greatest expression. The works of Christ were summed up succinctly in John 12:13 when the multitudes gathered in the road into Jerusalem. “They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!" All of the miracles, all of the wisdom, love and compassion that Jesus demonstrated in the Name of the Lord were summed up as the people exalted that name.
Jesus declared to his followers two important concepts. In John 14:9 he said to them “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” And in Matt 28:18 “Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus established himself through these things in the minds of all who would listen in regard to the oneness between He and the Father in both person and in power. He also demonstrated the power of His name by commissioning the disciples to heal, preach and deliver in the power of His name. Their lives were so joined to God as servants of the name that Peter clearly states the understanding through which he and the others minister as they confront the religious leaders in Acts 4:12 where Peter says “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
The entire lives of the disciples are spent lifting up this name through which all may be saved. But even then the work of God to exalt that name is not complete. It is a work that will continue until the close of time as we know it. Jesus Christ, the Lord, will be exalted above all things, for all times. It is best stated in the writings of Paul where he declares by the power of the Holy Spirit in Phil 2:9-11 “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” God has and forever will, exalt the name of Jesus Christ above every other name, above all created things!
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