Good Monday morning (10-18-10),

When you read the Bible, you can quickly gather that God places great importance on names. The name of an individual was meant to indicate favor, hope, promise, or in some cases, disfavor and distress. We all remember Simon as Peter, the new name which Jesus gave him. Peter means rock, a name by which Jesus meant to encourage Simon as he championed Christianity. Peter the Rock, what a cool name to receive from God.

The Book of Revelation has an interesting scripture which reveals that all overcomers will also one day receive a new name from God. Revelation 2:17 says, “To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows saving he that receives it.”

Every overcomer will receive a new name. That name is probably an end-to-end description of all our good works and adventures done for Christ. It contains the story of all the lives we’ve touched for Him. All our labors of love and obedience will be summed up in this one unique name, a distinctive name which only that one believer could possess.

That new name will be based solely upon what we’ve accomplished for His Kingdom.

Of course it’ll take supernatural abilities to say and comprehend the full meaning of that new name, something mortals can’t now possess. But in that day you, God, angelic hosts, and every other heavenly observer could all witness the sum of your Christian works by understanding that name.

In Revelation19, John wrote about the future triumphant arrival of Jesus to this earth. He saw Jesus gloriously arrayed on His head with many crowns, and on His cloak was written the words, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” However, John was also instructed that Jesus would receive a new name from God, which no man knew but Jesus Himself.

The name which Jesus receives will be a name describing the sum of all His good works. Wow, what a glorious name that will be! What supernatural power must be possessed in order to even comprehend it! We now know Jesus as the Word of God. That’s our limited understanding of who He really is because our minds are darkened by the veil of our flesh and human reasonings. They reveal only little of the fullness of His goodness and glory.

This new name Jesus receives will also contain the story of your salvation, lifetime victories, healings, and deliverances, all made possible by His power of obedience to God’s promise. No wonder Jesus, for the joy that was set before Him, went to the cross and endured the shame. He receives the joy of an eternal testimony, forever enshrined in that one incomprehensible name given to Him by His Father.

Human thinking cannot capture the importance of eternal things. It takes the revelation of the Spirit to unveil to us why we must strive, and continue to strive, to do good works for Christ. For the Christian, it’s not an issue of salvation, that’s finalized. It’s an issue of a good name.

I’m an American by birth. That citizenship cannot be revoked if I break the law. However, how I live my life within this society does impact my future and how people view me. It impacts my name.

I know many Americans who are living out their lives in prison. They’re Americans. Yet who they are and what they do directly impacts how society views them. It impacts their name. Thieving defiles a good name, but feeding the widows and poor in Christ’s name only establishes it.

The Apostle Paul was all about making sure his name included every good work which God had instructed him to do. It was his witness and testimony, and it was very important to him. He often penned words like laboring, striving, and pressing in to describe the effort and importance he placed in keeping his testimony in line with God’s will. He did these things because he knew the fear of God, and because in well doing he sought for, “Glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.” Romans 2:7

Those early saints understood a day is coming when every work will be examined by Jesus Christ, in that day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to the Gospel. For the Christian, citizenship is not the issue; we are citizens of God’s kingdom. However, our behavior as subjects of the kingdom will be examined and revealed. The extent of our obedience will equal the extent of our rewards.

We are all able to obey God. If God be for us, who can be against us! But, we can also choose not to patiently continue in well doing, and by doing so, we can revoke the immortal glory and honor God so anxiously waits to bestow upon those who would only walk in obedience to His will.

Every Overcomer will receive a new name in that day, but our obedience will determine what that new name will be.

Wayne Witcher

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Matthew 25:34-36