What's in a name

There are over 3,000 names recorded in my Dad’s Family Tree Maker, 71 of them are my direct ancestors, grandmothers and fathers going back 12 generations.  We also have an extensive collection of photographs, letters and other traces of their lives.  Yet for many all we know is their name, spouse, children and birth/death dates.  Even so, they are remembered, if only with a few lines in our tree. Somehow don’t we all hope that we are remembered well after our passing?

I wonder about that as I walk up and down the rows of old cemeteries looking for grave markers for those recorded in our family tree.  I have seen many markers so badly deteriorated that names and inscriptions are no long visible and many stones have broken off or tumbled over.  I imagine family members standing around the open grave, mourning the passing of a loved one and yet now the memory of their once vibrant life has faded and perhaps has even been forgotten with the passing of generations.

Genealogy is important to God too, as evidenced by the record of Jesus’ ancestry in books of Matthew and Luke. So also, names are important to God.  In biblical times, the meaning of names held much more importance and reflected something about the person’s character or purpose. 

Several hundred years before Christ, Isaiah foretold His coming and even then, assigned him the name of Immanuel.  “…the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). Isaiah 7:14 NLT

My name is important to God too. So is yours.  The psalmist writes, “You saw me before I was born/ Every day of my life was recorded in your book/ Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Psalm 139:16 NLT

This song entitled “He knows my name” speaks to the reality of His watch over our lives:

I have a Maker

He Formed My Heart

before even time began

my life was in his hands

He knows my name

He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that falls

and hears me when I call

I have a Father

He calls me his own

He'll never leave me

no matter where I go. 

(Song lyrics by Tommy Walker)

The opening pages of the book of Matthew shows us that Jesus’ name also carried special meaning as “Saviour.”  “And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 NLT

God loves families as well. Even before He made the world, God devised a plan, a way for us to become part of His family. “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure….”  Ephesians 1: 5 NLT

And now God’s plan has been fulfilled in Jesus, Saviour, Immanuel. You are invited to meet Him at the manger, follow Him to the cross and receive his most gracious and generous gift poured out for you there. 

Deborah Phillips

Christmas 2014