A relationship inherently leads us to call someone by name. It is a sign of familiarity. Knowing God’s name means more than merely knowing how to say it. To know God by name means to have a close relationship with him. The name Jehovah means “He Causes to Become.” The Tetragammon of YHVH refers to the existence in the present. He is present in time and space. It is also an assurance that He can be anything we need Him to be.
I AM love. I AM peace. I AM vengeance. I AM justice...
It is an assurance that God will become whatever is needed to fulfil his purpose. So, knowing God’s name implies believing that God will fulfil his promises. (Psalm 9:10)
And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you. (Psa 9:10)
The faith of people who know and use God’s name moves them to trust in him and to put him first in their life. Jehovah God will protect such people.
“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. (Psa 91:14)
In Scripture, God reveals Himself to us through His names. So to fully grasp the significance and power of God’s names, we first need to understand the importance of names in ancient cultures. In Old Testament times, a name was more than simply nomenclature. Rather, it revealed important information about the individual or thing itself.
In Scripture, a name often connotes purpose, authority, makeup, and character. In fact, a person’s name is frequently seen as an equivalent of that person.
When Jesus said, “I have made Your name known to them and will make it known” ( John 17:26), He was referencing more than just sounds put together in a word. In Jesus, God came to earth in the flesh and unveiled His heart, mind, will, character, and being through the revelation of His name.
In the Bible “name” is a translation of the Hebrew word shem (in the Old Testament) and the Greek word onoma (in the New Testament). Together, “name” appears more than 1000 times in Scripture and routinely carries with it the idea of power, responsibility, purpose, and authority. A name not only expresses the essence and significance of what is being named but also, when duly authorized, accesses the quality it conveys.
Because of the depth of God’s character, He has various names that reflect the many ways He relates to humanity. For example, God is called Elohim when revealing Himself as the all-powerful Creator. He is Jehovah Nissi—the Lord’s banner of victory (a name you need to know when seeking victory in your life).
God is also known as Jehovah Rapha, or the Lord your healer. When you are in need of provision, get to know the name Jehovah Jireh—God, the provider.
God has a name for every situation we find ourselves in. We need to learn the names of God because when we know His character and His capacity, we will find rest and discover peace and power in His covenantal care of us.
God wants people to know him by name because it benefits them. It enables them to become a friend of God, with the hope of living forever. No wonder Jehovah wants us to make his name known!
And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (Joh 17:3)
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?(Rom 10:13-14)
Jesus made God’s name known by teaching people about God’s ways, His laws, and His promises. Today, Jesus’ followers continue the work of making God’s name known in all the nations. They do so as a united “people for [God’s] name.”
Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. (Act 15:14)
I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (Joh 17:26)
‘Jesus’ is Emmanuel, and it means the sin offering that is full of love, full of compassion, and redeems man.
Only Jesus is the Redeemer of mankind. He is the sin offering that redeemed mankind from sin. Which is to say, the name of Jesus came from the Age of Grace and existed because of the work of redemption in the Age of Grace. The name of Jesus existed to allow the people of the Age of Grace to be reborn and saved and is a particular name for the redemption of the whole of mankind. And so the name Jesus represents the work of redemption and denotes the Age of Grace. The name Jehovah is a particular name for the people of Israel who lived under the law.
In each age and each stage of work, God's name is not baseless, but holds representative significance: Each name represents one age. ‘Jehovah’ represents the Age of Law, and is the honorific for the God worshipped by the people of Israel. ‘Jesus’ represents the Age of Grace, and is the name of the God of all those who were redeemed during the Age of Grace”
“Jesus” is an English rendering of the Greek name Iēsous, which is a translation of the ancient Hebrew Yehoshua. This name is formed from Hebrew roots signifying “Jehovah is salvation” and is translated in our English Old Testament as “Joshua.” The Greek version of this name also refers to Joshua once in the New Testament (Hebrews 4:8).
For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. (Heb 4:8)
The name of Jesus is significant because of who it represents—it means “God our Savior.” Jesus Christ is Immanuel, “God with us”.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Mat 1:22-23)
He came to earth as a man in order to die in our place and become our Savior. This is why the angel said, “[Y]ou shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
The name of Jesus reminds us of the amazing humility of the Son of God when he came as a man to die. As his followers, we must also strive to show the same selfless humility that Jesus demonstrated while on earth:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5–8)
However, Jesus is not just a name of unmatched humility; it is also a name of infinite exaltation. His name is glorified far above every other name:
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9–11; cf. Acts 4:12)
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we may be saved. There is no other name.”