Matthew 1 is a chapter of names. We have spent considerable time on the names of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and even on the names of Tamar and Rahab. The last two names, however, Jesus and Emmanuel, are more than wonderful. Although the last part of Matthew 1 seems to deal with the birth of Christ, it actually deals with the names of Jesus and Emmanuel. In this message I am burdened to give you a hint concerning how to dwell on these names.
Jesus was the name given by God, whereas Emmanuel was the name called by man. The angel Gabriel told Mary that the child she would conceive was to be called Jesus (Luke 1:31). Later, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and also told him to call the child Jesus (Matt. 1:21, 25). Hence, Jesus was a God-given name.
The name Jesus includes the name Jehovah. In Hebrew, the name God means the mighty One, God the Almighty; and the name Jehovah means I Am—I Am That I Am (Exo. 3:14). The verb “to be” in Hebrew not only refers to the present, but also includes both the past and the future. Hence, the correct meaning of Jehovah is I Am That I Am, the One who is now in the present, who was in the past, and who will be in the future and in eternity forever. This is the name of Jehovah. Only God is the eternal One. From eternity past to eternity future, He is the I Am. Therefore, the Lord Jesus could say of Himself, “Before Abraham came into being, I am” (John 8:58). He also said to the Jews, “Unless you believe that I am, you shall die in your sins,” and, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am” (John 8:24, 28). We must realize that Jesus is the great I Am and believe in Him as the great I Am.
Because the name of the Lord is the I Am, we may say, “Lord, You told me that Your name is I Am. Then, what are You?” His answer will be, “I am whatever you need.” The Lord is whatever we need. If we need salvation, He Himself will be salvation to us. We have a signed check with the space for the amount left blank, and we may fill in whatever we need. If we need one dollar, we may insert one dollar. But if we need one million dollars, we may insert one million dollars. If we feel that we need one billion, we simply fill in this amount. The check covers whatever we need. Whatever you need, Jesus is. Do you need light, life, power, wisdom, holiness, or righteousness? Jesus Himself is light, life, power, wisdom, holiness, and righteousness. Everything we need is found in the name of Jesus. How high and how rich is this wonderful name!
The first element included in the name of Jesus is Jehovah. The second is the Savior. Jesus is Jehovah-Savior, the One who saves us from all negative things: from our sins, from hell, from God’s judgment, and from eternal condemnation. He is the Savior. He saves us from everything God condemns and from everything we hate. If we hate our temper, He will save us from it. He saves us from the evil power of Satan, from all our besetting sins in our daily life, and from every bondage and addiction. Hallelujah, He is the Savior!
Jesus is not only the Savior, He Himself is also our salvation. Do not ask Him to give you salvation. Instead, you should say, “Lord Jesus, come to me and be my salvation.” Jesus will never give you salvation. He will come to you as salvation. We believers do not realize how much we need to be saved. Every day, every hour, and even every moment we have something from which we need to be saved.
In the messages on Genesis 1 we spoke about the need to grow in life. But what does it mean to grow in life? On the positive side, to grow in life is to enter into the riches of what Christ is. On the negative side, it is to be delivered from certain things, or to forsake certain things. Although we are small men, we have accumulated many negative things. Probably you do not realize how many negative things you have accumulated. Wherever we go, we collect things. We pick up a great many negative things, and we acquire a number of habits from which we need to be saved. As you are reading this, you may not sense that you need salvation from anything. Suppose, however, you were suddenly raptured to the heavens. If you were taken to the heavens right now, you would immediately sense that you need a great deal of saving. To grow in life is simply to be saved from all unnecessary things, from all that is not needed for our living. If you have the light, the exposure of the fourth-day lights, you will say, “Lord, save me!” At such times we realize that Jesus is truly Jehovah as our Savior and our salvation.
© Living Stream Ministry All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.