The Name of God

God actually has many names. In the Old Testament, the Israelites refused to call God by name at all, for fear of being found guilty of taking the LORD's name in vain. The name that they knew God by, even though they refused to speak it, is usually translated as Jehovah. That's not really a correct translation: The Hebrew word has only four letters, and is referred to as the Tetragrammaton. Properly translated, the Tetragrammaton means, "I Exist" or "I Am", in reference to what God told Moses, when Moses asked, "Who shall I tell Pharaoh hath sent me?"

In the New Testament, however, Jesus tells us that He came in His Father's name. Nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus ever use the name, "Jehovah." Further, Paul writes in Ephesians 3:15 that the whole family in Heaven and earth is named for Jesus (or, maybe, he's saying the whole family is named for the Father of Jesus, which would include Jesus as being named for the Father, which would make the Father's name Jesus, also. Sorry about that. I promise not to write anything else that confusing in this post). In Acts 4:10-12, Apostle Peter refers to the name of Jesus, saying that there is none other name under Heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. That makes that name pretty important. In Colossians 3:17, Paul writes that we should do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Interestingly enough, when the angel appeared, he told Jesus' parents to name the child Jesus. Two verses later, it says that the child's name shall be called Emmanuel, meaning God with us. Some have criticised, saying that this is a contradiction. It's not. The angel said to name the child Jesus, but people who later came to know who Jesus actually was called Him Emmanuel (God with us).

The point is, that the family of God has one name, and that name is Jesus. We are called Christians because we follow Jesus, and we try to live the way He did, or at least, the way He would if He were walking around as a flesh-and blood being today. In doing so, we lift Him up, and by lifting Him up, we draw men (and women) unto Him.