That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth.
In India, we have many traditions for naming our children. For example, in my family, all the children get their father’s first name as their middle name. So, since my name is Cameron Gary Mendes, everyone knows that I am Gary Mendes’s son. But I know that in the South, people use their father's first name as their last name.
It’s so interesting how naming works in different cultures.
Did you know that God also has a name, and that someone inherited it?
Let me explain.
In Exodus 3, Moses asks God for His name, and He answers:
“I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD (=Yahweh), the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’”
“This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.” – Exodus 3:14-15 NIV
This is the first time God revealed His name, and the name Yahweh is considered the greatest name in heaven and earth, because it is the name God gave Himself.
In Philippians 2:9-11 NIV we read how God gives this name to Jesus:
Therefore God exalted Him [Jesus] to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:9-11
This is also confirmed in Isaiah 45:23-24 NIV where God speaks:
“Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, ‘In the Lord (= Yahweh) alone are deliverance and strength.’”
The day is coming when every knee will bow before the greatest name under the heavens, and that’s the name of the God we get to serve, isn’t that amazing?
