Name Above All Names

Some men are born into a great name. This occurs when a child is born into a royal family. Others make their name great by achievements or have a great name conferred upon them, by a king or queen. However, Jesus is great because He inherited a great Name. His Name is great due to His tremendous achievements and because a great Name was conferred upon Him. He inherited a greater Name than any angelic being or hosts of heaven (Hebrews 1:5). He is heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2) because He is the Son of Almighty God (Matthew 3:17). According to Hebrews, Jesus is, "the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence." (Hebrews 1:3 AMP) 

The Apostle Paul tells us, "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those (beings) in heaven, and of those (beings) on earth, and of those (beings) under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11) Jesus' Name comes to Him as an inheritance. What it must have been to have inherited this Name from His great Father-God. The writer of Hebrews declares, "For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, today I have begotten You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son”? (Hebrews 1:5) This tells us that He inherited a greater Name than the angels, but in Philippians we saw that it declares God gave to Him the Name which is above every name. The inference is that there was a Name known in heaven, unknown elsewhere, and this Name was kept to be conferred upon someone who would be worthy of it. The only one worthy is the Lord Jesus.

In His prayer for the church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul prays, "the eyes of your (our) understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." (Ephesians 1:18) Paul continues to pray, "and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come, and He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." (Ephesians 1:19-23) Jesus not only inherited a more excellent Name than any other being in the universe; The Father not only gave Him a Name above all other names in which every being in the three worlds shall bow and confess His Lordship; but here, God has seated Him in the highest place, and has made Him Head over all things. For what purpose?

For the benefit of the church, every believer! God has made this deposit on which the Church has a right to draw from, for Her every need. He has given to Jesus the Name that has within it the fullness of the Godhead (Colossians 2:9). Therefore, the church has the right to use His Name over all the powers of darkness. We have the right to use His Name in our prayers. We have the right to use His Name in our praises and worship. His Name has been given to us to use in His place. It carries the same power and authority as though He were still physically here on earth as He was nearly two thousand years ago, saying and doing what is revealed in the four gospels. Praise the Lord! However, this is only the beginning of the wonders and the value of the greatness of His Name. The Apostle Paul tells us, "When He (Jesus) had disarmed the rulers and authorities [those supernatural forces of evil operating against us], He made a public example of them [exhibiting them as captives in His triumphal procession], having triumphed over them." (Colossians 2:15 AMP) 

The picture here is of Christ in hell engaged in awful combat with the hosts of darkness (also see Psalm 88). It gives us a glimpse of the tremendous battle and victory that Jesus won before He rose from the dead. The margin reads, "Having put off from Himself, the principalities and powers." It is evident that the whole demon host, when they saw Jesus in hell, simply intended to swamp Him and overwhelm Him. However, after three days and nights, the verdict was spoken from the throne of God, that Jesus had met the demands of justice, the issue of sin was settled and man's redemption was now complete. At that moment, Jesus was justified in spirit (1 Timothy 3:16); He was made alive in spirit (1 Peter 3:18); hurled back the hosts of darkness (Colossians 2:15); struck a paralyzing blow upon Satan, (Hebrews 2:14) and took from him, his spoils (Matthew 12:29; Luke 11:21-22; Revelation 1:18) He then rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:4) and is seated at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 1:3).

Jesus not only had taken from Satan the keys of death and of hell, but He had also taken from him the very armor in which Satan trusted (Luke 11:21-22). He defeated the devil, He has defeated death, He defeated hell, and He stands before the three worlds, heaven, earth and hell as the undisputed victor over man's enemy and ancient destroyer, the devil. He stands as the Master and the Ruler of the Universe. His Name is above every name, and at His Name we can understand how every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The authority and power in His mighty Name has been given to His church, that is, every believer. All He was, is in His Name. All He is today, is in His Name and His Name is ours. He gave His Name to us that we might carry out the will of the Father (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:17-20)

If only our eyes were opened and our souls would dare rise up now, today, into the realm of power and authority where the Name of Jesus would mean to us all that the Father has vested in it. That all believers would act upon our great, unlimited promises, privileges and inheritance in Christ Jesus. If only our minds could grasp the fact that Satan is paralyzed, destroyed, stripped of his armor by the Lord Jesus, condemnation, guilt, unworthiness, disease, sickness, poverty, and all that Satan and sin has lorded over humanity, would simply be seen as being subservient to all believers in the Great Name of Jesus. Then it would become quite easy to live in the abundant life that Jesus has purchased for us, His Church.

These things are not mere fantasy, high and lofty thinking, unobtainable or only for a select few believers, but for all who believe. Jesus said,  "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, anyone who believes in Me [as Savior] will also do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these [in extent and outreach], because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in My name as My representative], this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified and celebrated in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name [as My representative], I will do it. (John 14:12-14 AMP) Notice, that the only condition to do the things that Jesus did and even greater is to believe. Do you truly believe? If so, know this, Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23)