Morning by Morning, July 19 - Making God's Name Known
"So now, Father, glorify Me in the Your own presence with the glory that I had in Your presence before the world existed. I have made Your name known to those whom You gave Me from the world" (John 17:5-6).
Lord Jesus, when You said You made the Father's name known to Your disciples, I don't think You were speaking primarily of any particular "name" of God, such as Jehovah Jireh (Genesis 22:9-14), Jehovah Shalom (Judges 6:16-24), Jehovah Rapha (Exodus 15:26), or even the great I AM (Exodus 3:13-15). I think You were making the Father's name known by making His nature known in all that You did and all that You said and all that You were, for as You said and as You revealed with Your life and Your heart, "The Father and I are One" (John 10:30; 17:11 and 22).
You are "the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very Being" (Hebrews 1:3). You are "the image of the invisible God" and "in (You) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (Colossians 1:15-19). Though You were One with the Father in heaven, You willingly chose to humble Yourself in the likeness of human flesh and blood on this earth to reveal to us the Father heart of God through Your life as the Son of Man (Philippians 2:5-11).
As the Son of Man on this earth, You lived Your life in total trust and complete surrender to the will and the word of the Father, doing what You saw Him doing and speaking what You heard Him saying, to make His nature and His name known to us all (John 5:30 and 8:28). You were the Son of Man, Jesus of Nazareth, born from the human womb of a virgin and anointed by the Father with His Holy Spirit with the power and presence of the love and mercy of God (Acts 10:38). In the Oneness of Your heart and nature with the Father, You proclaimed, "Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).
And now Your Spirit -- "the Spirit of Jesus" (Philippians 1:19), "the Spirit of Christ" (Romans 8:9), "the Holy Spirit" of the Living God (Acts 1:8) -- fills our hearts to live our lives to make the name and the nature of our God known through us. By the grace of God, together with You and one another, we are "the body of Christ" on this earth (1 Corinthians 12:27). And by Your grace and Your presence in us, You are still making God's name known in every generation to the ends of the earth (John 17:23). Just as the Father sent You in His nature, so You send us to reveal His nature into our world, by Your Spirit in us (John 17:18; 20:21). "Christ in (us), the hope of glory" -- God's glorious name and nature reveled through us for all the world to know (Colossians 1:27).
So come, Holy Spirit. Come and fill me (Ephesians 5:18). Come and make me more like Jesus today, as You continue to conform me into the image of the Son of God, who is forever the exact image of the Father (Romans 8:29). Make God's name and nature known through me, as You keep crucifying my flesh and filling me with Your Spirit so that I can come to say in truth, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:19-20). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
May you know and make known the name and nature of the Lord our God through your life in Christ today, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257
Please share this word to encourage a friend!
