In Scripture, there is great significance behind a name. A name was much more than a label or a way to identify someone.

Today, names often carry little significance beyond what sounded good to our parents at the time. We choose names from baby books, family traditions, or popularity lists. Most people never stop to ask what their name means. It’s simply what people call us. Take me, for example. I’m Pamela. You’ve known me as Pamela for years. You’re probably not sitting there wondering about the deeper meaning of my name. Honestly, I’ve carried this name for over fifty years and had to look it up myself. It means “all sweetness.” I’ll let my family decide whether that’s accurate!

But the names in our Bible are of great meaning. Mother’s didn’t pick names based on an internet list of popularity. Names were given to reveal a person’s identity, character, reputation, purpose, and sometimes even their destiny. Names carried meaning, and they often told a story.

If you were given a bad name from birth with a bad meaning. Poor kid. Imagine being given a name that meant “sorrow,” “fool,” or “no mercy.” Every introduction would become a reminder of a negative identity. In biblical times, names carried such weight that a person could spend a lifetime either living into that identity or fighting to overcome it.

We also see throughout Scripture that when God gave someone a new calling, He would sometimes give them a new name to reflect their transformed identity. Their new names signified that God was doing something new in their lives and inviting them into His greater purpose. That name carried a calling and an identity.

Here on this podcast, we spent a few weeks studying the names of God found in our Bible. Through those names, we gained a deeper understanding of His character, authority, power, and love. We encountered Him as:

YHWH, the self-existent and covenant-keeping God

What became clear through that study is that God’s names reveal who He is. They unveil His nature, His attributes, and His relationship to His people. Every name teaches us something about His character and His work.

So if names matter this much throughout Scripture, and if God’s own names reveal His character, then we should expect the name of Jesus to be overflowing with meaning.

Yet many of us hear “Lord Jesus Christ” so often that we stop hearing it altogether. It becomes a familiar phrase. But to the first-century believer, every word in that name carried enormous significance. “Lord Jesus Christ” is not merely a title. It is a declaration. It announces His authority, His mission, and His identity.

A few months ago in Venice, Italy, my friend and I knelt beside a woman who spent her days lying face down on the streets begging. I’ll never forget the moment she looked up at me and said in her language, “Jesus Cristo?”

Immediately, there was recognition. Immediately, there was connection. Immediately, there was hope.

We didn’t share the same language. We didn’t share the same culture. But we shared one name. The name above every name. The Lord Jesus Christ.

What is this name … The Lord Jesus Christ?

1. LORD: This word Lord was originally spoken in Greek as Kyrios. Kyrios means master, owner, one who has authority. When Jesus said in Matthew 28:13, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth”, he’s showing that he is the Lord. He has all authority – not some authority, not a little authority. ALL authority. And where is this authority? In both heaven and on earth. He’s in charge of everything. All things everywhere in heaven and on earth are under his divine authority.

We call Him Lord because there is nothing above Him, nothing outside His authority, and nothing beyond His rule.

So, when you pray to make Jesus the Lord of your life, that’s what you are affirming – Jesus is over everything in your life. He has ALL authority and you bow down to him. Quite honestly, at 15 years old when I prayed and asked Jesus to be the Lord of my life, I had no idea what that actually meant. Now I know. And so do you – He is Lord, he is master, he is above all with ALL authority.

Do you believe that? Is Jesus your Lord?

2. JESUS: What a holy and sacred name chosen by God and delivered through an angel. In Matthew 1: 20-21, an angel came to Joseph and told him that his fiance Mary had conceived a child through the Holy Spirit. The angel said, “She will have a son, and you are the name him JESUS, for he will save his people from their sins.”

That’s the very meaning of the name Jesus – Yahweh saves. The name announces his life mission – To save sinners, to reconcile humanity to God, to defeat death, to bring God’s kingdom.

In this time, everyone knew the meaning of the name Jesus. It was pronounced Yeshua in Hebrew, Yahweh saves. Who is Yahweh? He’s the God who always has been, and the one who made a covenant with his people to save them. Jesus is the fulfillment of that covenant. Jesus SAVES US!

Before Jesus ever preached a sermon, performed a miracle, or went to the cross, His mission had already been announced through His name.

Do you call on the name of Jesus knowing he is the son of God sent to save you? Do you know him as your absolute only answer, only way and only source?

3. CHRIST: In Greek, it is spoken Christos and means “Anointed One.”

The anointing of oil signified God’s appointment of a specific person. When someone was called to a high position of power such as a priest or King, they were anointed. So, to call Jesus CHRIST, Christos, it says this is God’s anointed one. God’s chosen one. The one God has called to a high position of power.

In Hebrew, this word was Messiah. For centuries, Israel waited. Generation after generation looked for the promised Messiah. Prophets spoke of Him. Kings anticipated Him. The faithful longed for Him. Then Paul declares with one word: Christ. The waiting is over. The Messiah has come. He is the promised one. He holds the power of God and is on an appointment.

Jesus is the King who’s rule will never end. He holds the eternal kingdom. That’s who our Christ is.

So now, when we put all these names together as 1 Corinthians 1:3 does, “Call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” we see the full picture of our Jesus.

The order is important. First, he is Lord – the exalted sovereign ruler. Then he is Jesus – the man sent to save. And finally he is Christ – the appointed and promised Messiah King.

Together, the Lord Jesus Christ proclaims fully who he is. He is God. He is man. He is savior.

And, he is ours!!!!!!!!!!

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