Proverbs 22:1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.
Have you ever shopped for name brands over generic products?
Do you have certain brand names that you trust more than others?
What about the way you vote?
How about a model vehicle you trust over others?
I’m asking because names were important to us at one point in this nation. We trusted that certain names or brands would be more reliable than others. In some cases, such as politics, we trusted that a particular party would more closely align with our values than others. Perhaps our parents or grandparents loved that brand, drove that car, voted that way, etc…
A few brand names that some of us might have trusted could be:
– General Electric (GE)
– Disney
– Ford
But do those companies still hold true to the name or reputation they once had?
Does Disney still reflect the values of Walt Disney?
Does Ford still reflect the values of Henry Ford?
Does GE still reflect the values of Thomas Edison and Charles A. Coffin?
Perhaps the answer to all of those is yes, but then again, maybe not.
How about church denominations?
Does your preferred denomination reflect the values of its Founder, the Lord Jesus Christ?
Many of the aforementioned companies/denominations have changed drastically over the years. In some ways, they’ve improved; in others, they’re a far cry from the founder’s original vision.
Did you know that the early Christians weren’t called Christians? Instead, they were called the sect of the Way. The reason was that they had one central message. Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world, is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him.
I’d venture to say that Sam Walton, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, and Charles Coffin would have wanted people running their companies that would carry on their legacy and reflect their values.
When we marry into GOD’s family, we’re, in a sense, taking the name of his Son, Jesus Christ. We become direct representatives of GOD’s family on earth.
Consider this. When John the Baptist started his ministry, he had a simple message.
Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
Matthew 3:2
Although John was in one sense before Jesus on Earth, in another sense, he came after him. I imagine no further explanation is needed.
Consider Jesus’ message:
Matthew 4:23 says, “And he [Jesus] went throughout the galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom…”
Now, by necessity, the message changed a little after Jesus’ ascension. The disciples went about proclaiming Jesus as the Christ of God.
When GOD draws us to himself, he does so through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. When we’re drawn, repent, and believe in Jesus, we’re officially adopted as Sons and Daughters into the family of GOD or the Kingdom of GOD.
I love how it’s described in Colossians by the Apostle Paul.
13 He [the Father] has delivered us from the domain of darkness
and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14
Did you realize that you’ve changed kingdoms? Did you know that before Christ, you were trapped under the domain of Satan?
Now that we’re part of the Kingdom, GOD has granted us an amazing right as heirs. We now have the ability to carry on the legacy of the LORD Jesus Christ. We get the privilege of reflecting him while we’re on the earth.
Similarly to those brands and companies I mentioned earlier who probably expected their heirs to carry on their legacy, we, as heirs of the kingdom of Christ, get to carry on his legacy.
I imagine when people joined Sam Walton’s, Walt Disney’s, Thomas Edison’s, and Charles Coffin’s businesses, they were excited and probably couldn’t wait to tell others. Imagine how much more excited they would have been if the founders themselves extended a personal invitation to work for them.
Well, that’s what happened when you got saved. The Founder of the Church, Jesus Christ, personally invited you to join, not his business, but his family. In a sense, we take his name. Let’s think about it like this: if someone works for Disney and you ask them where they work, and they say, I work for Walt Disney, they’re associating more closely with the Founder than the business itself.
That’s how it should be in our relationship with Jesus. We must be more closely associated with the Founder than the business model. But our relationship with Christ is so much more than a business, and those who forget that will suffer in their relationship with him.
Now, if you worked with Walt Disney, that would be special, but if you were his sons or daughters, then that’s an entirely different level of intimacy. In that case, you’re carrying on the family name and legacy. You’re a direct representative of the Disney name.
Well, child of GOD, you are carrying the name of Jesus Christ. Consider this:
v15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons,
by whom we cry, “Abba, Father!”
v16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of GOD.
v17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God
and fellow heirs with Christ…
Okay, let’s circle back to our main topic, which is marriage. When we are drawn and saved, we become part of the church, also called the bride of Christ. Generally speaking, when a man marries a woman, she takes his last name. I wonder how often—at least in today’s society—anyone considers the family name of the person they’re marrying?
Sure, if they have a last name like Garagepail, maybe someone would think about the repercussions of marrying them, but what if they have a more common name? Does anyone think about the family name they’re about to take for their own? Because that’s what’s happening. You’re joining into a family.
Does anyone ever think about how the person they’re marrying will fit into their family? I wonder if anyone cares how that person will reflect upon their family name.
Perhaps we’re living in the Romeo and Juliet era, where family name aside, we’re going to marry who we want to, but I’m not talking about marriage anyway, at least not in the physical sense. I’m talking about how we reflect the name of Jesus after taking his name. When we call ourselves Christians and the world looks at us, do they see Jesus, OR are we so busy making excuses for our sins and lack of Christ-likeness that all they see is mere religious association without substance?
We must reflect the one we serve and put our old names to death. Now, I’m speaking spiritually to help you understand. Too many of us married Jesus but wanted to keep our last name.
Imagine this: what if you fell head over heels for someone and all you wanted to do was spend the rest of your lives with them, but when you proposed, they said, “I’ll marry you, but I’d like to keep a few of the others I was dating around just in case things don’t work out.”
Hopefully, none of us would be foolish to pursue a relationship with someone who said something so crazy, but that’s how we act sometimes after Jesus proposes to us.
In last week’s blog, I said that feelings change in marriage, and indeed, feelings change in our marriage to Christ, but that’s no excuse to let our love grow stagnant or burn out. We need to work on our marriage, to our spouse, and to the Lord Jesus Christ, which requires intention and effort.
You know, sometimes, after years of marriage, people renew their vows. Perhaps it’s time for us to renew our vows to Jesus.