The Name Above All Names

By Chaplain (Col) Stephen W. Leonard, USA, Ret.

“Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”         Philippians 2:9-11

July is named after Julius Caesar. August is named after Caesar Augustus. The other names of the months are after Roman gods and goddesses, January, February, March, April, and May, and the Latin numbers of 7, 8, 9 and 10, which are September, October, November, and December. They follow the Julian, and then the Gregorian Calendars, which most of the world now follows. The names of the months are universally known.

But the entire calendar and all of history itself are divided by the birth of Jesus Christ. Before Christ, BC, and Anno Domini, the Year of Our Lord, AD. More recently, secularists have renamed BC and AD as BCE, Before Common Era, and CE, Common Era, to remove the distinction of Christ as the one upon whom all history is portioned. Yet the fact of the division remains, based fully on the birth of Jesus Christ, not another. God still rules the deliberations of His creatures. 

Jesus, the name above all names, dominates even the pagan world. Christmas, with all its trappings, though its celebrations are not always worshipful of the birth of the Christ Child, has become the most recognized and celebrated holiday in the whole world. So even though His name is used as the most commonly practiced swear word along with the name of God, Jesus Christ’s name, either reverentially, commonly, or profanely, is prominent in the affairs and conversations of men.

No other religious figure is a much-used curse word. Whoever heard anyone use Buddha or Mohammad in swearing? Jesus is always present, in confronting the entire world. And “no man (or woman) comes to the Father except through Him.” In other words, no man or woman enters heaven, rather than hell, except through Jesus! 

I doubt that there are any living on earth who have not heard His name or been impacted by Jesus through missionaries, personal dreams sent by the Holy Spirit, radio, television, a cell phone or similar device, or the internet. As the Bible declares, no man has an excuse when he stands before the Judge of the whole earth and of all time. We may not think that, but the Bible states it, and, therefore, God declares it. 

No one has any excuse, as Romans 1:18–23 in no uncertain terms proclaims. Consequently, no person can erroneously ask, “But what of those who have never even heard of Jesus or His name?” Because all really have heard in some way, either naturally or divinely, which may confound your thinking and produce an opinion from you that is essentially without true knowledge. God knows. 

Hence, Jesus is the name above all names, and every knee (all living and dead beings as well as all demons and angels) shall bow, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! God said it, and such comes from His mouth as the very truth of what is, and what will be. This is a truth that man can deny, but it is just as true as the sun rising all over the world tomorrow. Jesus, the Savior of men, is truly the name above every name!

Encouragement

“Jesus, name above all names, Beautiful Savior, Glorious Lord, Emmanuel, God is with us, Blessed Redeemer, Living Word.”

(Chorus written by Naida Hearn, 1992)