Genesis

04
Jan
2026

What’s in a name?

The Holy Name of Jesus, and Thoughts for the New Year

by David Sellnow

“What’s in a name?” That was a question Shakespeare famously asked. It’s a question I’d like us to consider today. 

I remember a particular name from years ago, when I was a ministry intern at a large city church. A young mother asked us for baptism for her baby. I can’t recall her last name anymore, but I’ll always remember her son’s first name and middle names. The boy was to be called 

Derambo Jabarray Earl. I asked her about the name, and she showed me a sheet of paper on which she’d written multiple variations stemming from the name Rambo—which came from a Sylvester Stallone movie they liked. They’d settled on Derambo, liking how that sounded. Jabarray was chosen as a middle name, because it sounded good with Derambo. And they added the father’s name, Earl, to make the child’s name complete. Derambo Jabarray Earl. I quite like that name!

In our culture, often we choose names we like the sound of or names that have some sentimental or family attachment for us. In biblical times, names were given with a meaning, sometimes reflecting circumstances about their birth. When Rebekah had twin sons, the first to come out was ruddy and had lots of hair, so she named him “hairy” (Esau, in their Semitic language). The second boy came out holding onto the firstborn’s heel, so she named him Jacob (meaning heel-grabber). Later in life, he was given a new name, Israel, which means “wrestles with God.” After insisting God give him a blessing, Jacob was told, “Your name shall be Israel, for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” 

Sometimes names expressed hopes or aspirations for the child. Jacob’s grandfather had been named Abram when he was born—an Akkadian-Babylonian name (from the region where the family was living), meaning “beloved father.”  Maybe Abram was called “father” from birth because he was the oldest child, with the hope that he would carry on the family line. That name later seemed a cruel joke when Abram and his wife Sarai remained childless into their old age. But the LORD made a promise that came with a new name, telling Abram he would be a father. Indeed, “I will make you the father of a multitude of nations,” God said. He would be Abraham—”exalted father,” the patriarch of Jewish and Arab peoples and father in faith to all who trust in the Messiah descended from Abraham.*

When that Messiah—the promised one—came, what would his name be? Isaiah had prophesied a child to come who would be “Immanuel”—God with us. Jeremiah had prophesied he would be called “The LORD our righteousness.”. When Mary was found miraculously to be with child, an angel told her betrothed, Joseph, what the child’s personal name should be. And so, eight days after the child was born and it was time for his naming ceremony, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel. In English we say Jesus, from the Greek and Latin forms of the name. In Aramaic (the language spoken by the Jews in Jesus’ time), they would have said “Yeshúa”—a shortening of the Hebrew name Yehoshúa (or “Joshua,” as we would say it.) It means, “The LORD saves”—exactly what God was doing for us through the incarnation of Christ in our world.

We’ve come to know Jesus by many names that describe who he is and what he has done for us. The title “Christ” or “Messiah” designates him as the Anointed One—set apart to be our priest, our prophet, our king. He is also called “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” He is the Light of the World; following him we do not walk in darkness. He is the Bread of Life; whoever comes to him will never be hungry.

Do you notice something in Jesus’ name and the descriptions that are spoken of him? We are included in the meaning of his names. Jesus means “the Lord saves”—he saves us. Immanuel—God is with us. He is the Bread of Life for us, to feed our spirits; the Light of the World for us, to light our way. The name of Jesus—the identity of our God—is placed upon us and identifies who we are. Think of what we do each time we gather, sending you out into the world with the blessing of God’s name placed upon you. Just as God told his people long ago, he enfolds you in his name, saying:

The LORD bless you and keep you;
 the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. 

That is how God puts his name on us as his people and promises he will bless us.

In Jesus’ time and Jewish culture, it was customary to give a baby boy his name on the day of his circumcision, which was a religious rite with sacramental significance. In Christian history, baptism has that same kind of sacramental meaning. In early eras of the church, when adult converts came to believe in Jesus, often they were given a new name, their baptismal name, at that time. And children, given their names at the time of their birth, have their names sanctified and included in God’s family in their baptism. Scripture promises us that God sent his Son, Jesus, in order to redeem us and make us his own. We are adopted as God’s children. As his children, we also are his heirs. Through Christ, we have all spiritual blessings and an eternal inheritance.

Whether our names are Jim or Judy or Casey or Quinn, every child of God from the creation of the world to the very last day has their names written in the Book of Life belonging to Jesus Christ. We are new people with Jesus’ name attached to our names, new creations in Christ. 

Your name is part of your identity, who you are. Your personality, your thoughts, your passions, the things that are important to you—those are all part of your identity too. Your faith shapes your identity in significant ways. You are a person of God in Christ. Your plans, your priorities, your purpose will move in directions that God’s Spirit moves you. We may not always know where exactly life is taking us, but we have God’s words directing our way, asking us to acknowledge him in what we do. God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, and he helps us in our weaknesses. We may not even know how to pray as we ought, but Christ’s Spirit intercedes and helps us in ways words cannot express. 

The beginning of a new year often is a time we think of reasserting our identities, establishing new goals and purposes for ourselves. We make New Year’s resolutions to make new persons of ourselves—to quit a bad habit or start a good habit, to eat healthier, to be more physically active, to manage our time better or manage our finances better, etc. Of course, quite often we fail. Recent research has shown that just 9% of Americans actually keep their resolutions throughout the year. 

Probably we miss living up to our resolutions because we try to make the changes on our own, by ourselves, of our own willpower. And we’re not very forgiving with ourselves. If we resolve to cut down on sweets, and by January 18th we just can’t resist that Sunday morning donut, then we say, “Forget it!” and stop working at the resolution anymore. We give up on ourselves.

What if we saw any good, new intentions we set for ourselves not so much as New Year’s resolutions but as spiritual goals? What if we saw them as prayers, as hopes connected to our identity in Christ? We may not be very forgiving or patient with ourselves, but our gracious God is endlessly forgiving and patient with us. Long ago, when the LORD was giving his law—his word and commandments—to the people of Israel, in doing so he proclaimed his name to Moses. He declared himself as “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” That is the name, the identity, the truth of the Lord God whom we know and trust. As people claimed by him and baptized into his name, we also can be full of patience and generosity to ourselves and to others. Our lives are enriched with all sorts of meaning and value as lives of faith in Jesus’ name.

We don’t have to wonder about our worth or question our lives’ purpose. Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing, whoever we’re with, we are God’s children. We bear his name and carry his name with us in our world. New Year’s resolutions often are like trying to assert a new name, a new you, a new way of being. If we stop and think, though, we already have that newness as persons, because we have been baptized into the name of Jesus, our Savior. We are his. We are loved. We can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us. So, in the new year, in Jesus’ name, let us resolve as Scripture urges us—that whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, excellent and worthy of praise, we think about those things and rejoice in the Lord always. And each day, each week, each month, if we have times when we slip up and fail or make mistakes, we know that we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, who is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and for the sins of the whole world.

Blessings to you in Jesus’ name, as people wrapped up in all the strength and hopes that his name brings. We all share a family name together as Christians, so we will encourage one another and build each other up as God’s people, considering how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. May your new year be filled with grace and goodness, knowing that Christ’s Spirit goes with you each step of your way. The LORD will put his name on you, and he will bless you. 

Main scriptures for the Feast of the Name of Jesus: Numbers 6: 22-27, Galatians 4: 4-7, Luke 2:15-21

Additional Bible verses mentioned in this devotion (in order as the references occur): 

Genesis 32:8, Genesis 17:5, Isaiah 7:14, Jeremiah 23:6, John 1:2, John 8:12, John 6:35, Ephesians 1:3-6, Revelation 12:8, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Isaiah 30:21, Proverbs 3:6, Romans 8:26, Exodus 34:6, Philippians 4:1,8,13,  1 John 2:1,2,  1 Thessalonians 5:11, Hebrews 10:24

*For research on Abraham’s name, see this article: What Does the Name ‘Abraham’ Really Mean? | ArmstrongInstitute.org 

Posted by David Sellnow, 0 comments
04
Jan
2020

Precious Lord, Take My Hand

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on March 30, 2017, from a chapel message delivered on a college campus.

Precious Lord, Take My Hand

by David Sellnow

Thomas Dorsey’s father was a preacher and a sharecropper.  His mother was a church organist.   Already from the time he was a boy, Thomas wanted a career in music.  At age eleven, he left school to take a job in a local vaudeville theater in Atlanta, Georgia – where the family was living.  From ages twelve to fourteen he was earning a living playing piano in bars and brothels and for house parties.  By the time he was seventeen, he headed to Chicago to pursue his music further.  After working for a time in a steel mill in Gary, Indiana, Dorsey studied music at the Chicago School of Composing and Arranging.  He found success in the music business in Chicago as a composer and arranger and piano player.  He was known as “The Whispering Piano Player” from playing after-hours parties where the music had to be kept quiet enough so as not to attract the attention of the police.

Dorsey was so frantically engaged in his musical life that at age 21, he suffered a nervous breakdown.  He went back home to Atlanta to recuperate.  His mother wanted him to stop playing the blues; he should “serve the Lord,” she said.  He didn’t listen. He went back to Chicago.  Coming to be known as “Georgia Tom,” he amassed even greater musical success as a sought-after band leader or accompanist for blues performers such as Ma Rainey, Tampa Red Whittaker, Scrapper Blackwell, Big Bill Broonzy, Frankie Jaxson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Memphis Minnie, and Victoria Spivey.

In 1925, Dorsey married his sweetheart, Nettie Harper, who was Ma Rainey’s wardrobe manager.  But Dorsey continued to struggle with depression and mental stress and suffered a second major breakdown in 1926.  He was suicidal and unable to compose or perform music. Doctors didn’t seem to help.  Taking time off didn’t fix things.  His sister-in-law urged him to come to church, and he did.  He even visited a faith-healer, who told him, “Brother Dorsey, there is no reason for you to be looking so poorly and feeling so badly. The Lord has too much work for you to let you die.”  From then on, Dorsey began to do what his mother had always wanted – write and play music for the Lord.  He saw connections between the blues and gospel music.  He once said, “If a woman has lost a man, a man has lost a woman, his feeling reacts to the blues; he feels like expressing it.  The same thing acts for a gospel song. Now you’re not singing the blues; you’re singing gospel, good news song, singing about the Creator. But it’s the same feeling, a grasping of the heart.”

But most churches didn’t want his music. From 1928-1931, as Dorsey tried to sell his gospel music to churches, he was rebuffed. The churches didn’t like how he infused sacred music with blues and jazz. His music didn’t align with the conservative culture preachers were trying to promote. Dorsey had to return to composing and playing the blues in order to make a living.  But he kept working on his gospel-based music at the same time.

In August, 1932, Thomas Dorsey had gone to St. Louis where he was to be the featured soloist at a large church revival meeting.  His wife was in the last month of pregnancy with their first child.  While he was in St. Louis, he received a telegram.  Nettie had gone into labor and had died in childbirth … and the baby died too.  The man was overcome with grief.  It took many days before he could to pull himself together at all.  When he did, it was by playing piano.  And at the piano, about a month later, in the midst of all that grief, he wrote the most famous song of his musical career: “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.”  In the years to come, Dorsey continued writing songs for the church and influencing church music.  Writer of around 800 songs in his career, he became known as the father of gospel music in America.

The circumstances of our lives don’t always go in the direction we envision. We have hopes. We have dreams.  We have plans and ambitions.  And then things don’t go as we plan.  Life takes turns in directions we didn’t expect.  Sometimes everything comes crashing down around us. Our lives collapse in on top of us.  Problems pile up to where we can’t see past them.  We find ourselves shaken, confused, wondering what happened, wondering where was God.   We so often don’t see what God plans to do for us and with us as he shepherds us through the valley of the shadow of death or whatever turmoil he lets us go through.  What we do know is that God intends always what is good for us, that in all things he is working for our good – for our eternal good, in line with his eternal purposes (cf. Romans 8:28).  God never abandons those whom he has called as his children.  Our precious Lord is always working to bring us home to himself, bring us back to his promises, to anchor us in the love and hope that are never in doubt – in the Messiah, in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thomas Dorsey wanted a career in popular music.  The Lord chastened him severely, and turned him toward a deepness of faith and toward writing songs that convey the comfort of the gospel – songs that have greatly benefited Christ’s church.

There’s a similar sort of story in the Bible – the story of Joseph.  When he was 17, in the fabulous dreamcoat that he’d received from his father, Joseph had fabulous dreams about his future.  People would be bowing down to him.  He was going to be somebody! It all sounded so amazing and exciting.  Little did Joseph know then what his future actually would hold.  His brothers abused and mistreated him.  They dumped him in a pit and then sold him off like they would a cow or a donkey.  He served as a slave.  He was accused of a crime he didn’t commit.  He languished away in prison.  Ultimately, he did end up in a position of power and authority – but only after the Lord had worked hard on his heart and soul through deeply painful experiences in his life.

In the end, when Joseph’s brothers found themselves in a desperate position—coming to Egypt for food because Egypt was the only place that had food—Joseph tested them to see that God had been working on their hearts and souls too.  They didn’t recognize him after all those years and in his Egyptian appearance.  When Joseph revealed to them who he was, he made it clear he held no grudges against them.  He saw how God had guided the path of all their lives up to that point, and trusted that God would be the hope of their people (and all people) for the future.

Today’s Bible reading is Genesis 50:15-21 – from the years in Egypt after Joseph had revealed himself to his brothers and the whole clan of Israel had moved down to Egypt.
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.
But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.  So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

  • Prayer:
    Heavenly Father, teach us to trust you through the whole course of our lives – not only when things are going well or in ways we hoped or planned, but also when life is a struggle, when things go horribly wrong, when tragedies strike us.  You hold us in your hand.  You guide us by your Spirit through your Word.  Keep us in your care, and help us to confess that whatever happens, you will be working in all things to bring about good for us as your children – with the ultimate good being that we join you in life eternal. In Jesus’ name.  Amen.
Posted by David Sellnow
24
Dec
2019

God’s glory shines with grace

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on December 7, 2019.

God’s glory shines with grace

by David Sellnow

We know that “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).  The thought of seeing the light of God can frighten us.  Maybe you remember the fictionalized depiction of God’s glory melting the faces of those who opened up the Ark of the Covenant in the film, Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Certainly, those who stand opposed to God have reason to fear his dazzling power. But the recurring theme throughout the Bible shows that when God lets his glory shine for people to see, it is most often for the purpose of showing his saving love.  God’s glory shines with grace.Holiday lights have begun to shine in neighborhoods and towns.   Christmas lights are meant to remind us that Christ is the light of the world, reminiscent also of the star that shined to welcome the birth of Christ into the world.  16th century church leader, Martin Luther, is often credited with beginning the Christian tradition of a lighted Christmas tree.  As reported by History.com, “Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.”

That is what we see at God’s coming at Christmas.  The glory of God came to us, but came in the humble form of Jesus in the manger.  The Son of God came to us from the Father “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).   Jesus “is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3).  And that glory and being of God was coming to earth to be God with us as our Savior, to take away our fears.

To emphasize this truth—that God’s glory shines for us with grace—I’d like to lead you through a survey of different times when God manifested his glory to people, and how that glory was invariably a display of love and hope.

The first reading in which we find God revealing his glory and grace in such a way is Genesis 15. The LORD met with Abram and promised him, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am you shield, your very great reward” (Genesis 15:1). As a way of evidencing his commitment to the promises he’d made to Abram, God then involved himself in a covenant ceremony, at the center of which was God’s own glory, seen as “a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch” (Genesis 15:17). God shined with glory to show Abraham that his promises of blessing were all true.

God’s next manifestation of his shining glory came when the security and future of Abraham’s descendants were in jeopardy. They were facing enslavement and infanticide in Egypt. And then God came to Moses, appearing to him “in flames of fire from within a bush” (Exodus 3:2), and said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt …. So I have come down to rescue them” (Exodus 3:7,8).  In setting them free from Egypt, God showed this same glory to all the people of Israel. “By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light” (Exodus 13:21).   When Egypt’s armies carne after them in pursuit, “the angel of God” and “the pillar of cloud … moved from in front and stood behind them,” separating and protecting them from the enemy (Exodus 14:19,20).  As Israel got further out on its way, in the desert and wondering how they’d eat to survive, “there was the glory of the LORD” again, “appearing in the cloud” (Exodus 16:10). “That evening quail covered the camp, and in the morning” manna was given for bread (Exodus 16:13-15).

The “glory of the LORD” next appeared a number of different times at Mount Sinai, where the law was given. But there wasn’t just law–even here, God’s glory was evidence of his grace. For what God was doing there at Sinai was choosing and consecrating them as his own people, his “treasured possession” (Exodus 19:5) among all the earth. He reminded them of how he had carried them on eagles’ wings and brought them to himself (Exodus 19:4). He showed them grace and glory before and after they sinned against him with the golden calf (cf. Exodus 24 and 32-34). Finally, when they set up their tabernacle tent to worship him, God “filled the tabernacle” with his glory as a sign of gracious presence with them (Exodus 40:34).

In every instance, God shined his glory to point the people of Israel to his wonderful love, to show them how he was working out his plan of salvation for them.

The same is true of other appearances of the glory of the LORD. With “a chariot of fire and horses of fire” God took Elijah “up to heaven in a whirlwind” –graciously giving him eternal life without even tasting death (2 Kings 2:11). Isaiah and Ezekiel saw the glory of the LORD when God called them by grace to serve as prophets (Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1). God even gave visual evidence of this grace to Isaiah by taking a token of the glory of God, a “live coal” from the altar of heaven, touched to Isaiah’s lips by an angel with the message: “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7). That is glory … and that is grace—forgiveness

Above and beyond all the dazzling appearances of God in glory throughout the Old Testament, the greatest shining of his glory is in the coming of Jesus. That Jesus is the brightest shining of all God’s glory was made clear on the night he was born into our world. The glory of God lit up the skies. “There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby …. An angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them” (Luke 2:8,9). They were terrified, but the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). Good news–of God’s grace!

Later on, Peter, James and John would see “the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6), when “he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white” (Mark 9:2,3), “as bright as a flash of lightning” (Luke 9:29). “His face shone like the sun” (Matthew 17:2). Jesus wanted them to see his glory, to bolster their faith before they saw his suffering and death.Wise Men in the east saw that glory of God shining too. “We saw his star and have come to worship him,” they said (Matthew 2:2). They saw the One whom Scripture calls “beautiful and glorious” (Isaiah 4:2), having been led to him by a glowing of his glory in the heavens.

God showed his glory also to a man named Stephen, a martyr about to be viciously killed for his faith. Stephen “looked up into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). Men might kill him, but God wanted Stephen in his dying hour to know that he could not be robbed of God’s glory, for God’s grace had shown it to him.

So also at the end of the Bible, to the last apostle, God showed his glory again. Christ revealed himself, and John wrote, “His eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said, ‘Do not be afraid …. I am the Living One” (Revelations 1:14-18). At a troubled time at the end of the apostolic age, when Christians were persecuted for their faith, God gave this revelation of glory to show he was still with his church, Christ is still ruling all things, and God’s grace is still as amazing as ever.

God’s grace. God’s glory. It’s not like the face-melting, body-burning laser lightshow of a Hollywood movie. Instead, it is like the warm glow of heaven for us, like a candle left burning in the window of our eternal home, until we can come home to be there. The glory of God, as Scripture says, is when “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). That is God’s glory shown to us, to each of our hearts. That is how he shows himself–through “the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). God’s glory shines with grace—grace that saves us, in Christ.

Posted by Electric Gospel