Title: The Name of Jesus – 1
“The Inheritance”
Text: Hebrews 1:4-5
E.W. Kenyon gives this personal account:
One afternoon, while giving an address on “The Name of Jesus” a lawyer interrupted me, asking: “Do you mean to say that Jesus gave us the ‘Power of Attorney’ the Legal Right to use His Name?” I said to him, “Brother, you are a lawyer and I am a layman. Tell me – did Jesus give us the ‘Power of Attorney?’” He said, “If language means anything, then Jesus gave to the Church the Power of Attorney.” Then I asked him, “What is the value of this Power of Attorney?” He answered, “It all depends upon how much there is in back of it, how much authority, how much power this Name represents.” Then is when I began the search to find how much power and authority Jesus had.
All the power and all the authority that Jesus had is invested in His Name! I want to start a new series on the Name of Jesus. I base this series off two books: One is by E.W. Kenyon called, “The Wonderful Name of Jesus,” and the other is a book by Kenneth E. Hagin entitled, “The Name of Jesus.” There is so much information about the Name of Jesus and the power that we have in His Name. Each and every one of us, including myself is living way below our means as a believer.
The question is: Do we have the power of attorney to use His Name? The Word of God teaches that we do. Jesus said we could use His Name in prayer. He said we could use His Name in dealing with demons. He said we could use His Name in ministering healing to others and ourselves. In fact, that is where the secret to the supernatural lies. It is all in the use of that Name. We have depended, too much of the time, on our own ability to deliver someone, when in reality, it is the Name that delivers and sets free.
E.W. Kenyon says; “The measure of His ability (Jesus) is the measure of the value of that Name, and all that is invested in that Name belongs to us, for Jesus gave us the unqualified use of His Name.”
Hebrews 1:4; ¶ “Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”
I. WHEN DID JESUS INHERIT THAT NAME?
Jesus inherited a more excellent name than they. He inherited a greater Name than any angelic being. As a Son of God, He is an heir of all things. The Bible says He is the express image of God. He is the brightness or as the Bible in Basic English puts it, “the outshining,” of the Father. He is God speaking to us. And Jesus, by inheritance, obtained a more excellent Name.
When did He inherit that name? Some think He inherited it in Heaven. He did not inherit anything in heaven before He came to this earth, because He already had everything. He did not inherit it when He came to earth, because the Apostle Paul tells in the book of Philippians that He laid aside all honour and glory. So, the question remains: When did He inherit His Name? We find in the following verse:
Hebrews 1:5; “For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?”
These verses tell us when He inherited a more excellent Name. It was when God said to Him, “…Thou art my son, THIS DAY have I begotten thee.” This day! That’s when it all happened, the day that He was begotten.
When was Jesus begotten? Most people think He was begotten when He came into the world as the Babe of Bethlehem.
That cannot be true because Jesus was not born as He took on flesh, He always was. When He came to earth, He just took upon Himself a body.
Hebrews 10:5; “Wherefore when He cometh into the world he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body has thou prepared me.”
He was not begotten when he came into the world; He always was. Listen:
John 1:1, 14; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. 14 And the Word [which already existed, and did not need to be begotten, or born] was made flesh and dwelt among us.”
No, “thou art my Son, This Day have I begotten thee,” is not talking about the day He took upon Himself a body. Then the question remains, what day was it? It is found in:
Acts 13:33; “God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that HE HATH RAISED UP JESUS AGAIN; as it is also written in the second psalm, THOU ART MY SON, THIS DAY HAVE I BEGOTTEN THEE.”
When was it that Jesus was begotten? When He was raised upon that Resurrection morning. He tasted spiritual death for every man. He died on the Cross and took our place in spiritual death. His spirit, His inner man, went to hell in our place.
Hebrews 2:9; “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
The death Jesus died was more than a physical death. Jesus tasted death for every man, including spiritual death.
Do you remember when He cried out on the Cross, “… My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” At that point, God actually turned His back on Jesus Christ. Jesus was forsaken by God Himself. That was the worst pain that Jesus could have ever bared. That was worse then the beating. That was worse the cat of nine tails. That was worse then the nails going through His hands and His feet. That was worse then being spit on and made fun of. He was deserted; He was literally separated from God. He became sin for you and I. Some of you may be wondering what this has to do with the Name. In order to understand what power and authority there is in that Name, you must first understand what He went through to receive that authority.
II. WHAT IS SPIRITUAL DEATH?
Many people do not know what the Bible means when it talks about death. Death, in the Bible, even talking about physical death, NEVER means the end of existence. Never!
Several kinds of death are spoken of in Scripture, but there are three kinds that we need to familiarize ourselves with:
1. Spiritual death
2. Physical death
3. Eternal death (or the second death, being cast into the lake that burns forever with fire and brimstone)
What is spiritual death? It is the opposite of spiritual life. It does not mean the end of existence.
Ephesians 2:1; ¶ “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;” (KJV)
We were dead in trespasses and sins before we were born again. But He hath quickened us, which means to make alive.
Ephesians 2:5; “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (KJV)
Paul wrote to Timothy and talked about some people being dead while they live in I Timothy 5:6. He did not mean they had ceased to exist. When we talk about a sinner being in spiritual death, we do not mean that his spirit does not exist. His spirit does exist, and will exist eternally because that part of man, whether saved or unsaved, is like God. Man is an eternal spirit. But the sinner’s spirit is not in fellowship and not in relationship with God.
God told Adam:
Genesis 2:17; “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
He made no reference to physical death, because Adam did not die that day, physically. But the moment he ate of it, he did die, spiritually. That does not mean that Adam ceased to exist. It means he immediately was out of fellowship and out of relationship with God.
Adam had been walking and talking with God, in fellowship and relationship to Him. But this time, when God came down in the cool of the day to commune and fellowship with him, Adam was nowhere to be found. He called out to him, “Adam, where art thou?” Adam answered, “I was afraid, and I hid myself.” Why? Because he had sinned and sin always brings fear and death. Sin separates from God. Spiritual death means separation from God. The moment Adam sinned, he was separated from God and his own spiritual nature or condition was changed.
Jesus said to the Pharisees;
John 8:44; “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (KJV)
The Pharisees were very religious. They went to the temple on the Sabbath, they prayed, they paid their tithes, they fasted and they did a lot of other fine and good things, but they lied about Christ and murdered Him. Jesus said they were children of the devil. They were the children of the devil because they had the characteristics of the devil.
When someone is born again, his spiritual nature is changed. As a new creation in Christ, he receives a new nature. He receives a life with the life and peace of God. He takes upon himself the nature of God, which is life and peace. The nature of the devil is hatred and lies.
Jesus tasted death for you and I. Spiritual death for every man! That means He was out of fellowship with God. God had no part of Him! He was literally forsaken by His Father.
He became what we were, that we might become what He is.
II Corinthians 5:21; “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (KJV)
That does not mean that Jesus became a sinner; He became sin. He took upon Himself our entire spiritual condition. He took our place as our Substitute when our sin was laid on Him.
Acts 13:33; “God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.”
Peter speaks of this same thing in his sermon at Pentecost in Acts 2:29-31. While we do not know specifically what all transpired in hell, we know that through Jesus’ great redemptive work, He effectively took care of spiritual death for us.
You will never be able to understand the authority in the Name of Jesus until you understand that Jesus tasted spiritual death and satisfied the claims of justice on our behalf when He died as our Substitute. God in Heaven said, “It is enough.” Then He raised Jesus up. He brought His spirit and soul up out of hell. He raised His body up from the grave and He said, “thou art My Son, THIS DAY have I begotten thee.” What day? The day He was begotten. The day He was raised up. That is the day that He, “…Hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent Name.” It happened on that Resurrection morning. Because of what Jesus has endured and overcome, we now have a Name that is above every other Name at our disposal. We can use it for whatever we need.
