What Does It Mean To Be Called By God's Name Series

So if you have your Bible, please turn with me to:

Text: 2 Chronicles 7:14

“If MY people which are called by MY name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek MY face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land.”

Subject: What Does It Mean To Be Called By God’s Name

In the very first verse, of the very first book of the Holy Bible, the Word of God reveals that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is telling us that God stepped out into darkness and planted his feet onto nothingness. And while suspended there in the middle of nowhere He hung the sun high up above the earth and said with his mighty voice, “Let there be light.” Can I get a witness?

Then God took the moon and the stars, and He placed them in such a way that even in the darkness, a little bit of light would just keep on shining. God went as far as placing other celestial bodies, millions of light years away, and putting them into solar systems that we can not even see with the naked eye and some of which man may never be able to reach. Yes, my brothers and sisters, God created this world and everything that he wanted in this world.

But what amazes me the most is that after creating all of the animals and insects; all of the flowers, plants, and trees. After creating the land and the waters, God even took time out of His busy schedule as Creator of everything, to create a living being called man after His own image. Oh I wish I had some help up in here?

God created man in His own image—After His own spirit— After His own righteousness—After His own likeness— After His own power— After His own ability. And verse 27 lets us know that although there was only man at this time, this first man was a very special man. The bible reads “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” Man was created a perfect being, consisting of both male and female.

But God decided that man needed a helpmeet and separated woman out of man. And how many of you know today that anything God does is perfect? Whatever he does is pure. Whatever he does is without spot, wrinkle, or blemish. And knowing this we must also know that GOD did not make any homosexuals or lesbians. Because He did not make an Adam and Steve or an Ada and Eve. But he created Adam and made Eve and they were perfect.

We all know the story of how they sinned against God and were cast out of the Garden of Eden. How they were cast out of paradise because of their disobedience to God. And you know what: they were cast out without ever knowing the name of GOD. And the first thing that we must address if we are to understand what it means to be called by His name, is the question of what His name really means in our lives. Pray with me for a little while.

In biblical times, a name was more then just a personal means of identification. Names conveyed authority. They showed character and issued promise. They even displayed a certain fate and/or destiny. Human names carried a great meaning, but God’s name encompassed his whole identity. It expressed his power and his omnipresence. His name clearly defined his relationship to His people.

Consider David if you will (over in the seventeenth chapter of First Samuel) when he was confronted by the giant Goliath. He relied upon the authority of God’s name, for I can hear David saying “I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” Can I get a witness?

When the Psalmist Asaph asked God for deliverance in the 79 division of Psalms, Asaph told God that he sought deliverance “for the glory of” God’s “name” and “for” His “names sake,” Asaph appealed to God’s concern for the reputation of His name among the pagan nations.

Solomon in his infinite wisdom wrote in Proverbs 18:10 that “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” Solomon was referring to the protection that God’s name affords us who believe in Him.

Even Jesus, in teaching us how to pray, said “Hallowed by thy name.” In other words, He was calling on us to worship and reverence the God’s Holy Name. Can I get a witness?

The second question that we must ask in considering our being called by the name of God is What is God’s name. What is God’s name?