Can You Trust in Jesus' Name?
in Faith
In the big picture of life, who is Jesus to you? And why should you trust in Jesus’ name? Why should anyone obey Him, pray to Him, put confidence in Him, and place their hope for the future in Him? Is this Jesus trustworthy? And if so, why?
It all hinges on one moment in time, one crowning achievement that says it all. One thing deems Him worthy of a “name above all names,” and it’s not the act of Creation. It’s the Cross of Calvary and His resurrection from the death it wrought.
What is it about the Cross that proves He is worthy of our trust today? Let’s take a look at who the Cross shows Jesus to be.
Christ’s Crowning Moment: The Cross of Calvary
This one act brought redemption to the world and set off a masterfully planned course of events that continue to this day. The restoration of man’s relationship with God, the redeeming of his soul, and the eventual redemption of all history are wrapped up in Jesus' victory at the Cross.
Redemption? That’s definitely a Bible word worth knowing. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, redemption is the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment or clearing a debt. That’s what Jesus accomplished on the cross, He cleared the sin debt for all who would believe Him. These believers are the worthy “possessions” He sacrificed Himself to gain.
As the world moves towards a future restoration, a final redemption, it continues to look back to the last great demonstration of divine power. But it won’t be the last. Jesus Christ will set all wrongs right again. Make no mistake about it. But it will occur according to His perfect timing.
What does this crowning moment communicate about Jesus Christ?
Jesus Reveals God’s Character
If you want to know if someone is trustworthy, you spend time observing them to learn more about their character. Given enough time, you can usually get a good estimation of the type of person he is and how much you can trust him.
What about Jesus’ character? What do we see in Him according to the biblical account? Again, we see Him most on display at one crucial time. The sacrificial love demonstrated through the Cross pictures what Scripture had long indicated: Jesus reveals God the Father. He said it with His own lips in John 10:28: “I and my Father are one.”
Jesus Christ reflects the person of God the Father as He suffers for those He loves--all of humankind. It’s at the Cross that we see two dominating aspects of God’s character reflected, His intolerance of sin and His love for sinful man.
The fact that Jesus had to suffer and die to make a satisfactory payment for our sin debt tells us how much the Father loathes the sin that harms His creation. It’s so putrid, that nothing besides His most holy and perfect Self can satisfy the demand for payment.
And yet, in Jesus Christ, we also see the intense love of God the Father who loves man so much that He is willing to sacrifice Himself, the incorruptible for corruptible, the eternal for the temporal, the Almighty for dust.
We have been offered a gift of love so undeserved. These are truths we can’t learn about the Father apart from Jesus' death and resurrection. We see the Father in Christ and through Christ, as they are one.
Can you trust Someone who perfectly reflects the holiness and love of God the Father?
Jesus Enthroned
God the Father recognized the victorious act of Christ’s death and resurrection when He seated Him at His right hand, “...being made so much better than the angels” (Hebrews 1:3). Has Jesus always been God? Yes. Did He always live as royalty with God the Father? Definitely. But God seems to want us to understand that what Christ did on earth was very much recognized in Heaven.
Traditionally, Jews during biblical times had an elevated opinion of angels, even believing that they brought messages to the prophets. Oftentimes in the Bible, they tried to worship angels that appeared to them. You could consider this similar to how some people tend to worship religious leaders today.
That’s why God is very specific in how he reveals Jesus’ rank and position. He clearly indicates that Jesus always was and always will be elevated above the angels. And this great truth was shown through the Cross and declared in the New Testament.
And [Christ] is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Colossians 1:18
Can you trust the One who God declares is above all?
Power In Jesus’ Name
What’s in a name? Well, if you ask God…everything.
Throughout Scripture, Holy Spirit-inspired writers used many different names for God to indicate the many amazing aspects of His character. Often, these names refer specifically to Jesus Christ. His name has always had power and carried great weight. Some of these names include:
- The Second Adam
- The Advocate
- Alpha and Omega
- Messiah
- Savior
- Prince of Peace
- The Holy One
- The Bread of Life
- The Light of the World
- The True Vine
- Wonderful Counselor
- The Way, the Truth, the Life
If you’ve called upon these names of Christ, you know how powerful they are when spoken in faith.
But because of His work of redemption at the Cross, God yet again bestowed honor on Jesus when He gave Him a name above every name (Philippians 2:8). And this name no one will know but Jesus Himself (Revelation 19:12).
If that doesn’t make Him exalted and trustworthy enough, consider Jesus’ plans for this great name He has earned through great suffering and victory.
When that long hoped-for redemption of the world happens and Christ reigns victorious for eternity, He plans to write His new name upon His faithful children:
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. Revelation 3:12
Jesus loves His children so much that He plans to take the inheritance He received for dying on the cross and purging our sins, the thing that is so valuable to Him, His greatest treasure–His new name–and put it on us. It’s Jesus’ way of saying, “YOU are my greatest treasure.”
Can you trust someone who loves like that?
Trust Him and Bring Glory to His Name
So what does all this mean for you and me?
You don’t have to feel left out. If you’re not God’s child, if you don’t know that your sins were paid for at Calvary, if you aren’t sure you’ll bear His name in the future, Christ’s love is still for you. His death and resurrection are still for you. Visit www.wbsc.org/believe to watch videos and learn biblical truth about how you can wear the name of Christ.
And for the rest of us, we’re to bring glory to His name, to do all in the name of Christ. If this is true, then how many things do we need to cut out of our lives because they don’t reflect the name of Jesus?
Trust Jesus and bring glory to His name.
Feeling uncertain about your relationship with God? Watch this video.
