A PEOPLE FOR GOD'S NAME (OCTOBER 9)

"Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name" (Acts 15:14).

A PERSON’S “NAME” COMMUNICATES HIS CHARACTER OR INNER NATURE. Hence, “a good name is better than precious ointment” (Ecclesiastes 7:1). In the case of God’s name, of course, much more is involved than with any human name. God’s name stands for not only His character but also His power — especially His power to deliver and to save. When the apostles were pressured by the Jewish authorities, they said concerning Jesus Christ, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

In Acts 15:14, when James said that God had dealt with the Gentiles so as to take from them “a people for his name,” what did he mean? In the Old Testament, the expression “a people for his name” always referred to the Israelites; here we are told that it is also from among the Gentiles that some will be His people. But what does it mean to be a people “for his name”? I am still pondering this, but at least two things are clear to me so far:

(1) GOD’S PEOPLE “WEAR” HIS NAME. If we are called by God’s name that means we belong to Him. More important, it means that we partake of His character (2 Peter 1:4). In heaven, God’s people will have been perfected completely in the godliness of their character — “and his name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4).

(2) GOD’S PEOPLE “BEAR” HIS NAME. In a sense, God has put His reputation in the hands of those who are “a people for his name.” Knowing that the world is watching, we live so as to reflect favorably on God’s character and His power (Matthew 5:13-16).

The glory of the gospel is that God has such a people as this: a people for his name. Whether Jewish or Gentile, we can be a part of that people by obeying the gospel. In Christ, not only is our alienation from God removed, but so is the alienation between Jew and Gentile (Galatians 3:27,28). No matter who we are, we have an equal need for God’s forgiveness, and in Christ, we receive that forgiveness on exactly the same basis. No one receives favoritism, and no one is excluded. May the good news be both your joy and mine.

"God's concern is for His name, His glory, His people, His unfolding eternal purpose and for His Kingdom" (Alistair Begg).