The Name Above All Names

The Lord’s prayer is about access. From the first line of addressing God, to the last line of affirming his kingdom, power and glory, tells of the privilege of access.

There's a story from Civil War days about a soldier sitting on a bench outside the White House looking depressed. A little boy passing by stopped and asked what was wrong.

The soldier replied he needed to see President Lincoln but the guards wouldn't let him in.

Hearing this, the boy took him by the hand and led him directly into the president's office. "Father," he said, "this man really needs to speak with you."

That boy was the president's son; he had direct and continuous access to his father. If you belong to Jesus, you do too!

Jesus is teaching us how to access His Father. Much has been made of the fact that Jesus said: “Pray then like this.” It is not so much that he wanted the prayer to be repeated. Rather, the prayer he gave is meant to be a blueprint for how we communicate with our heavenly Father.

We should never forget to whom we are addressing in prayer. It was A.W. Pink, one of the most influential evangelical authors of the 20th century, who said:

“All real prayer ought to begin with a devout contemplation and to express an acknowledgement of the name of God and of His blessed perfections.” (A.W. Pink, The Beatitudes and the Lord’s Prayer, 77)

But when it comes to prayer, there is no better instruction that the words that came from Jesus in Matthew 6:9: “Pray then like this….”

We can call God, Father, because of what Jesus said and did for us.

Matthew 6:8-9 Notice that Jesus teaches us to address God as “Our Father.” In other words, He is not just my father, but “our” Father. It is a reminder that prayer should be made corporately and for others. You can certainly pray for your needs, but do not forget to pray for the needs of others.

Matthew 6:8–9 ESV

8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

“Father,” here refers only to the relation between God and humans, though Jesus perhaps included himself in this part of the prayer. (William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 787.)

Jesus instructs us to hallow God’s name. The word is “to treat as holy, reverence of person.” (William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 10.)

Let us remind ourselves what a privilege it is to call God, “Father.” This is not something afforded everyone. It is reserved only for the Christian. There is no such thing as the universal fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man.” That is something promoted by liberalism and has no basis in Scripture.

Rather, Jesus instructed his disciples that calling God, “Father,” implies a relationship. And oh how the Scripture elaborates on this relationship. Consider the following verses:

1 John 3:1–3 ESV

1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Or John 1:12-13

John 1:12–13 ESV

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

These are blessings given to the elect, the church, the Christian, the believer.

True, God has a divine care for every person as a child of creation. His rain falls on the just and the unjust. But His Fatherly love is given only to the Christian.

And with that come special blessings of encouragement, belonging, and identity. And for that, we can be grateful.

And so as good and decent children acknowledge their special relationship with their earthly parents, so spiritual children of the Heavenly Father ought to acknowledge their union with the God of the universe.

This means they acknowledge God’s blessings, His protection, His provision, His love, etc. in all facets of life. Proverbs 3:6

Proverbs 3:6 ESV

6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Do not be afraid to give God credit when He is the reason you are who you are and where you are in life. Do not be ashamed to name him among your company of family, friends or acquaintances.

God’s name must be hallowed, because of who He is.

Matthew 6:9 Much can be said about the treatment of God's name. He tells us it should be “hallowed.” “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.”

This hallowing comes from the time of Moses.

In Exodus chapter three, God introduces Himself to Moses in the burning bush. There, He uses His covenant-making name, otherwise known as the Tetragrammaton, Yahweh.

Exodus 3:13-15 says:

Exodus 3:13–15 ESV

13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

The Tetragrammaton, referred to in rabbinic literature as HaShem (The Name) or Shem Hameforash (The Special Name),  is the word used to refer to the four-letter word, yud-hey-vav-hey (יהוה), that is the name for God used in the Hebrew Bible.

The name, which some people pronounce as Yahweh and others (mostly Christians) as Jehovah, appears 5,410 times in the Bible (1,419 of those in the Torah).

It is unclear what the original pronunciation of the word was, due to the longstanding Jewish prohibition on speaking God’s name aloud. Instead, a variety of pseudonyms are used, such as Adonai (Lord), Elohim (God) and HaShem (The Name).

The four letters of the Tetragrammaton form the root meaning “to be,” and some have understood the original meaning to be “He-Who-Is,” or “He who brings being into being.”

Jewish treatment of God's name in Biblical times was done with much care. So concerned that they would misuse His name, the Biblical writers would take the consonants of Yahweh and the vowels of Adonai, which is where we get the name “Jehovah,” in the King James version. Or, when it refers to LORD in all capitals, that stands for Yahweh. (What Is The Tetragrammaton? | My Jewish Learning)

Yahweh means “The all-sufficient one.” It is synonymous with “I am, that I am.”

Sometimes we get the emphasis in the Christian faith wrong. Donald Carson states:

“The highest goal is not that we be made holy; the highest goal is rather that God’s name be hallowed.”

New Testament scholar Robert H. Stein said:

The “name” refers to God’s reputation and thus to his honor. For God’s name to be “hallowed” or glorified, God must receive the honor and praise he deserves.

When Israel failed to hallow God’s name through their idolatry, immorality and pagan worship practices, He told them that He would vindicate His holiness by sending them into exile.

Ezekiel 36:23 (ESV)

23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

When Judah was living in fear of the nations around them, they forgot who they should fear, God!

Isaiah 8:13 (ESV)

But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

And so how might we hallow God’s name? It is not only in what we say, but how we live. 1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, ...

And so our calling is to be separate from the world in our treatment of God’s name and His reputation. We are to be unique in our words, our ethics and our loves.

It was the 17th century Puritan Thomas Watson who said:

“Let us behave ourselves as the children of such a Father. Let us depend upon him in all our challenges and urgent needs; let us believe that he will provide for all our wants. Children rely upon their parents for the supply of their wants. If we trust God for salvation, shall we not trust him for a livelihood?” (Thomas Watson, The Lord’s Prayer, 27)

Conclusion

We all just observed another anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy. The terrorist attack that killed over 3,000 people, when four airliners were used as weapons of mass destruction on September 11, 2001.

Although there were many stories that came from the tragedy and its aftermath, I ran across one that I had never heard before this past week.

It was reported that Al Braca climbed atop his desk in the Twin Towers and said, "I'm going to Heaven, who's going with me." He then proclaimed the Gospel to his coworkers.

Al's body was one of the very few that was found intact in the rubble.

Al's office was above where the first jet crashed - he was not getting out. Those who were trapped with Al and heard the Gospel message, and received Jesus as their Lord and Savior were blessed in that they were afforded this last chance.

Many were not so fortunate. Therein lies a lesson: no one is promised a ‘last chance’. Today is the day of YOUR salvation; receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior.