High school resumed this week after breaking for summer. I’m enjoying catching up with returning students and getting to know new students. One of my new students introduced himself and asked me if I remembered his mom—it turns out she was one of my students 17 years ago. Maybe I’ve been teaching a little too long. I make it a priority to learn my students’ names quickly. It’s easy to do that for students whose names are unique or who have a special aspect about them like their personality, mannerisms, appearance, or voice. For those who don’t stand out yet, it takes me a little longer to learn their names. In either case within two days I know who everyone is and I can greet them by name as they enter class every day. Connecting with them and valuing them as people first lays a foundation to subsequently help them grow as students.
Names are meaningful because they give a glimpse into something about you like your family relationships, identity, personality, calling, or destiny. Some people change their name after a significant life event like marriage, adoption, emancipation, or spiritual growth. Sometimes God gives people a new name to reflect the change he is working out in them. Other times people who turn to God may retain the same name, but will always experience a changed heart and life. God changes people for good. If you haven’t experienced that yet, you can today and every day.
Here are five brief examples of people in the Bible whose names changed when they yielded their lives to God by faith.
- Abraham and Sarah God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, which means father of many nations. The name of his wife, Sarai, became Sarah which means noblewoman/princess of multitudes. The name change signified God reaffirming his covenant to create the Hebrew nation through them. The Hebrews would be set apart to know and love God and live as an example to others nations so they could do the same (Genesis 12:1-4, 17:1-27).
- Israel God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, whose sons or grandsons then became the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob became Israel as he changed from scheming and deceiving for himself to trusting God to guide him and provide for him (Genesis 28:10-22, 32:22-31; 35:1-14).
- Peter Simon, a fisherman who followed Jesus, became Peter, which means rock, after God revealed to him that Jesus was the Son of God and the Messiah. Jesus blessed Peter and said that on his faith along with other believers’ faith he would build his church (Matthew 16:13-20).
- Paul Saul, a religious Pharisee in first century Israel, tragically made it his mission to imprison Christians after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus confronted him through a blinding light and an audible voice. Within days Jesus healed Saul’s blindness and helped him turn from being a persecutor of Jesus to becoming a preacher for Jesus. Note: in Saul’s case, God didn’t change his name. Saul in Hebrew is also Paul in Greek. As Saul carried out his new commission from God to preach the gospel among Gentiles many people used the Greek version of his name (Acts 9:1-30, 13:13).
- Jesus The final example I wanted to highlight is Jesus himself. Jesus is God the Son who became a man, lived righteously among us, died sacrificially for us, and rose again victoriously to save all who believe in him. Being God, Jesus has always existed, but he didn’t take on the name of Jesus until he humbly became a man to carry out the salvation role of Messiah (John 1:1-4; Luke 1:26-33; Matthew 1:18-25; Timothy 1:9-10). The name Jesus which means “The Lord saves” signifies the amazing grace and love God has bestowed through him so that anyone who trusts and obeys him to save them can experience abundant, everlasting life with God (John 3:16-21).
As you can see from these examples, when you encounter God and place your faith him, he changes you from the inside out. Sometimes that includes a change in the name people call you, most of the time it doesn’t. But it always includes a transformation of who you are. God always changes you for good in a way that is more powerful, more purposeful, and more permanent than anything you could achieve on your own without him. He calls you out from the world’s way to new life with him in his kingdom. In Jesus you shift from shame and guilt to being forgiven and accepted in God’s family as his royal child. You move from darkness to light, from brokenness to healing, from uncertainty to confidence, from grief to joy. He sets you apart in character and purpose from your previous life of wayward drifting. He frees you from self-centered sin and death to live rightly for him and others. This change is ongoing and ever deepening as he trains you to become more like Jesus.
Conclusion
Like millions of other believers now and throughout history, trust God’s loving plan to grow you and develop you as only he can. God’s change saves you, helps others, and brings him glory, that he alone is worthy of. So praise him for what he is doing in your life. Then go as salt and light in the world to teach others how they can know and love God (Matthew 5:13-16, 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21). As a follower of Jesus you are God’s voice, hands, and feet to share his love and salvation with others so they can experience this same change—the glorious transformation of God. By faith become changed for God—changed for good.
Note: You might enjoy listening to a song along this theme. It’s titled, “You Changed My Name” by Matthew West.