Passion: The Bright Light of Glory

“I am the Lord; that is my name!

    I will not yield my glory to another

    or my praise to idols.

Isaiah 42:8

Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,

    we wait for you;

your name and renown

    are the desire of our hearts.

Isaiah 26:8

God is passionate about God.

That can be a weird thought for some, but think about it this way. God knows who He is and He knows He is God. Thus, God is into God. Who else would He hold in higher esteem? But this doesn’t make God an egotist. An egotist is anyone less than God who is trying to lift themselves up as more important than everyone else.

As it turns out this is not the case with God. For God, there actually is no one greater than Himself. And being God, He knows it. Thus, God is into God. And He’s not interested in sharing His glory with anyone else.

But here’s the amazing part. Though He is supreme, God is not “stuck up” in the way we normally think of others when we use that term. In fact, God is the most kind, loving, gracious one you will ever meet. God is fierce in defending His glory and unrivaled in His worth, He is so generous to share His fortune of beauty with you and me. Jesus has the name that is above every other name, yet the very passage in scripture in which we find this statement tells us that Jesus emptied and humbled himself, choosing to die for you and me.

But His story doesn’t end there.

Jesus gave His life to defeat our pursuers (sin and shame), yet was raised up to never-ending life by the power of God to finish off death, hell, and the grave. As a result, Jesus now holds the name that is greater than any other. He always has and He always will.

Yet, consider this: this unmatched Jesus is in love with you. He knows your name, and because of His great grace you can call Him by His. You can know and be known by the One who holds the greatest name of all time.

There is no name like Jesus. There is power in His name…healing in His name. Demons tremble at the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation comes through His name. In His name, the outcast are invited into God’s Kingdom. And, in the end, every other name is dwarfed by the name of Jesus. After all, if you put the Sun on display in a lighting store who would be interested in purchasing a table lamp or chandelier?

We have been called out of darkness and into light, called from death and into life, all by the name of Jesus. As a result, we are as passionate about God’s name as God is, desiring to live our lives to make His great fame known to all.