He Knows Your Name

On Good Friday a couple of weeks ago, we as a church commemorated Christ's death on the cross for us. One of the ways we did that was by each writing our names on an index card, coming to the front of the sanctuary, and taping the card to the cross. It was a special time to worship the Lord and recognize what His sacrifice on the cross means to us. On my desk, I still have the 65 cards with people's names written on them. It serves as a reminder to me about how He died for each one of us.

While God loved the entire world and gave His Son to die on the cross to make eternal life possible (John 3:16), it's important for us to remember that the cross is personal. To God, we are not just a mass of humanity to be saved. As our Creator, He calls us by name. We must decide for ourselves then to accept Jesus' sacrifice for us and our sins. We are to have a personal relationship with Him. In Exodus 33, God tells Moses to gather the Israelites and go from the place they were staying. God says He will send an angel before them. While it sounds good, this troubled the people. They wanted the Lord to go before them and with them, not an angel. Moses says in Exodus 33:16-17 "'How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?' And the Lord said to Moses, 'I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.'"

Moses entreated God to go with them on the basis of their relationship, and God agreed. He was pleased with Moses and He knew him by name. Likewise, in John 10, Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd, He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. God knows each of us by name. Though we go through difficulties in life like everyone else, we are not beyond His purview or care. When He went to the cross two thousand years ago, He knew us by name. He suffered and died (and was raised to life) on our behalf. That's why we place our names on the cross. When we give our lives to God, we identify with Christ on the cross. Galatians 2:20 says "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." 

Pastor Darren