Contrary to usual procedure, I happened to glance at one of the legal notices in the San Diego
U-T, 2/13/21. It came under the Cause for Change of Name. A number of petitions filled the page. The one I noticed had three names being changed. I chuckled when seeing the original name of 24 letters being changed to the new one of 27 letters. A strange inversion, I thought. That reminds me: I’ll have to tell you sometime the story of The Night Lincoln Kissed a Reporter. I’ll tell you now the one-word telegram a man sent his mother on being rescued from the HMS Titanic: SAVED! Which is an introduction to the all-encompassing name CHRISTIAN. The word Christian can be a noun, an adjective or a verb. A noun as a proper name, an adjective as a descriptive name, a verb as an action name. As one belonging to Jesus; as one being like Jesus; as one being salt, light, evangelistic and fruitful for Jesus. Consider it as the Divine Name, the God-Given Name for the disciples who were called Christians first at Antioch Acts 11:26d. While activated there, it had been prophesied 700 years before in Isaiah 62:2. “…you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.” Think of the meaning the word CHRISTIAN has. It means one belonging to Jesus; one distancing himself from the world system to follow Jesus; one who believes, obeys and defends whatever position Jesus took on any subject; one who, saved by Christ’s sacrifice, gladly sees himself as the slave of his message and cause—Romans 1:1, I Corinthians 7:22, 9:19, James 1:1, II Peter 1:1, Jude 1:1, Revelation 1:1. That means we love him first in life; we want to be incrementally more like him in daily life; we trust him to save us by his sovereign rule over all powers and authorities on earth and in heavenly places Galatians 6:12, Colossians 2:15. Each person in Heaven will be a Christian. For the simple reason that only he, and no one else, offered a sacrifice for the express purpose of saving from sin ALL in history, even those under Moses Hebrews 9:15. That retroactive power-to-save substantially explains why Jesus Alone will determine the eternal fate of every single human ever to live John 14:6. And why, in Heaven, his Name (Person) will guarantee harmony among all those privileged to enter the New Jerusalem. Then the Master’s Prayer in John 17 will be answered: all of God’s children will be ONE with the Father and his Son. Matthew 15:13 and I Corinthians 3:10-15 are two texts that explain why. The writer has a message on the last two passages he will send to any who want to read it. Fini
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