Naming is an exercise in dominion. If you go all the way back to Genesis, you will find that Adam was given dominion over all the animals, and the first thing he did as a manifestation of his authority was to name those animals. Whatever Adam called one of them, the Bible says, that was its name. Naming is built subconsciously into us.
When exercising authority, parents will often seek out their child by calling out a nickname calmly, “Jimmy.” If no response results, the volume and tone will gradually increase until the full name is called, “James Paul Wood.” Suddenly, when the full name is utilized, the child recognizes the voice of authority.
In science, what do we do when we discover some new phenomenon? We name it. We don’t necessarily understand it. We can’t necessarily control it, but we feel that we have gained a certain amount of control just by naming it.
In medicine, we may not be able to cure the disease, but we have to be able to diagnose it. We have to be able to put a label on it, and then we feel better, because now we know what is killing us. We’re still going to die, but it has a name.
In psychology and education, we do the same thing. Aren’t you glad to know that your child has dyslexia? Dyslexia is a real disability, but knowing that your child has dyslexia doesn’t make it go away. Now we have ADD and ADHD, distinct learning disabilities. ADD and ADHD are not the same, but a lot of the kids who used to be diagnosed with ADD are now recognized not to simply have ADD but rather ADHD.
This naming of things, whether naming planets, constellations, diseases, disabilities, hurricanes, the beasts of the field or our children, signifies our authority and gives us a sense of dominion. We name everything, and when God makes us part of his family, he names us. We read in Ephesians 3:
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-21
Notice: “To him be glory in the church.” God’s desire is to manifest his nature, his character in us. Part of that process is that he makes us his family and gives us his name. We are his. We belong to him.
We are to be imitators of God as dearly loved children. That means we live our lives his way. We tell the truth instead of lying, because God doesn’t lie. We love instead of hating. Yes, we hate sin, but love is the reason. It is God’s love for us that causes him to hate sin, because he knows what sin does to us, and he knows what sin does to others. It is because he loves us that he paid the price in order to make us his own.
