“But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15).
By the “name” of the LORD is not meant any particular name of His that He records in scripture. But it is God's way of speaking of His own self, of His person in all of His perfections: His nature and character. This is brought out in 1 Sam. 25:25: "as is his name, so is he." The name of the LORD is what we may know of Him. “Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right” (Prov. 20:11). And how does God make His name know to us? How does He make Himself known to us in all of His perfections? How does He make known the holiness of His love, wisdom, truth, power, justice, mercy and grace? How does He make His glory known? It is in His Son (Heb. 1:3)! “No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten of the Father, He hath declared Him” (John 1:14-18). “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Jesus Christ in His person and work as Son of God and Mediator, is the truth of how God can be just and justify the ungodly in the most resplendent revelation of His truth and grace, of His justice and righteousness! The glory of God is seen in the truth of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:3; John 12:27-33; 17:1-5)! To know God, we must know Him in Jesus Christ. And how do we know the Lord Jesus Christ? It is only through the Gospel of His grace. The Gospel tells of His person as Son of God: of the eternal, uncreated Creator and absolute sovereign Lord God of heaven and earth. The Gospel reveals His office and nature as Son of Man: the One Mediator between God and men: the cheerful humility of His descent from heaven to save His people from their sins, and of His voluntary humiliation in His sufferings, and the glory of His person as both Son of God and Son of Man in His exaltation to heaven's throne because as the Lamb of God, He redeemed us from our sins by His own blood (Heb. 1:3; Jer. 17:12; Rev. 1:5; 5:9). Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the exact image of His Father, is made known in the Gospel (2 Cor. 4:6). And how do we know the One Mediator between God and men (1 Tim. 2:5; 3:16)? It is only through the sovereign work of the Spirit of God, by the revelation of Christ's person and His saving work in the Gospel of His grace to sinners (John 3:3-15)! The LORD JESUS sent Paul to make Himself known to His people by His Gospel! And the declaration of the Gospel of Christ, is the declaration of our great God and Savior, the revelation of His person in His perfections by His saving work for sinners to the glory of God!
Thus we see Jesus in Acts 9:15, sitting as Lord and Mediator on His exalted throne, telling Ananias that He chose Paul to bear His name, that is, to preach His Gospel to Gentiles, to kings and to the children of Israel:— to make known His glories to His Church, God’s elect from among Jews and Gentiles, kings and beggars, wherever they be found in all the world (John 10:16).
“Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:13-15).
"They that know Thy name shall put their trust in Thee" (Psalm 9:10).
Rick Warta
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