“The names and titles of our Lord Jesus Christ were chosen by God;
They are full of meaning, rich in lessons for our instruction. The prophets, apostles, evangelists, who recorded them in the Scriptures did so under the direction of the Holy Spirit, 1 Pet. 1: 10-12; 2 Pet. 1: 21.
He who chose and commanded the names, Ishmael, Gen. xvi. 11, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, xvii. 5, 15, 19, and Israel, xxxii. 27, 28, appointed the name Jesus, Luke 1: 31. All the other names and titles given to Messiah in the Old Testament and in the New Testament have likewise the authority of God, therefore we are to receive the same with reverence, not presuming to set aside or to alter what God has been pleased to make known as His appointment, and we ought to study their meanings that we may the better know Him of whom they tell so much for our learning and profit, John xvii. 3; 2 Pet. iii. 18.
It is clear that no devout man would dare to give such names and titles without the direction of God, that they are so great, so much too great for any sinful mortal, that nothing less than the will and word of God could give them authority; they are, in fact, what God the Father (Who alone knows His Son Jesus Christ) thinks of the Messiah and desires us to think of Him, Matt. xi. 27 ; xxii. 42.
Consider these names and titles, how many and how various they are:
- Jesus
- Christ
- The Messiah
- Immanuel
- Seed of the woman
- Seed of Abraham
- Son of Abraham
- Shiloh
- Son of David
- Nazarene
- The Branch
- Rock
- Stone
- High Priest, ii
- Lamb of God, ii iii
- Our Passover Lamb
- Propitation, ii
- Advocate, ii
- Beloved Son
- Apostle
- The Good Shepherd
- Bishop
- Shepherd
- Forerunner
- Surety
- Mediator
- Last Adam
- Second Man
- Bridegroom
- Our Righteousness
- Saviour
- Our Hope
- Commander/Leader
- Captain of Salvation
- Author and Finisher of Faith
- Prince of Life
- Firstborn
- Beginning and the End
- The Alpha and the Omega
- Heir of All Things
- Brightness of God’s Glory
- Express image of God’s Person
- Wisdom of God, Power of God
- The Word
- Wonderful Counselor
- Mighty God
- Everlasting Father
- Light of the World
- Prince of Peace
- Amen ¹
It is indeed marvellous that all these (and many more which are to lie gathered from Holy Writ), although widely different in meanings, suit one person. The more they are, and the more various they are, so unlike as to seem contrary one to another, the more evident it is that neither art nor chance could make them all agree in pointing to one person, i.e., to Jesus Christ and only to Him: they are like the many rays of light all meeting, but only in the one sun from which they all shine forth.
As only One, that is God, could give such names and titles, so only One, and He one with God, can take them as intended for Himself, fit and proper for Him, His own by divine right. No man, no angel could give to himself or take from a fellow creature such names and titles, much less could any other than Jesus Christ act up to them; they are like a king’s robes, crown, sceptre, orb, and jewels, which no subject, however high his rank, may presume to put on, to bear, or to make the like of for himself.
Or, to employ an illustration from Scripture, we may compare these names and titles of the Lord Jesus Christ to the principal spices and ‘sweet spices’ of which the ” holy ointment compound” and the ‘perfume’, a confection tempered together pure and holy, were made, and of which God said, “Upon man’s flesh it shall not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger shall even be cut off from his people, and Ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord” Exod. xxx. 22-38.—Lessons On The Names And Titles Of Our Lord; By Flavel S. Cook; MA., DD., 1888.
