“‘As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,’ declares the Lord, ‘so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,’ says the Lord.” — Isaiah 66:22–23 (NIV)

“So will your name… endure.” The Lord said through the prophet Isaiah, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). Have you ever been taken aback that the God of the universe knows your name? No other religion describes its god to be so intimate and personal. From the cross Jesus told John that His mother would now be John’s mother and that he (John) would now be her son. It was Jesus who, after the resurrection, called Mary by name and told her to let the disciples and Peter know that He had risen from the dead. Jesus knew Nathaniel’s character and Saul’s (Paul’s) intent. My point is that we have a very personal and intimate God. He knows our very being and He knows our name.

He calls us by that name and makes us His child. He writes our name in the Book of Life and assures us a place in eternity with Him. Our God is not just a transcendent being who stays distant from His creation. He is intimately connected to us, so much so that He knows our name and calls us by it. An earthly way of describing it is that He knows us on a first-name basis. Well, only my family and dearest friends know me like that. What an amazing testimony of the kind of relationship we have with our God.

As we finish our devotions of the book of Isaiah, I pray that you have seen in these 66 chapters God’s heart for His people, that you have come to terms with a God who punishes sin but loves the sinner. I pray that you have met the God who would rather die for you than live without you. He loves you! He knows you by name.

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church