In the Name of Jesus

ZChurch message for August 6, 2022 (see full service at https://youtu.be/ym2nYxgiqLI)

Most Christians are accustomed to ending their prayers “in Jesus’ name, Amen.” Many have even been told that we are to cast out devils and heal the sick “in Jesus’ name.” But what does it really mean to do these things in Jesus’ name? Is the name “Jesus” the Christian equivalent of a magic word? Is it like saying, “abracadabra, devil go away… in Jesus’ name?” Do we automatically get what we ask for in prayer simply by uttering the sound of Jesus’ name?

It may surprise you to know that there is no power in the mere letters, syllables, and sound of the name “Jesus.” Nevertheless, all authority both in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus and made available to the new covenant church through Him.

Learn where the real power of the name of Jesus lies and how to access it in this message by ZChurch elder, Robert Peck.

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In the Name of Jesus

Most Christians are accustom to ending their prayers with “in Jesus name, amen.” Many have even been told that we are to cast out devils and heal the sick “in Jesus name.” We get this from passages like:

John 16:23  “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.

John 16:24  Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Mark 16:17  And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

Mark 16:18  they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

I used to struggle with the idea of using Jesus’ name to do what I can’t do, but he can do, but he’s not here to do it, but I am here, but I’m not Jesus, so… “how does this thing work again?”

Carnal mindedness subconsciously treats use of the name of Jesus like a magic word that the devil has to obey, like  “abracadabra, devil go away… in Jesus name.” We attach it to prayer like the password for our club that gets us in the door.

One day I asked God to help me understand the concept of using the name of Jesus. His answer was to ask me what a name is. The Holy Spirit prompted me with the answer that our name is our identity. However, a name isn’t just something to be identified by, like an ID number. A name signifies and carries in it the full identity of who a person is, their reputation, their position, their stature, their standing, what they have, what they are, and what they can do.

A person’s name doesn’t make them what they are, but everything they are makes their name.

The syllables and sound of Jesus name isn’t what’s important. What’s important is the identity of who Jesus is.

Jesus’ Identity

There is no power in the mere letters, syllables, and sound of the name “Jesus.”

Yeshua is the Hebrew name, and its English spelling is “Joshua.” Iesous is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name, and its English spelling is “Jesus.” (from: https://www.gotquestions.org/Yeshua-Jesus.html)

The power is not in the name, its spelling, or its pronunciation. The power is in the identity of who Jesus is, what he is, what he has, and what he can do.

Jesus identity is:

• God with us (Mathew 1:23)
• The beloved son (Mathew 3:17)
• The anointed one, the son of the living God (Mathew 16:16)
• The chief corner stone (Mathew 21:42)
• The bread of life (John 6:35)
• The light of the world (John 8:12)
• The resurrection and the life (John 11:25)
• The one seated far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. (Ephesians 1:17-21)
• Head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:10)
• Lord and savior (2 Peter 1:11)
• Faithful and true (Revelation 19:11)
• King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16)
• The Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. Revelation 22:13)
• Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)

These are just a few of the scripture passages that identify who and what Jesus is.

Two Identities to Choose From

The identity of who Jesus is and what he can do is still of little consequence to us if he’s over there, we’re over here, and we’re trying to get his name to go somewhere else to do something we can’t do, but he can do, but he isn’t here to do it… and we’re left confused as to how this whole thing works..

The trouble is that most of Christendom is still seeing themselves as descendants of Adam and finding their identity in him. But the reality of the Christian life is that we’ve changed identities. The reality of who and what we are is no longer found in Adam, but in Christ.

1Co 15:21  For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

There are two iterations, instances, or occurrences of the creation called man. One instance of man was instituted in Adam. A new iteration of man was instituted in Christ.

We are born into the iteration of man in Adam in whose identity all die. We are invited to exchange that identity for a new identity in the last iteration of man in Christ in whose identity all are made alive.

We cannot help but be a member of the creation called man, but we get to choose which iteration of man to have our identity in.

If we find our identity in Adam we die. If we find our identity in Christ we are made alive.

Changing Our Identity

So how do we change our identity from being in Adam to being in Christ? We do it through a reality called marriage.

In Ephesians 5:25-33 Paul compares natural marriage between a man and a woman to the spiritual union between Christ and the church because they are actually the same reality being played out on two different levels – flesh vs spirit.

Here’s how it works in the natural.

• A man invites a woman to become him together with him, in him.
• The woman hands over the title deed to her person to no longer own or possess herself as a separate member of God’s creation called man.
• The man and the woman agree to their Creator’s terms of marriage and call on Him to make them a single member of His creation called man (“So then, they are no longer two but one flesh” – Mathew 19:6).
• Therefore, Paul says, “he who loves his wife loves himself” (Ephesians 5:28). Their maker sees them as the same member of His creation called man.
• The woman forsakes her former identity and moves into her husband’s identity and begins relating to the world around her through him.
• The woman changes her name (maiden name) to her husband’s name (married name) to signify that her identity is no longer found through her birth family but through her husband who she has become together with him as part and parcel of him.
• The woman now walks into the bank and accesses all of her husband’s funds by signing his name. It’s not forgery because she has been brought into and granted equal share in his identity.

How real is this change of identity?

• Mathew 19:6  “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.” According to God, two bodies become the flesh one member, unit, or occurrence of the creation called man just as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost comprise one unit, or instance of divinity.
• Ephesians 5:28  “…he who loves his wife loves himself.” He doesn’t love her as much as himself but he loves her because she is himself.
• Ephesians 5:29  “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30  For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.”
• Acts 9:4  …”Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Not why are you persecuting my friends, or people who like me, but me personally.

The Difference Identity Makes

Luke 4:33  Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice,

Luke 4:34  saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

The demon wasn’t impressed by the name, but it was terrified of the identity of “the Holy One of God.”

Acts 19:13  Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.”

Acts 19:14  Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.

Acts 19:15  And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”

The evil spirit did not ask what their name was, it asked who they were, i.e. “what is your identity.”

Start Acting in Your New Identity

Review this message’s key scriptures changing “name” to “identity.”

John 16:23  “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My identity (as being me together with me and in the identity of all that I am, all that I have, and all that I can do) He will give you.

John 16:24  Until now you have asked nothing in My identity. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Mark 16:17  And these signs will follow those who believe: In My identity (of who I am, what I am, what I have, and what I can do) they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

Mark 16:18  they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Practice changing “name” to “identity” when reading the Bible to gain a new insight.

Practice ending prayers or making decrees with “in the identity of Jesus, acting as him, in him, for him, and by all that he is and all that he can do.”

Rehearse the identity of Jesus as listed above (and elsewhere in the word), then pray “in his identity” knowing that you are releasing into the earth and onto the situation at hand all that he is, all that he has, and all that he can do.

Pastor Larry prays saying:

“In the name, authority, character, integrity, honor, and position of Jesus, king of kings and lord of lords, whose I am and whom I serve.”

Power in the Church

The church – the bride of Christ – will enjoy power, dominion, authority, blessing, and all that is Christ’s in proportion to our recognizing what is entailed in his identity and in proportion to our finding our identity in him.

When the church awakens to the fact that we are no longer in Adam, forsakes and puts away that old identity, and instead stands up in the midst of the earth in the identity of the anointed son of the living God wielding his identity in him, by him, from him, for him, and as him all of hell will tremble and the earth rejoice for the manifestation of the sons of God.

The issue isn’t what name you’re pronouncing, but whose identity you’re invoking and whose identity you’re operating from within.