You Have Authority to Name Things

In Christ, we are re-qualified for the Kingdom. One of our new capacities is that we can now “name” things in alignment with a higher identity and design.

With Jesus, we are re-qualified for a partnership with the Creator. It’s a friendship-based partnership between heaven and earth.

“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

You see, we not only have forgiveness of sins, we have been redeemed (purchased) and transferred or translated into Christ’s world … the Kingdom of the Son! He is loved by the Father, and so are we!

Actually, we are reconnected with that Creator-human enterprise which was lost when humanity fell.

The capacity to cultivate

If we go back to Genesis—the book of beginnings—we understand that we are designed to cultivate the creation.

“Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15).

We are assigned to draw out the latent potential of all things throughout creation!

God then brought the animals before Adam to see what he would call them. There are a couple of things going on here …

First, God is allowing Adam to see if there would be a corresponding partner to help him. It was not good for him to be alone.

Marriage is the highest form of human Kingdom partnership. And this is what Adam needed.

extend the dominion

Adam and Eve were to cultivate the Garden of Eden, and through their descendants to extend the dominion of the garden across the earth!

But the principle also says that we need to relate to other members of the Body of Christ to truly reach our potential … to truly exercise dominion. See 1 Corinthians 12 for more on this.

But of course there was not found a suitable partner for Adam from the animal kingdom. The Creator would take a rib from Adam’s side and fashion a woman.

“Naming”

Genesis 2 also shows us that Adam is given the power to NAME.

“Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name” (Genesis 2:19).

Naming expresses authority. Matthew Henry wrote, “It is an act of authority to impose names, and of subjection to receive them.”

Adam perceived the design and nature of the animals and birds. God created. Adam added perceptiondefinition and activation.

“Whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.” Adam named according to THE DESIGN. And God recognized it. He endorsed it with His seal.

Do you see the partnership here?

It’s about more than the animals and birds. It’s a core principle. It’s about our capacity in Christ to see into everything God has created and to NAME IT in harmony with the HIGHER DESIGN.

Of course, all of this works out in powerful, practical ways in our lives and in the work we do!

Language is an expression of the inner state

Franz Delitzsch and Johann Friedrich Karl Keil  were gold-standard German scholars in the 19th century.

They collaborated on an Old Testament commentary which was published in 1861 and is still in print today.

They wrote that Adam had “deep and direct mental insight into the nature of the animals.” 

name it

It’s about our capacity in Christ to see into everything God has created and to NAME IT in harmony with the HIGHER DESIGN.

NAMING proves lordship over something. Not the ultimate Lord … but a vice-lord exercising dominion under the sovereignty of the Creator.

To name something in the creation means that you are acquainted with it at some level. You have a relationship to something in the created order.

The Creator is waiting for us to see into the design of things, name it as such, and draw out the latent potential.

This is cultivation and keeping (protecting) what God has created. It’s a partnership between the CREATOR and YOU!

Rename things according to the HIGHER DESIGN

If we don’t NAME things accurately, by default it will be named with a False Design, a False Narrative.

If something in your world is off the mark, seek to dial in to the Creator and RE-NAME it according to his design.

Elegant design is beautiful and fruitful. It’s attractive.

Naming release identity. Purpose. Life.

Reflect and pray about it … what parts of creation do you feel the Creator is asking you to NAME?

Is it something in the education space? Arts and entertainment? Technology? Entrepreneurialism? Public policy?

Deeply script your inner person with the reality that in Christ you are re-qualified for a significant partnership with the Creator of all things!

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