How weird would it be to compare Clark Kent and Jesus Christ?
In our quest to better know God so that we can better know ourselves, exploring this comparison might actually be helpful. I mean, other than the fact that Clark is a fictional character and not the Son of God, these two ‘men’ have some things in common.
Namely, their hidden identities.
Superman crashed onto planet earth, a foreigner – an alien – in need of a home. And an identity. In the Kents, he found both. We best know Clark as the bumbling, glasses-wearing news reporter at the Daily Planet. No one would look at this unassuming guy and think him the strongest man on earth. And that’s just the way he wanted it.
Messiah may have been birthed like every other human, but this Man-God had a mission. And it started with Him needing a home – and an identity. In the family of Joseph, He found both. In such fashion came Immanuel, wrapped in flesh, neither striking nor handsome, harkening from the backwater town of Nazareth. No one would look at Him and think He could possibly be the promised Savior. And that was the point (ie: faith is not by sight).
While both men lived behind facades in order to accomplish the good they were sent to earth to do, we can get lost in our hidden identities. We can lose sight of who we really are. So we need help peeling back all those layers, and we’ll look to Jesus for that assistance – by getting to know Him.
One way we’ll look beyond the face of the simple carpenter from Nazareth is by considering His name – well, names – because they’re clues into His actual being. It’s in His name that we’ll better know ourselves – and access the power He has given us.
God’s Name
Names give us clues into who a person is. In keeping with the theme of fictional people, monikers can be given to each character so that audiences know something about their true natures. In Star Wars, for instance, names like Darth Vader (implying, invader), Darth Sidious (he’s insidious), and Darth Maul (who mauls his opponents) help us know immediately that these men are villains.
Scripture also highly relies on symbolic names to enhance meaning and purpose. In the opening words of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” the Hebrew name for God, Elohim, introduces us to the Creator, the Supreme and Mighty One (Genesis 1:1). And, it’s actually a name given in the plural form so that original readers would have recognized from the beginning that Elohim is a Three-In-One God.
In the very next chapter, we read that “the Lord God made the earth and the heavens” (2:4) – and another name of God is revealed, Yahweh, meaning “to exist or to be.”1 We recognize this name from Moses’ encounter with “I AM” at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14), and this name for God helps us understand that He is not a created being – He just is. It’s also a name so holy among reverent Jews that they dare not even utter or write it, fearing that doing so would cause the universe to explode.2 One translation of Yahweh is Jehovah; a better one is LORD.2
“I am the LORD; that is my name!”
Isaiah 42:8
There’s one name in particular that expresses the absolute power of God, El Shaddai. Translating this name from Hebrew elicits descriptions of God as One who is Almighty, as One who is enough, and as One who is strong like a mountain.1 The first time God reveals Himself as El Shaddai it is to faithful but tired Abram:
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty.’”
Genesis 17:1
Consider the context of the ensuing conversation and holy revelation. Abram has walked in trust and obedience with God for decades and yet there remains no promised son with Sarai. The entire covenant God made with Abram depended upon heirs – and lots of them. So upon meeting Abram in his weariness, God assures him of His power, His enoughness. He convinces Abram that He has the power to do the impossible.1
Friends, when God introduces Himself with a name like El Shaddai, we are meant to take note – because behind the name is a truth about God. His name is Holy because He is holy. His name means One who creates because He is Creator. His name promises All-Power because He is actually All-Mighty, the One who is All-Sufficient, strong enough to meet our every need and to do far more than we could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
Found In His Name
In many of my ‘hidden’ Spotify playlists of 2024, a Bristol House song has made the cut – because its lyrics are packed full of truths that we’ve been digging into all year. “Hidden” is a song that calls out the truth of who we are in God, beloved creation. It beckons God to hide us in the rock behind His glory, beyond all shame. It makes the plea:
O Lord let me be lost inside Your greatness
To be found within Your name
El Shaddai exudes not only God’s power but the security and safety He affords those who believe in His name.3 In the dialogue between God and Abram, God shows Himself to be Abram’s enough and his place of security. So, as we observe Abram’s responses to God, we get a glimpse of what it looks like to be found in God’s name. That’s why this conversation is considered to be a cornerstone of our faith because it is a demonstration of God’s faithfulness.3 He never gives up on Abram.
“Not because Abram was perfect or even faithful, but because the promise never hinged on Abram’s ability but rather God’s sovereignty and the all-encompassing power of a good God, El Shaddai.”3
Abram receives God’s promises and trusts in His sufficiency even though what God says will happen seems impossible. Abram chooses to slip himself into the safety of God’s strong arms – a place that affords much hope for a future that appears promise-less.
He will cover you with his feathers.
Psalm 91:4 NLT
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
We can be confident in this exchange between LORD and faithful follower because in the very next verses, God demonstrates the power of the covenant with a change – of Abram’s name (Genesis 17:3-5). Abram, the ‘exalted father’, becomes Abraham, ‘the father of many’. His very name contains the power of the promise.
We too are given the promise of El Shaddai. He is our All-Sufficient God and our Shelter from all that threatens to overtake us – because His is a name of power.
Power In His Name
Probably the thing about Abraham that captures my heart the most is his willingness to admit his need of God – especially in the waiting for God’s promise to come to pass. Twenty-five years, people. Abraham waited twenty-five years from the time God covenanted that Abraham would have a son till the time Isaac was born (Genesis 21:2). And even though he didn’t always get it right, ultimately, Abraham surrendered all of it to God. He persisted in faith and trusted that the Almighty would do what He said.
Abraham’s story is not the only one in Scripture with such components. Take, for instance, the narrative of the Syrophoenician woman in Mark (7:24-30). This Gentile woman has faith enough to approach a Jewish rabbi – and beg for Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Even as Jesus pushes back a bit, challenging her faith, she proves to be quick-witted and unwavering. “Her belief in [Jesus’] power gave her the courage to persist in a way that should inspire us all.”3
This foreign mother shows us what it looks like to have faith that “if God is real, we can see His power” – and to believe “in His name regardless of how those around” us respond.3
Both Abraham and the Syrophonoecian woman demonstrate faith in the face of impossibility. They persevere and persist. They demonstrate that “faith in its rawest form is humble dependence” – because we cannot save, or even truly provide for, ourselves.3
God may not make His audible voice known to us the way He did for Abraham. And we may not have Jesus sitting in front of us at the dinner table. But what we do have is the One who has gone before us and made a way so that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. When Jesus died, the veil was torn completely in half, and in His name, we can step through the threshold and into the Holy of Holies, into God’s presence where we can talk to Him all we want.
This is prayer.
Our Father, who has loved us enough to give us His name by way of adoption into His family, invites us to join Him in the work He is already doing. El Shaddai extends to us the shelter of His presence and the absolute power needed to defeat foes by the name of Jesus. When we pray in the name of the Almighty One, all our words and hopes and needs ascend to the heavens with great effect – because no one who prays in the name of Jesus is powerless.4 His name holds all the power we need to keep moving forward in faith, to wait on God to fulfill His word, and to persist in our asking until we see God do His mighty work.*
And somehow, in God’s economy, we can make our way through this world full of confidence in the power of His name while also living completely dependent upon it. Just as His name suggests, He is mighty and He is our safety. This is our God. May we be found within His name!
Father God, You are El Shaddai! You contain all the power needed to overcome every enemy and to fuel our faith. Like Abraham, we hear what You’re saying through your Word, and we receive it. We agree with it. And we wait with faith for all that You have promised us. We step into the safety of the shadow of your wings while also believing that You can do the impossible! Lord Jesus, we desire to be bold in our faith the way that the foreign mother was all those years ago. We want to come into your presence confident of your power; we want to believe in your holy name to do a healing work in our lives. Thank You for making yourself known to us in such a way that we can find all the strength we need to keep moving forward by faith. Holy Spirit, how amazing it is that You dwell in us! What an honor it is to pray in Jesus’ name and be granted access to the Almighty. We ask that You would be our teacher each time we enter into prayer, giving us words and belief that everything we say enters God’s presence and has great effect. We also ask that You help us learn what it looks like, practically speaking, to be found in Jesus’ name. And it is in His most holy name that we pray with great power, amen.
(inspired by Genesis 17:1; Psalm 91:1,4; Matthew 19:26; Mark 7:24-30; Philippians 4:13; John 14:13-14; James 5:16)
*We could, and probably should, do an entire series solely on the “the name of Jesus.” For now, I highly recommend opening our Bible to Acts and reading with eyes that hunt for Jesus, His names, and all the references to “in Jesus’ name.” Chapters 2 and 3 are particularly packed with such references. I’ve been pouring over these two chapters this week, and I’m waking up to the absolute power extended to us, to YOU AND ME, when we speak and respond in the name of Jesus. My friends at The Devoted Collective would remind us in their new book on Acts that “when we call upon and act in the power of Jesus’ name, we are calling upon the fullness of who He is.” 5
Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.
- 1 – Mary A. Kassian’s Bible study, Knowing God by Name, pp.13, 73-74
- 2 – Madeleine L’engle’s book, Walking on Water – P.126
- 3 – Paige Allen, He Knows Your Name, P.121, 139, 143, 144
- 4 – Beth Moore, Align: 31 Days of Prayer, p.8, 56
- 5 — The Devoted Collective has just released our newest book and guide, Reading Through Acts. Our members will be officially beginning Acts September 30th. But the book can be purchased by ANYONE via Amazon (in the US).^ If you’re in New Zealand, check out the Devoted website. I’ve already worked through Week One, and it’s hitting me exactly where I need to be hit — not to mention it completely aligns with what I’m writing about (only God!). The format has us read for ourselves portions from Acts five days a week for eight weeks. Then we reflect on a teaching devotion that takes us deeper into the message of that passage. And, finally, we respond with how the Holy Spirit has been moving and leading us. It’s so good. Let me know if you buy the book — we can chat our way through it!!
- Our Hidden Identities playlist has plenty of songs that attest to the power in the name of Jesus! The ‘old’ Lincoln Brewster song, “There Is Power,” for instance. And sooo many speak generally of all that will happen in the name of Jesus. Because of these kinds of songs, I expect this will be a playlist I’ll listen to long after this series is over. I didn’t actually include Bristol House’s song, “Hidden,” on this playlist, ironically. But, if you want to hear it, I’ll link it here. I cannot recommend it enough.
- September is flying by! Which means another issue of our newsletter, The Abiding Life, will be released in just a few weeks. Be sure to subscribe here if you’d like to receive future issues.
Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike.
- As we lean into the process of learning more about ourselves — our true identities in Christ — we are going to step into the spiritual practice of REST. Sometimes the rest we need is physical. Other times it is spiritual. And there is truly no better way to rest spiritually than in the presence — and by the name — of Jesus. I’ve found in recent weeks that with all that I carry (worries, burdens, to do lists) that I can rest my body but still feel so tired. So, in a rather counter intuitive way, I’ve been dragging my exhausted self up on my feet to pray with greater fervor than usual. And I’ve found that using someone else’s prayers is a most helpful way to enter God’s presence and pray with the power that Jesus’ name affords.
- This week let’s use “borrowed” prayers as a means for battling our spiritual tiredness — to defend ourselves from the enemy’s attempts to drag us down with apathy and lethargy. Here’s one I’ve recommended before, “The Believer’s Warfare Prayer,” but it’s one I’ve been praying a lot lately. It’s even become a springboard for my own prayers — especially when I think I’m too tired to be of much use. But, friends, when we pray in Jesus’ name, we discover a power that’s beyond us. And it ushers right into the throne room. It also infuses us with strength. XOXO
- And while it’s not a spiritual practice or rhythm, I invite you to share this site. This is such an important topic that I want as many people as possible to join us here. Together we’ll find support and encouragement and the simple truth that we are not alone in our struggles.
Featured Image, “Lightbulb Jesus,” by @gettyimages on Canva.
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