The Name Game

I. The ability to name a thing gives power to establish a thing.
Genesis 2:18-25 “And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”
A. Light was never created until God gave it a name and spoke His word with creative authority.
B. God gave Adam the right to name all the animals and this naming gave him dominion over them.
C. Adam was even given the responsibility to name a helpmeet for himself. He also had to discover his need to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to walk in this authority.
D. Adam could not find a suitable companion until God became involved in the process.
1. Notice that the project actually begins with God declaring that Adam needed a helper.
2. Adam had to discover the true identity of all the animals before he recognized that what God had declared was not to be found at this point in the story.
3. God put him to sleep, took of Adam’s substance, created woman, woke Adam up, and then allowed him to name Eve as his help-meet. (“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.)

II. Authority over what is holding us back comes as we call it by its true name.
A. Jacob could never walk in the reality of whom he really was until he named what was holding him back.
Genesis 32:26-28 “And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 27And he said unto him, what is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.”
B. God named Jacob as the head over his brother Esau while in his mother’s womb.
C. The wrestling match simply brought Jacob to a place of acknowledging what he had become in order for him to be released to be what he really was. A prince with God.
D. We will never experience transformation until we are willing to name (or identify) what is controlling our destiny.
1. Does bitterness control you? Or fear, or possessiveness, or poverty, or pain, or sickness, or anxiety, or the words that have been spoken over your life.
2. Are you controlled by a bad attitude or character flaw that holds you back from your full potential?
3. All that “stuff” you struggle with is only allowed that you might rise up, name it, take authority over it and be transformed.
Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

III. There is a name that has authority over every other name in heaven or earth.
Philippians 2:8-11 “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
A. That name belongs to the Christ who lives inside of us.
B. As we use the authority God has given to us, we name the enemy we face, and bring him under the authority of the name of Jesus, “Christ in me, my hope of glory”.
C. Since we have authority over what we name, that thing must submit to the name of Jesus because we are submitted to that name.
D. Nothing is greater than that which has authority over it.

IV. The name game has been won by the greatest name on earth.
Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
A. It’s now time to identify the enemy by naming him. (or it)
B. As you name the enemy, bring him under the authority of Christ.
C. Christ is in you. He is your hope of glory.
Colossians 1:27 “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
D. Carry this authority with you, wherever you go. Be like Peter and John at the Gate Beautiful. (Acts 3)