A New Name

Dale Carnegie once said, “a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” That is an exaggeration, but it makes the point—our name is really important to us. It is our primary personal symbol, carrying our identity and our family heritage.

But what if we have another name we haven’t received yet?

Jesus said to the church in Pergamum:

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. (Rev 2:17)

Imagine the Lord giving you a white stone with a new name written on it. What’s the significance of this new name? A new name from the Lord indicates that only he knows who we really are. Only he can define us. And this gets even more personal because John writes that the new name is “known only to the one who receives it.” Imagine only you and the Lord knowing this name. I can’t think of better support for the concept of a “personal relationship with the Lord” than Revelation 2:17. George MacDonald (1824–1905) writes:

The name is one “which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” Not only then has each man his individual relation to God, but each man has his peculiar relation to God. He is to God a peculiar being, made after his own fashion, and that of no one else. Hence he can worship God as no man else can worship Him.

For each, God has a different response. With every man He has a secret—the secret of a new name.

Our new name means the Lord sees us as individuals and gives us his personal attention. And since our uniqueness comes from him, we don’t have to strive to stand out in the crowd. MacDonald adds,

Here there is no room for ambition. Ambition is the desire to be above one’s neighbor; and here there is no possibility of comparison with one’s neighbor: no one knows what the white stone contains except the man who receives it. (George MacDonald: 365 Readings, 8-10)

He knows exactly who we are as his individual sheep. And “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (Jn 10:3). The name he gives us will be far sweeter and more important than any name we have ever been called.

Les Bridgeman

I have served as a high school Bible teacher and counselor in Asia and the U.S. I am passionate about understanding and teaching the Bible. Here’s a link to my book page.