Why the names of God matter for your spiritual growth

Names in the Bible are far more than labels—they reveal character, nature, reputation, and identity.

In this episode, Nathan Johnson explores why the names of God are vital for knowing Him personally and growing spiritually.

When you truly understand God’s names, you gain greater clarity of His character, deeper intimacy in relationship with Him, increased awe and worship of Him, and you’ll find that knowing His names practically transforms how you live daily for His glory.

If you want to deepen your walk with Christ and experience the richness of Scripture in a fresh way, studying the names of God will revolutionize your spiritual life and ignite authentic worship from a heart that truly beholds His majesty.

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What’s in a Name?

William Shakespeare, in his dramatic and tragic Romeo and Juliet, has Juliet famously ask the question: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

In essence, Shakespeare is saying that a name is merely a label or a modern convention. It doesn’t actually define the essence of a person or a thing. He uses the idea of a rose—that a rose would smell just as sweet no matter what it was called.

While the line is quite romantic and poetic, it’s actually not true when we come to Scripture.

The Biblical Significance of Names

Names in the Bible meant something and were symbolic of identity, character, reputation, and nature.

A name is also relational. In other words, when we get to know each other, one of the things we do is we share our name—we entrust our name with the other person.

In fact, haven’t you noticed that a name is everyone’s all-time favorite word? So much so that if you mispronounce someone’s name, they get rather frustrated.

Here’s what one Old Testament scholar said about names:

“In the world of the Hebrew Scriptures a personal name was often thought to indicate something essential about the bearer’s identity, origin, birth circumstances, or the divine purpose that the bearer was intended to fulfill.” ⁽¹⁾

Or as one author said, names were your autobiography in one word.⁽²⁾ Isn’t it interesting that you could actually summarize an entire life by someone’s name?

When God Changes a Name

When a name represented identity, character, reputation, and nature, it became significant when a name was changed. For example, in Scripture:

• Abram (exalted father) » Abraham (father of a multitude)
• Sarai (“my princess,” personal and private, not to be shared by all) » Sarah (“the princess”) 
• Jacob (heal-grabber, liar, deceiver, manipulator) » Israel (Prince of Israel/one who prevails)

When a name is changed, it’s not just a name. God was changing identity. Jacob’s identity was lying, deceiving, manipulating (he was a heal-grabber), but after Jacob wrestles with God, his nature and identity change (see Genesis 32:22–32).

That is super profound.

Bearing the Name of Christ

Think about a wedding. You go to this wedding ceremony and after the exchange of vows, the officiant says, “I would like to now introduce Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so.” Isn’t it beautiful that the bride takes on the name of her groom? She is taking on more than just the groom’s last name, she is taking on his reputation, character, and life.

In a similar sense, when we call ourselves Christians, we’re not just calling ourselves a name … we’re actually talking about identity. We’re taking on the character, nature, life, and reputation of Jesus Christ—we are the ones who bear God’s name.

We are CHRISTians.

As the bride of Christ, we have the honor of bearing His reputation, His suffering, and His very life. Paul asked, “Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary [temple] of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

The Many Names of God

In Psalm 8, we are told in the bookends of the chapter, “How majestic is your name?” Or as Psalm 111:9 tells us, “Holy and awesome is his name.”

Throughout Scripture, God has hundreds of names and titles.

And you have to ask the question: Why?

Why is it that God, in His brilliant revelation and sovereignty, has chosen to give us so many of His names?

A Diamond with Many Facets

I think the profundity is that not one single name is sufficient to declare the wonder, reality, majesty, and awe of who our God is.

Think of a diamond. If you had a massive diamond and started to turn it, you would begin to see the different aspects and facets of its beauty. Similarly, our God is so grand, our God is so glorious, our God is so immense and beautiful and amazing and worthy that one single name is actually insufficient. In other words, God is so grand and glorious that we need hundreds of names to illuminate the majesty and matchlessness of who He is.

The Name Above All Names

And then that same God, Yahweh, Jehovah God, comes in the flesh. His name is Jesus.

Isn’t it a beautiful meditation that we’re told in the New Testament that Jesus has a name above every other name (Philippians 2:9–10)? And that is true, in an earthly sense (He’s the greatest of all), but it also holds true that out of all the hundreds of names of God, the name Jesus is the greatest name revealed to us in Scripture of who our God is.

He is the name above all other names.

God’s Unchanging Nature Revealed Through His Names

Our God doesn’t change—He is constant, He doesn’t lie, He doesn’t change. He is who He is. He is always the same. ⁽³⁾ The fancy theological term is called “immutability.”

And this holds true about His names. God does not change; therefore, His names (which are symbolic of His character, nature, and life) do not change. And this is great news, because it means we can trust Him. Who He was yesterday is who He is today and who He will be tomorrow—and the same names that showcase His nature and life still hold true today. He, and His names, do not change.

A Name for Every Situation

Not only do the names of God not change, but God has a name for every single situation we will ever face. There’s something really profound that God meets us exactly where we are and says, “This is who I am. My name—my character, my nature—is sufficient for where you are in this very moment.”

And perhaps more profoundly, every name finds its fulfillment in Jesus. This means that every name mentioned in the Old Testament, will ultimately point to and find fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Jesus declared in John 17:25-26:

“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Jesus has taken the “name” of Yahweh God and made it known (ginōskō) to us. I experience the reality of God’s name(s) through Jesus.

For example, are you going through a situation where you need peace? We are told God is Jehovah Shalom (God is our peace). And then in Ephesians 2:14, Paul says, “Jesus himself is our peace.” Jesus becomes the fulfillment of what you need in your situation—He becomes the peace you need. He has made that name known to you.

Or in Psalm 23 we discover that Yahweh is our shepherd (Jehovah Raah), and later in John 10, Jesus clarifies and says, “I am that good shepherd.” The way I experience Psalm 23 practically in my life is by allowing Jesus to actively shepherd my life.

Whatever you are going through right now, Jesus wants to meet your need. He not only fulfills every name in the Old Testament, but is the revelation and practical reality of that name to you in whatever the life situation you are in.

The Benefits of Knowing God’s Names

When you know (ginōskō) God’s name(s)—knowing something beyond the information (facts and data) of it and knowing it experientially—here are some powerful benefits you experience:

1. Greater Confidence and Trust – we gain greater confidence and trust in Him and His Word as we see His faithfulness and character demonstrated throughout Scripture and history.
2. Greater Intimacy and Relationship – names are personal, when we meet someone and give them our name, it’s an invitation into a greater relationship with them. Similarly, when God gives us His names, it is an opportunity for us to grow deeper in our intimacy, understanding, and relationship with Him.
3. Greater Awe and Worship – when you know God’s names, there’s a greater awe of Him, which invokes a life of worship. Behold His life and character, and you’ll stand in awe and magnify our majestic, matchless, and magnificent God.
4. Practical Life Change – when we know His names, it should practically change how we live our lives. As Colossians 3:17 reminds us: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” In other words, everything in my life should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It should be for His glory, His renown, His reputation—that somehow I fade into the background. I become unseen so that the majesty and the glory and the renown of our God can be more clearly seen in and through my life.

The Majesty of God’s Name

This is really what David was saying in Psalm 8.

Listen again to what David says in Psalm 8:1, “O Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth …” David extols God, declaring that the name of Yahweh (His character, reputation, nature, life, and glory) is great, majestic, and wonderful.

David goes on to say in verses 3-4:

When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have established; what is man that You remember him, and the son of man that You care for him? (Psalm 8:3–4).

In light of God’s majestic name, David’s name is forgotten. When David caught a glimpse of the majesty of the name of our God, he began to recognize, “What is humanity compared to our God? Who am I? I am so insignificant. In fact, why are you even mindful of me, O God?”

And then David bookends the Psalm by saying again, “O Yahweh, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:9).

There’s a beautiful contrast: the greater God becomes in your life, the less and less and less we should become. We should continually decrease as He continually increases and becomes more magnified.

Is that true in you? Have you seen the wonder and the majesty of who our God is?

An Invitation to Study God’s Names

I encourage you to get to know His names. One of the richest studies I have done in my life is to know God through His names and then see how every single name ultimately points unto Jesus Christ (check out my series Behold Our God for more on this).

If you want to grow in your spiritual life … if you desire to know God more deeply, richly, and intimately … get to know our God through His names.

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FOOTNOTES

(1) Michael Knowles, The Unfolding Mystery of the Divine Name: The God of Sinai in Our Midst (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012), 27.
(2) John Mark Comer, God Has a Name (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017), chapter 1.
(3) See Hebrews 13:8; Numbers 23:19; Psalm 102:27; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17

Photo Credit: Bas van den Eijkhof

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