I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.
John 17:6 ESV
We must remember the two-fold purpose of Jesus. First, to reveal the true nature of the Father (John 14:9; Hebrews 1:3; 1 John 1:2), and then to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). These two realities are always working.
Jesus came to make known to the world the Father, both His name and His nature. When people ‘know’ me, Jeanne McGrew, and speak my name, they are declaring the essence of who I am, both personality and character. They understand what I believe and how I live. The more intimate the relationship, the more they would know about Jeanne McGrew as a whole.
When Jesus declared,
“I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:26…
We then understood that knowing the name of God enables us to abide in God's love. Not only do we find in John 17:3 that the entrance to eternal life is through the knowledge of God and His son Jesus Christ, but we also now learn that knowing His name enables His love.
Jesus’ union with the Father continually manifested His name and nature. Jesus told Philip, He who has seen me has seen the Father, John 14:9. Every word, every action, was a manifestation of the Father. Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. He only said what He heard the Father say. This union, driven by the love, was the impacting power of His ministry.
God is love, and God is good. God is kind. God is rich in mercy. God is faithful. God is a consuming fire. He is jealous. God is long-suffering. God is willing. God is able. Every aspect of the name and nature of God must be experienced and learned.
In our pursuit to see Jesus, we come to understand that it is as we behold Him that we are transformed into His image. It’s easy for us to tell where growth and knowledge are required. It’s the areas we don’t look like Him. By studying the word and seeing who the Father is and how Jesus portrayed Him, we learn how to be as He is in this world.
It is as we know the name, we are able to make it known.