Focus: Our New Name

Text: Isa.62:12

"And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, SOUGHT OUT, A city not forsaken."

The believer's new name is Sought Out. The purpose of Christ's coming to the earth was to seek us out. Luke reports that "the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Lk.19:10). We were lost - all of us, all of humanity.

*Seeking everyone out

The word 'lost' in the Greek implies that which is damaged, ruined, marred, defiled, destroyed, perished, or that which is devoid of beauty and glory. Christ did not only seek to find us; He found us out. He sought us out and made us stand out. He didn't find us in the pit and left us there. He brought us out of the place of lostness.

*Sacrificing everything

Jesus Christ went all the way and paid all the price in finding us out. He found and fetched us out. David found Mephibosheth in Lodebar and sent his men to go there and fetch him out to the palace. David adopted him as one of his sons and made him dine and wine with him forever on the same table. Paul says of Onesiphorus, "But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me"(2Tim.1:17). 

Jesus Christ did the same for us. He sought us out very diligently, and found us. In one of his parables, Jesus Christ tells us, "Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?" (Lk.15:8). She searched most diligently until the piece was found. It was a good example of what Christ did for us. Jesus Christ went all the way for us.

*Salvaging the valuable

Jesus Christ did not make all the effort just to save a nobody. No, not at all! He sacrificed to save those who were made in the image of God. Man was the crown of creation and the jewel of all that God had made. But then, man fell. Man missed his way and got lost. The coming of Christ to the earth was to seek man out and to unmess his mess. We are of great value in the sight of God. We matter to God.

*Sought out for service

Samuel said to Saul, "But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath SOUGHT him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people…" (1Sam.13:14). David was sought out by God and made to serve as the captain or ruler of Israel. 

Not only will you be sought out, you will also be sought after. God seeks us out for a purpose, which is to be of service to Him.

We read concerning Paul, "And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch" (Act.11:26). Barnabas had work to do in Antioch, and on arrival, he sought Paul out and asked him to join the team. We are saved to serve the purpose of God. We are Christ's co-workers here on earth.

*Sought after

We are told of Solomon that "all the earth SOUGHT to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart" (1Kgs.10:24). The whole world was looking for Solomon. He was sought after for his wisdom. He had something everyone else was looking for. He possessed and manifested the wisdom of God. In 2Chronicles it is written that "all the kings of the earth SOUGHT the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart" (2Chron.9:23). Kings from the world over looked for Solomon for his wisdom. He was a man greatly sought after. He was a great asset among men.

God seeks you out for men to seek after you. God turns a junk into a jewel, a trash into a treasure, and ashes into beauty. God has sought us out.

Men discover through our new name what God has done for us:

He has made us holy

He has redeemed us

He has sought us out

He has built us into a city that cannot be forsaken.

Amen!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter