Amen

Our first stop on this Alphabet of Names journey may surprise you.  Most of our prayers include the word.  Both the Old and New Testament employs the word--over 75 times in fact!  Jesus Himself chose the word as His own name.  It is a word with richness, which encompasses the fullness of our triune God.  Can you guess the first Name we will consider on this journey?

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

Revelation 3:14

AMEN!  Our typical use is to close our prayers with Amen.  “Let it be” is what we are actually saying.  When we use amen as agreement with God’s directives and will, ‘amen’ is a guarantee.  As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:20, all the promises of God in Him are ‘Yea and in Him, Amen!’  Jesus is the fulfillment of every revelation of God throughout scripture:  righteous, holy, loving and perfect.  He is the Amen, the ‘let it be’ that brought God to earth in human form!

Another emblematic use of amen in scripture is to signify the faithfulness and trustworthiness of God.  Again, Jesus exemplifies faithfulness and trustworthiness for us.  The unchanging faithfulness of God is a desperate need in the uncertainties of life.  Only He is worthy of trust—all else disappoints.  Jesus is rightly thought of as the ‘amen’ in this context as well.  Jesus never leaves us alone; the Amen is our faithful companion!

Finally, Jesus often used ‘amen’ in His own teachings to introduce new revelations of God’s truths.  Used as the name of Christ, Amen reminds us that He is the ultimate revelation of God’s identity.  In the Lord’s prayer (John 17), Jesus says He has finished the work the Father gave Him to do:  revealing the ‘name’ of God.  He used the authority God gave Him to reveal the Father that we might have life: “For this is eternal life that they may know you…”  The Amen is the revelation that brings abundant life!

When we consider Amen as a title, we see perfection to Christ’s name choice that delights.  Truly, Jesus, the Amen, ‘lets the perfection of God be seen’ by all. Weaving the variety of uses of ‘amen’ together creates a beautiful composite of our Lord.  May each of us take time this week to adore the Amen who reveals God and gives life!