Colossian 3:17 says “… And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
Some folks have taken this verse literally, and undertaken every detail of their lives in the name of Jesus. They walk, talk, sleep, drink, shower, eat, speak and even quarrel in the name of Jesus.
But imagine that you work in a place, and each time you are asked to speak or a task is assigned to you, you call out the name of Jesus before you commence your speech or undertake the task. After a while people around may begin to view you as a weirdo.
For us to perfectly grasp the intent of this scriptural text, we must first understand some of the terminologies used.
To begin with, let’s examine the phrase “Do all in the name of the lord Jesus”. The word “Lord” originates from the Greek word Kurios, and the thought behind the word kurios is supremacy and authority. Kurios connotes: “He to whom a person or thing belongs or the one who has rule over”. It also means the “possessor and disposer of a thing, the owner; one who has control of the person”. The Lord referred to in the text is Jesus.
We became born again by confessing Him as our Lord, which infers that he has rule over us or that we belong to him “… That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9
For anything to be manifested in this material or physical world, it must first occur in the spirit realms. But you might say this negates Mathew 18:18, “… Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Meaning that whatever, happens in Heaven is influenced or determined by our activities on the earth.
Genesis 1:1 says “… In the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned, and) created the heavens and the earth…” (Amplified)
Also, Hebrews 1:10 says “… And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands”
Note that the word heaven is plural in both instances, thus signifying that there are more than one heaven. In fact, there are three heavens. Paul in his second letter to the church in Corinth spoke about a man who was caught up to the third heaven. (2 Cor 12:2). The third heaven is the abode of God. The heaven referred to in Mathew 18:18, is the first heaven, it is right above the earth.
Everything we (believers) own, we received from God. Since we belong to him, He in turn takes care of us and becomes our source.
John 3:27 say “… No man receives anything except it be given to him from above.” In order words, “A man can get only what God gives him” (what is given to him from heaven). (Expanded)
The amplified rendering says “… A man can receive nothing [he can claim nothing, he can [a]take unto himself nothing] except as it has been granted to him from heaven. [A man must be content to receive the gift which is given him from heaven, there is no other source.”
So when we make him Lord of our lives, he takes special interest in us, becomes our source. Paul alludes to this saying…”I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”( philippians 4:13)
The word strengtheneth comes from the Greek word Endunamoo pronounced en-doo-nam-o-o, which implies to “endue with strength”, or “infuse inner strength into”.
This signifies that Christ, “Our Lord” or the one who has rule over us, is the one who infuses strength into us and enables us undertake every detail in our lives ― words and actions.
You see, name or ónoma in Greek, figuratively, is the manifestation or revelation of someone’s character, i.e. as distinguishing them from all others. Thus the name of our Lord Jesus is the revelation or manifestation of his character or person.
According to Hebrew notions, a name is inseparable from the person to whom it belongs. It is something of his essence. By essence, I mean the attribute or set of attributes that makes a person what he fundamentally is. So, to say or do something in the name of someone, infers to say or do it in the character of that person.
To say or do something in the name of our Lord Jesus, means to say or do it as if Christ himself was the one saying or doing it”. Thus,the phrase “to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” in this construction, connotes to do all as the exact representatives of our Lord Jesus.
Living Bible rendering of this texts, affirms this, saying: “… And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus”
By Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe.
