Your Family Name

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being,

Ephesians 3:14–16

What’s in a name? For some, perhaps everything. Some family names conjure prestige, power, wealth, or a history of community development. For others, there may be shame, disappointment, or pain connected to their name. Those who have been adopted may want to discover their biological family of origin or fear knowing it, for they may not be “good people.” In our short passage today, the apostle Paul tells us that God’s family has one name. It is His name. God is building ONE family for Himself by the power of His Spirit. His Spirit lives in each of us who have professed faith in the substitutionary, saving work of His Son, and thus have been given new life.

How can we be united as brothers and sisters in the same family when we are from different countries, some at war with one another, or we live on opposite sides of even the same city or town? How do we love those on the opposite side of the political aisle? We cannot. We are incapable of loving one another in our own spirit. That’s why Paul tells us just verses before,

For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, (Ephesians 2:18-19)

God must remake our spirit so we can be His family. We know we are being remade when we begin to love the unlovable. We begin to have compassion toward people who otherwise would annoy, frustrate, or infuriate us. We grow in patience for others because we realize God has been patient with us, despite us being undeserving. He called us to Himself while we were unloving, joyless, hot-tempered, arrogant, impatient, unkind, evil, prideful, counting only on ourselves, hardened, irrational and fearful in our natural demeanors. 

Instead, He strengthens us with power through His Spirit in our inner beings, thus preparing us to be living stones for the temple He is building (Eph 2:22, 1 Peter 2:5) one human being at a time so that every Johnson, Smith, Williams, Li, Wang, Zang, Devi, Kumar, Singh, Ali, Ahmed, Mohamed, Garcia, Martin, Muller, Rodriguez, Fernadez, Gozalez, Lopez, Ivanov, Petrov, Schmirnov, Melnik, Shevchenko, Bondarenko… will become one family, united in peace by the Spirit of God. We will all gaze, no longer at each other, but on the beauty of the Lord. As Jonathan Landry Cruse reminds us, “this sight will be transformative.” He continues, “Moses’s face shone just from getting a glimpse of God’s goodness… we will become what we behold.”¹ Having been transformed, our earthly ties will pale in comparison to our newfound identity as sons and daughters of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Tim 6:15, Rev 17:14, Rev 19:16). 

 

 

END NOTES:

1. Jonathan Landry Cruse, Paradox People: Learning to Live the Beatitudes (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing) 2025.