I'm not sure if it's a new song playing on Christian radio, or just a new song to me, but I heard a song recently by Josh Baldwin titled "Made for More", have you heard this one? What a powerful song! Full of praise for what our Lord has done for us in His finished work on the cross, Amen! I absolutely love it when Christian artists put scripture to music. The part of this song that really speaks to me is:
I wasn't made to be tending a grave
I was called by name
Born and raised back to life again
I was made for more
We see several places in scripture where God tells us that He knows us, knows us by our very names. Now you might say wait a minute, there are over 8 billion people on this earth right now, not to mention all those who lived and died before me, how can God know my name. I don't know how He can - but I know that He can. He is God, and He does know us all, by name.
Isaiah 45:3 (ESV) I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
Look at what that scripture says, just what is in the end of the verse 3 - "Who call you by your name", He says. You may read that and think there is a grammatical error there - no there is not. This is written correctly - we might think it should say "Who calls you by your name", but that would not be correct in this context. Why? Because it is Jehovah - The Lord, God Almighty, El Shaddai, Elohim, who is speaking. Remember back to Genesis when God created man and He said "Let Us make man in Our image".
God in all His glory, God the Father/God the Son/God the Holy Spirit, God in all His nature at once! He knows your name, and He calls you by it. Let that sink in for a minute...
"I was called by name, Born and raised back to life again, I was made for more". We see several examples in scripture where Jesus calls someone by name, here are two such examples.
Lazarus (John 11)
During Jesus' ministry he was friendly with a family that lived in Bethany. Two sisters, Mary and Martha, and one brother, Lazarus. Jesus got word that his friend Lazarus was quite sick, and his sisters pleaded with Him to come quickly. However, Jesus stayed where He was for two more days, and then He gathered his disciples to go to Bethany. By this point Lazarus had already died and was buried in the tomb.
When Jesus got to Bethany, Lazarus' sisters met Him on the road with much sadness and grief and frustration to say the least. Jesus comforts the sisters and then He goes to the cemetery. He weeps along with the people there who were weeping, and then He prays to God the Father. He acknowledges the Father first, and then acknowledges the people who are standing with Him, saying that He prayed these things out loud and came here at this time so that the people would see and believe.
And then He speaks, with all of the power of God calling out to Lazarus by name, and commands him to step out of the grave. What do you think would have happened at the moment if He did not call Lazarus specifically? That's right - all of the dead in that cemetery would have stepped out. The Lord Jesus calls out to Lazarus, specifically, to come out, and he does! "raised back to life again", Lazarus was made for more, Amen?
We don't hear a whole lot more about Lazarus after the Lord raised him. He was present at a dinner with Jesus and his sisters, but that is all we see in the bible. However, we do know from scriptures in 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians that Lazarus will be raised again and be returned to God in eternity.
Mary Magdalene (John 20)
One of my favorite accounts in all the bible, brings me to tears every time I read it. Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb on Sunday, to tend to the body since it could not be done completely before the Sabbath began. She sees that the stone has been moved and the Lord's body is missing. She gets Peter and he and other disciples run to the tomb and see for themselves. They leave the cemetery after seeing, but Mary lingers behind weeping.
Eventually she looks into the tomb, and she sees two angels sitting where Jesus' body had been, and they ask her why she is weeping? She tells them because her Lord's body is gone, and she does not know where He is. Then she turns and she is face to face with Jesus, but she does not recognize Him. She mistakes Him for the gardener, and so she asks Him to tell her where the body has been taken so that she can tend to Him. And He says "Mary", and she immediately recognizes Him!
There was a day when He passed by my way, and He called my name. I ran from Him for years, but He was faithful and patient, and on that day when I was finally ready to surrender to Him, He came by again and called my name. I was born and raised into life again, and I came to know that I was made for more. And so were you...
If you know Jesus Christ as savior and Lord, you are born again, raised back into spiritual life with Him, and He has a wonderful plan for you. You were most definitely made for more.
If you are reading this and, in all honesty, would say you don't know Him, well He still knows your name and He has a plan for you too. But it all starts with you coming to terms with your need of Him. If this is you, let me know. I would love to pray with you and talk to you more about who He is and what He has already done for you. There is a gift waiting for you, you just have to accept it.
I will include a link to Josh Baldwin's song "Made for More" in YouTube. It's well worth the watch. God Bless, thanks for reading...
PJ
Made For More - Josh Baldwin, feat. Jenn Johnson (youtube.com)
