312. God Sanctified in Us
Ezekiel 36:23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them, and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
It is an unusual phrase to say that the Lord will sanctify His great name, because God and His name are already holy. The name cannot be made any more holy than it already is. But the amazing promise is that the Lord will be sanctified to us.
We pray, “Hallowed be Thy name.” The meaning is: His Name will be kept holy among us. This now is quite something to pray for. It means that we ask the Lord to help us to use God’s Name only for prayer, praise and thanks. It means we do not want to use His Name “in vain,” that is, frivolously, for no good purpose, to curse, to swear, or for any sinful purpose. It means we will not profane (make unholy) the name of God in our lives. Using God’s name for vain and empty purposes is an easy temptation in our world; that is why we pray: “Keep me from profaning Your Name on my lips whenever I am angry or excited.” God promises to hear this prayer, keep the Name holy among us, and keep us from falsely, frivolously or angrily speaking God’s Name in vain.
Unbelievers sprinkle their conversations with the Name of God or Jesus on a regular basis. They profane the Name. You, however, will keep it holy. Yahweh is “The Name.” Jesus is Yahweh, the I AM. By the Spirit we confess, “Jesus is Lord.” Our surroundings, our families, our relationships, our groups, our worlds are defiled when The Name is used carelessly and profaned among us. We need the Lord’s Prayer and God’s Promise to keep our lives clean. We pray and believe God will answer: “Lord, sanctify yourself in me.”
But the promise (“I will be sanctified in you”) means more than just clean speaking; it also means clean living, unselfish loving, generous giving, and doing everything that a good God does. Since “bearing the name” in this way is impossible, we need to believe this promise daily, we need forgiveness daily, we need to pray “Hallowed be Thy Name” daily, and we need to repent and believe the gospel daily. To encourage us in this life God gives this promise. And when God is sanctified to us everything else in life is good and it all goes right.