Alistair Begg - Name Above All Names

No biblical or theological subject captivates my heart and stimulates my mind more than the glory of Christ. One day every knee will bow at the mention of his name. If you want to understand why (and have your own heart humbled, filled with gratitude, and aroused to worship), nourish your soul with this simple yet profound overview of who Jesus is and what he has accomplished.

John MacArthur, Pastor, Grace Community Church; President, The Masters College and Seminary; speaker, Grace to You

As Christians, we find it easy to talk about Gods work in our communities and around the world. Its easy to describe our growth in Christ and what we are learning from him. But how many of us simply delight in talking about Jesus? The art of contemplating the loveliness of Christand infusing those admirations into everyday conversationis a dying discipline. But in Name above All Names , my friends Alistair Begg and Sinclair Ferguson invite us to meditate afresh on our wonderful Savior and all that makes him beautiful and praiseworthy. I highly recommend this remarkable volume!

Joni Eareckson Tada, founder and CEO, Joni and Friends International Disability Center

Who is Jesus? There is no more important question human beings can face. Alistair Begg and Sinclair Ferguson provide a wealth of knowledge about Christ by looking at how Christ is presented in the New Testament through a collection of exquisite images. Every Christian will celebrate this book as these two gifted authors bring us into an even deeper understanding of who Christ is and who he is for us.

R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

You cant have too many good books about the person and work of Jesus Christ. And this is a great book. Alistair Begg and Sinclair Ferguson handle the most important doctrines of the faith with clarity, fidelity, pastoral insight, and good humor. New Christians, non-Christians, and long-time Christians will benefit from these superb expositions.

Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor, University Reformed Church, East Lansing, Michigan

For all those who, like me, have spent a lifetime in church hearing the Bible stories but have only begun to grasp the central story of the Bible, Name above All Names winsomely and clearly connects the dots. Two wise guides help us to see Jesus throughout the Scripturesfrom the promise of his coming as the seed of the woman in Genesis to the promise of his coming again as the Lamb on the throne in Revelation.

Nancy Guthrie, Bible teacher; author, Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament series

Name above All Names

Copyright 2013 by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street

Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Published in association with the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates, Inc.

Cover design: Dual Identity inc.

Cover image: iStock

First printing 2013

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) , copyright 2001 by Crossway. 2011 Text Edition. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the authors.

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4335-3775-2

PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-3776-9

Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-3777-6

ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-3778-3

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

To
Derek Prime
Christian
Pastor
Example
Encourager
Friend
With Affection and Gratitude

This book, as its title suggests, is a brief exposition of what Christians often refer to as the person and work of Christ. Its focus is on some of the different ways in which the Bible portrays Christs identity and describes his ministry. The chapters are by no means exhaustive. They cover only seven of the many descriptions of Jesus found in the Bible, and none of those descriptions is treated exhaustively. So these pages are meant as a taster, a beginning exploration. Our joint prayer is that they will help some who are not yet Christians, be an eye-opener to those who already are, serve as an encouragement for mature believers, and be a pleasure for all who love Christ.

We cannot claim that this is a special book. But there are two special things about it that may lend interest to reading it.

For one thing, it is a concrete expression of a friendship, begun in the 1970s when we were both very young ministers in Scotland, that now spans five decades. We were born and lived the first years of our lives in the same city. We knew the same places, were taught the same psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, heard the same preachers, developed a network of mutual friends, and, yes, even supported the same soccer team and played on some of the same golf courses. We both came to minister in the United States within a few months of each other, in 1983.

Of course we are different personalities and live within our own worlds (one has become an American citizen, the other hasnt; one plays the guitar, the other doesnt; one is a Baptist, the other a Presbyterian; one lives in Cleveland, the other in Columbia; and so on). We both have our own circle of friends as well as intersecting circles of friends. But over these many years we have enjoyed the kind of friendship, esteem, and affection for one another that has made us feel we are brothers. One of us never had a brother; the other lost his brother. So in part this book and its theme are expressions of our joint gratitude to the Savior in whom we have enjoyed such friendship and the love for his people we share in common.

But in addition, Name above All Names gives us the opportunity to do something we have talked about over the years: express in some tangible way our joint gratitude for Derek Prime, who has been to us model pastor, friend, and encourager. That would be true especially for Alistair who served with Derek Prime at Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh, from 19741976. Our sense of gratitude for the measure of Christ-centeredness and Christlikeness we have seen displayed in his life and ministry makes it very natural for us to dedicate to him this little book on our Savior and Lord.

The material in these pages began to come together in its present form as we prepared for a conference at The Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee. We are indebted to that congregation and to its senior minister, Sandy Willson, for giving us the opportunity to serve them together and to share some of the material here in spoken form. We are also indebted to Mrs. Eve Huffman for the secretarial help without which this project would never have been completed.

We hope these pages will encourage, instruct, refresh, and challenge every reader. In order to make it more practically helpful to those with only a beginning knowledge of the Bible, we have included references to the Bible passages or texts to which we refer. These references are in footnotes so that the book may be read without the constant interruption of bracketed material.