26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

Acts 11:26

God's word always offers something exciting and new regardless of how many times one has journeyed through its pages.

A statement included in the inspired history of the early church is found in Acts 11:26 which references the moment in time when the name "Christian" was first applied to the disciples of Christ. This announcement is made so briefly that many times one fails to grasp the significance of what has been revealed.

From the time that the church began in Jerusalem,(Acts 2) Jews who were followers of  Jesus were called his disciples, which means students or learners. Although Jews recognized that they were a distinct group within their number, others simply considered them as Jews. The followers of Christ Jesus had no special name to identify them.

As the message of salvation through Christ was extended beyond the Jews when Cornelius was converted (Acts 10-11), those believers who had left Jerusalem due to persecution began preaching the gospel to the Gentiles and converting them to Christ. When the first primarily Gentile congregation of the church was formed in Antioch of Syria the people didn't recognize them as Jews and yet they weren't pagans who worshiped the gods.

Who were these strange people?

At this point, many in the denominational world assert that the calling of the disciples as Christians was the result of the people round about them who made up this name somewhat in derision and it was a derogatory label to the disciples. I believe the inspired Scriptures tell a different story.

WHO CALLED THE DISCIPLES BY A NEW NAME?

62 For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,

    and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,

until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,

    and her salvation as a burning torch.

2 The nations shall see your righteousness,

    and all the kings your glory,

and you shall be called by a new name

    that the mouth of the Lord will give.

Isaiah 62:1-2 ESV

About 730 years before Christ,  the Prophet Isaiah made this prophecy regarding a promise to God's people which would be a new name.

Isaiah prophesies that God would bring forth His righteousness out  of Jerusalem which He clearly did in Acts 2. He also predicts that "the nations (Gentiles) shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory", which happened when the gospel spread to the Gentiles in Acts 10 and many of the leaders became aware of the church. Then, he says "You shall be called by a new name…". Was this just any new name that people wanted to call Christ' followers? Was this to be a name given in derision and embarrassment? Absolutely NOT!

The prophecy said "…that the mouth of the Lord will give."

Let us return for a moment to Acts 11:26 and examine the phrase "and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch."

The word translated "called" is the Greek word (χρηματίζω chrēmatizō -Strong's G5537) which can be understood to mean to give a divine command or admonition, to teach from heaven (Blue Letter Bible/ Strongs G5537) This would perfectly blend with Isaiah's statement that the new name would be a name that the mouth of the Lord would name. 

A NEW MARRIAGE WITH AN OLD NAME?

We also know from Jeremiah that God promised a new covenant,

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.

33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord:

Jeremiah 31:31-33a ESV

I bring up this prophecy to make this point. The new covenant with God is like a new marriage. Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, rightly compares the relationship between Christ and His Church as that of a husband to his wife (Eph. 5:22-33). How would a wife feel if her husband, previously married, would enter into a new marriage with a new wife and then "give" her the same name as his first wife? How would she feel if her husband simply called her by the name which people have called her in mockery over the years? Rightfully she deserves a new name from her husband.

What is my point in all this? It is that the giving of the name Christian for the believers was not an accident or the result of what the world thought about these followers of Christ. It was clearly foreordained of God as fulfillment of what was spoken by the Prophet Isaiah and the name Christian is the name given for individuals in His new family by God for His new bride, which is the Church of Christ. 

A FINAL EXHORTATION

This is why the Apostle Peter also said, "16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

I Peter 4:16 ESV

You wear the name Christian?

Be sure to wear it with God's glory in mind!

He gave it to you!

Michael Franklin