Names tells us who we are. They tell us our cultural boundaries at macro and micro levels. As humans (or “man”) our name is “image of God.” That name sets the boundaries of our relationship to God, to one another, and the world around us. “Image of God” establishes the God-ordained culture in which we are to live and which we are to cultivate.

One of the first acts of dominion Adam had was naming the animals. That process involved recognizing certain God-created qualities about the animals and then giving them a name that corresponded to those qualities. Naming was an exercise of authority that set animals in their proper relationships with one another and the man. Names set boundaries, giving the animals and man their respective cultures in which to live. Adam recognized this from the beginning as he was naming all of the animals and realized that among them there was no helper comparable to him. It is not until God creates Eve from Adam’s side that he names her with a name that corresponds to his own. She is ‘issha because she was taken out of ‘ish (Gen 2.23). Indeed, male and female are ‘adam (Gen 1.27).

Names tells us who we are. They tell us our cultural boundaries at macro and micro levels. As humans (or “man”) our name is “image of God.” That name sets the boundaries of our relationship to God, to one another, and the world around us. “Image of God” establishes the God-ordained culture in which we are to live and which we are to cultivate.

To accept another name for ourselves other than “image of God” is to seek to redefine reality, setting boundaries and developing a culture that is in opposition to our creation. If I am, for instance, the chance product of an evolutionary process, that sets a very different set of boundaries for relationships with God (if there is one), others, and the world around me. If my name is “evolution-by-chance,” then that name with all of its culture baggage tells me who I am, what my purpose in life is, and, therefore, how I am to relate to the world around me. That name becomes my master.

This is the reason why Paul was so insistent that Christians get their name right. Their entire lives had to be re-defined in terms of their union with Christ. They were not “under law Christians” or “in Adam Christians.” Certainly, there were aspects of their before-Christ lives with which they had to fight. But sin didn’t have dominion over them because they were not under law but under grace (Rom 6.14). They were to accept the name God had given them in Christ and with that the dominion of that name; an entire culture of being enslaved to righteousness and mortifying sin. When they submitted to the name given to them, the course of life would follow. They would do and wouldn’t do certain things because their name set cultural boundaries for them.

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