Our True Name

Mark Batterson Jan 18 post:  The White Stone

The day has finally arrived. Soulprint officially releases today! Here's a final excerpt from the final chapter titled The White Stone.

A day is coming when we will hear the voice of God and He will call us by a name unknown to anyone else but Him. It will be a name we’ve never heard, but we will know it’s our name. It’s a name we were given before our birth, but it’s a name that will be revealed only after our death. That name, our true name, will reveal who we really are.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

Revelation 2:17

It’s not the number of breaths we take that makes life worth living. It’s the number of things that take our breath away. In those breathless moments, our souls are inflated with awe. It’s like heaven invades earth and time stands still. One of my most recent breathless moments was getting my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon. My son, Parker, and I walked into the Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim and the view through the two-story picture window stopped us in our tracks. Beauty has a way of stopping the second hand. We stared out that window for what seemed like hours.

I think heaven will consist of countless moments like that one, moments when time stands still. Our glorified senses will absorb the glory of God in unearthly ways. We will see awe-inspiring sights previously imperceptible to the human eye. We will hear angels’ voices in an octave previously imperceptible to the human ear. Even our glorified olfactory bulbs will detect aromas that will make us forget every airport Cinnabon we’ve ever walked by.

The greatest moment in eternity will be the moment our eyes behold Christ—the One who died for us. But a close second (if these eternal moments can even be ranked) will be hearing our heavenly Father call us by our new name for the first time. It will be a name we’ve never heard before, but it will be like hearing the name we’ve been called by our entire lives. That name will make our entire lives make sense.

All the pain.

All the joy.

All the fears.

All the hopes.

All the confusion.

All the dreams.

In that moment, our entire lives will make sense because God will reveal who we really are. That new name will capture the true essence of who we are and it will encompass all that we will become in eternity.

Our soulprint will finally be given its true name.