hidden manna.

So this morning I was listening to a teaching on identity and was totally wrecked by this passage in Revelation 2:17 that reads:

 “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 to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”

Here are some of the truths that the Lord ministered to my heart as I read this passage.

1)The Lord gives us a new name, a secret name. 

This signifies intimacy. You only have special names for those with whom you are very close to and care deeply for. The fact that God will give  me a new name etched in stone, that is unique and different than the name that he gives to his other kids speaks volumes of the uniqueness of my relationship with him.

2)The white stone signifies justification.

 Apparently in the days that John wrote this passage, stones were very important in determining the fate of an individual who was being sentenced. A black stone was given to those who were condemned as guilty while a white stone was given to those who were completely acquitted. The fact that Jesus gives us a white stone speaks of the fact that we are 100% justified, free of any past, present, or future condemnation.

3)The new name on the white stone also signifies adoption.

When we receive salvation, we become sons and daughters of the living God. We are no longer objects of wrath, but rather objects of His affection. We now have eternal fellowship with the one true God and we are now rightful heirs to the inheritance that God has for his kids.

Here is an excerpt from the commentary that I read:

"...and this new name being on the white stone, may show that the blessings of justification and adoption, though they are two distinct ones, yet they are inseparable: they go together, and both give a right to the heavenly inheritance; and they are also, as well as the hidden manna, gifts of free grace, and not owing to the works and merit of men, and are given by Christ, and in and through him."