Have you ever looked up the meaning of your name? Or asked your parents why they named you what they did? I had a plaque in my room way back when, I have no idea who gave it to me, but it had my name and meaning engraved on it….
Stephanie – Crowned in victory
The only way my name makes sense to me is because of Jesus. Because of Him and His death on the cross for me, I am crowned in victory. Nothing I am on this earth, nor nothing I can do entitles me to wear a crown. Only Jesus.
Onesimus had a similar story with his name. We read about this man in the book of Philemon. Onesimus was a slave who had stolen from his master (Philemon) and ran away.
Through God’s amazing ways, Onesimus ran away to Rome and met Paul. He came to faith through Paul and his ministry. The book of Philemon is a letter Paul wrote to tell Philemon that Onesimus had come to saving faith in Christ.
In the letter, Paul asks that Philemon let Onesimus return to him without fear of punishment. It was unheard of for a master to receive back a runaway slave without inflicting punishment. Paul was aware of this which is why he offered to pay any debt that Onesimus owed. Paul was truly asking him to not only forgive Onesimus, but to receive him as a brother in Christ.
Onesimus’s name means “useful.” Paul uses a play on words with his name when he writes,
(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) Philemon 1:11
Once a useless, rebellious slave, Onesimus became useful through the saving and transforming grace of God.
Just like Onesimus, it is only through Christ that we find our true selves and our true identity. No matter what name we were given at birth, or what name we go by now, we become who we were made to be when God calls us by name. Jesus took the punishment we deserved and paid the penalty at the cross. He wiped our slate clean so that we could return home to the Father without fear.
The book of Philemon reminds us that we are just like Onesimus and have the opportunity to encounter the gospel of grace. Everything that we have done in the past is gone. We are new creations, given a new name and a new identity.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17