298. In the spiritual meaning, the name of God stands for everything that the church teaches on the basis of the Word - everything through which the Lord is called on and worshiped. Taken together, all these are names for God. Taking God's name in vain, then, means misusing any of these things for idle chatter, lies, deceptions, curses, sorcery, or magic spells. This too is abusing and blaspheming God, and therefore his name.

From the following passages you can see that the Word and anything from it that is used in the church or in any worship is God's name:

From the rising of the sun my name will be invoked. (Isaiah 41:25)

From the rising of the sun to the setting of it, great is my name among the nations. In every place incense is offered to my name. But you desecrate my name when you say, "Jehovah's table is defiled. " And you sneeze at my name when you bring offerings that are stolen, lame, and sick. (Malachi 1:11-13)

All peoples walk in the name of their God; we walk in the name of Jehovah our God. (Micah 4:5)

They are to worship Jehovah in one place, the place where he will put his name (Deuteronomy 12:5, 11, 13-14, 18; 16:2, 6, 11, 15-16),

that is, where Jehovah will locate their worship of him.

Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. " (Matthew 18:20)

As many as received him, he gave them power to be children of God, if they believed in his name. (John 1:12)

Those who do not believe have already been judged because they have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)

Those who believe will have life in his name. (John 20:31)

Jesus said, "I have revealed your name to people and have made your name known to them. " (John 17:26)

The Lord said, "You have a few names in Sardis. " (Revelation 3:4)

There are also many passages similar to these in which the name of God means the divine quality which radiates from God and through which he is worshiped.

The name of Jesus Christ, however, means everything related to his redeeming humankind and everything related to his teaching, and therefore everything through which he saves. "Jesus" means all his efforts to save the human race through redemption; "Christ" means all his efforts to save the human race through teaching.

Christ means "the anointed", from the Greek word "khristos". It's a translation of the Hebrew word "mashiah", meaning "anointed by the Lord". In the Bible, kings were anointed. The prophet Samuel anointed Saul as a king, and later, David. For more than a thousand years, there were prophecies of the Messiah, who would come to redeem the people who were faithful to Jehovah. When Jesus was born, in Bethlehem, a few of the people - Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, Simeon, Anna, and the wise men - realized that this child was the long-promised Messiah, the Christ. Later, when Jesus began his ministry, more people began to come to the same realization.

Jesus Christ is fully God AND fully human. His soul is Divine. He took on a physical human body and mind so He could go through actual temptations and overcome them, in order to control the spiritual power of hellish influence, and to preserve our spiritual freedom. For a more complete understanding of Jesus God and Man see the Spiritual Topic "What the Bible says about Jesus as God.

(References: Apocalypse Revealed 520; True Christian Religion 298)