Every time we sing the song “Before the Throne of God,” I am struck by the words, “My name is graven on His hands, my name is written on His heart.” Think about it a minute, who am I that my name should be engraved on the hands of God or written on His heart?”
If you wonder if these lyrics are true, consider the following verse, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him,” Ephesians 1:4. Before the foundation of the world God chose those for whom He would die; it was then that our names were written on His heart. When, before there was time – God knew my name. Even now, I well up a little on the inside.
It is blasphemy, of course, to think that there is something in us that God wants, as if it is there on its own. God is the creator God, Father of all things, and so God chose me, as the scripture says, “in Him,” that is Christ. I am chosen, redeemed, sanctified, and one day glorified through and in the person and work of His Son, my savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. It is Christ who gives me my identity, and by whom I benefit from the Father’s love. However, God’s glory which reveals Him as the source of all things does change the fact that my name is written on His heart, and engraved upon His hands – indeed, it makes it that much sweeter.