"Descended from David ... designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness ..." so Paul writes of the One who is to come; the One we are expecting (Romans 1:3, 4); the designated Son of a designated God come to a designated people. God reveals himself in power; we humbly and imperfectly place names on what we see and feel. God designates a Son and the Son designates a people.

Designating/Naming What we know of our world and of God is as human as life itself. From the beginning of time we have been naming. Frederick Buechner describes his favorite teacher, Old Testament professor James Muilenburg. Muilenburg's popular Intro to Old Testament course was held in the largest lecture hall at Union Theological Seminary. Students brought their friends and those friends brought f…