“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this …” (Revelation 3:14)

“For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Ubiquitous in the language of Christianity, the word “Amen” is one we say without thinking but conclude virtually all our prayers with. It is one of those words transliterated from its Greek counterpart, “amen.” This means the English word is taken directly from the original language and pronounced virtually the same.

Interestingly, the word is used to introduce important lessons with an emphasis. For example, when Jesus emphasized the enduring validity of the Law of Moses, He put it this way: “For truly (literally: “amen”) I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matt 5:18). The NKJV renders this, “For assuredly, I say to you …”

In the Gospel According to John, every time Jesus uses the word, He doubles it up. For example, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24). Twenty-five times He begins a statement in this demonstrative way. While everything Jesus taught was true, regardless of whether He began it that way, He certainly wanted to draw special attention at certain junctures to pivotal teachings.

In the epistles, unlike the gospel accounts, we find the word amen being used almost exclusively at the end of a prayer or benediction. In that sense, it means, “We affirm what has just been said as being true and complete; we are in full agreement.” It is like a verbal signature affixed to our solemn statement. And so we do well to continue the long tradition of using amen to conclude our prayers or as an expression of agreement with others.

But in two passages, the word is used as a name of Jesus; He is “the Amen” or “our Amen.” He is God’s signature, the divine affirmation of all God has done and is doing in this world, in our lives. When we walk in accord with the Lord, we can have the assurance we mesh with His will. As we become “one with Him” and as a church we grow up into the fullness of Christ, God speaks His Amen to us through the Lord Jesus. And when we present Christ to others, we have the privilege of conveying God’s signature message that is faithful and true.

Lord, thank You for being my Amen. Amen!