No Other Name, Part 4: Petra

Published on july 26th, 2020 | by Steve Perkins

Names are powerful and important.  God allowed Adam to name all the creatures that He Himself had made (Genesis 2:19-20).  There is no other name except that of Jesus by which we can be saved (Acts 4:11-12).  In fact, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow (Philippians 2:9-11). 

In this series of posts, we will look at the names of Classic Christian Rock bands and what those names have to say about God.

Petra-Life As We Know It

Petra.  It's the Greek word for "rock" and it is the perfect name for a band that is the one of the foundation stones for classic Christian rock music.  Just listen to any Petra album and you will understand why their 1989 compilation album was aptly titled Petra Means Rock.  But other than being a catchy play on words, why is it such a great name for a Christian band?

Not everyone understood who Jesus was in His own day, and the same is true in ours.  At one point Jesus turned to His disciples and asked them what they thought.  Simon said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living  God."  This was the right answer, for Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock (petra) I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."  (Matthew 16:15-18)

Jesus was not just a great teacher, and the Christian faith is not just a good philosophy to help you through life.  Jesus came as God in the flesh.  He was the Christ, the anointed one.  Everything...everything...about authentic Christianity is built on the truth that God became human to suffer and die for us so that we could live forever with Him.  A man named Simon understood this, and Jesus changed his name to Peter, the Rock.  Is Jesus the solid rock of your faith?