Who Can Make a Name? From Tower to Throne
Every human heart carries a version of the same question: Do I matter? That longing is not the problem. The longing is real, and it points toward something true. The problem is the path we take to answer it. In this second part of the series Who Can Make a Name? From Tower to Throne, Pastor Mike Boyle traces the counterfeit answer — self-made significance — from Babel all the way to the throne of Christ, and shows us why the only significance that lasts is the kind you cannot build but can only receive.
Sin Sells an Illusion
Sin does not usually come to us as an obvious enemy. It comes holding something real. Significance, pleasure, security, control — these are genuine goods. Sin’s move is to offer them down the one road that kills. As Paul writes in Romans 6:16, you become a slave to whatever you obey, and slavery delivers you to death — separation from God. This is not ignorance. Eve knew. Adam knew. Sin at its root is surrender, a choice to go the way that ends us rather than trust the One who made us.
Babel Chased a Name — Christ Emptied His
In Genesis 11:4, the builders at Babel voiced what the human heart has been chasing ever since: “Let us make us a name.” The desire to matter is woven into us. But they reached for it — seized it — apart from God. Contrast that with Philippians 2:6–8. The Son of God, who had every right to a name above all names, made Himself of no reputation. He went down. He refused to seize. And in that descent into death, Hebrews 2:14 tells us He broke the one who holds the power of death. The One who refused to claim significance is the only One who could break what ends ours.
Abraham Entrusted His Significance to God
Abraham’s story is the story of a man who kept releasing his grip. Called to leave his land, his people, his father’s house — obedience made him a nobody by the world’s measure. Yet God’s word to him was stunning: “I will make your name great” (Genesis 12:1–3). The name had no heir. The promise seemed impossible. But Genesis 15:6 records his response: he believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Even when Sarah’s plan through Hagar seemed like a shortcut to the promise, God remained faithful and fulfilled the covenant through Isaac — the child of promise, not of human scheming. The promise, Paul reminds us in Galatians 3:16, ran past Abraham to his Seed — to Christ. Abraham did not secure his own greatness. He trusted the God who makes greatness, and it came to rest on the One his whole life was pointing toward.
The Faithful Died Looking Forward
Hebrews 11:13–16 offers a stunning portrait of what faith actually looks like across a lifetime. These men and women died without receiving everything that was promised. They saw it from a distance. They greeted it. They confessed they were strangers and pilgrims here. And they were looking, not for a city they could build, but for the city God builds. That posture — open hands, forward gaze — is the posture of everyone who has stopped trying to make a name and started waiting on the God who gives one.
The Exalted Christ Returns to Finish It
Revelation 19:11–16 brings the story to its climax. Christ returns bearing a name no one can read, and the title written in plain sight: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. Death was defeated at the cross. At His return, 1 Corinthians 15:26 tells us, it will be destroyed — the last enemy, finished for good. This is not a new fury. It is the same love that went to the cross, now returning to end what has killed us since Eden. The armies of heaven follow Him. The only question is which side of that moment you are on.
The Invitation: Call on a Name You Cannot Make
The pattern runs through all of Scripture. Eve reached. Babel reached. Judas reached. Christ refused — and in refusing, became the only One with authority to give what we were reaching for. The door out of the cycle is confession and repentance. You cannot free yourself. You turn, and He frees you (John 8:36; 1 John 1:9). Sin’s power is broken at conversion. Its presence will be destroyed at His return. Sin says, Claim your significance. The gospel answers: you cannot claim it — you can only receive it. You cannot make a name. You can only call on one. Romans 10:13: “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” A person who has received a name has nothing left to build and nothing left to defend. As Paul put it from a prison cell: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).