"Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth" Philip:2:9-10
Names of God
Throughout the pages of the Holy Bible
there are found many names for the great God, each one speaks to us about who
God is, for what he does is who he is.
In Genesis:1:1 God is introduced to us in the Hebrew language,
in which the creation epic is written as Elohim, the Strong
Creator. In Genesis:2:4 we see the
name Yahweh, meaning roughly Lord, or the Eternal One
some give the pronunciation to this name as Jehovah .
Yahweh is often represented by the letters
YHWH called the Tetragrammaton,
for in the Hebrew language vowels were not inserted in the words when written.
There are many names for the great God, the Father, Son and the Holy
Spirit found throughout the pages of the Holy Bible.
Some of the Names of God
A look at a very short samplings of exulted names of God, some of them are referred to as the compounded names, that is, “what and who God is”, righteousness, provider, peace, attached with the name Yahweh.
Elohim-GOD (Genesis 1:1) -The strong creator
Yahweh-LORD (Genesis 2:4)
Yahweh Elohim (Genesis 2:4, 3:9-13, 21) The LORD GOD
Yahweh Elohe Abothekem (Joshua 18:3) The LORD GOD of Your Fathers
Yahweh El Elyon (Genesis 14:22)- The LORD, the Highest GOD
Yahweh El Emeth (Psalms 31:5)- LORD GOD of Truth
Yahweh El Gemuwal (Jeremiah 51:56)- The LORD GOD of Recompenses
Yahweh Elohim Tsebaoth (Psalms 59:5, Isaiah 28:22)- LORD GOD of Hosts
Yahweh Elohe Yeshuathi (Psalms 88:1)- LORD GOD of My Salvation
Yahweh Elyon (Genesis 14:18-20)- The LORD Most High
Yahweh Maginnenu (Psalms 89:18)- The LORD Our Defense
Yahweh Goelekh (Isaiah 49:26&60:16)- The LORD Thy Redeemer
Yahweh-Yireth (Genesis 22:14)- The LORD Shall Provide
Yahweh Keren-Yishi (Psalms 18:2)- The LORD the Horn of My Salvation
Yahweh Machsi (Psalms 91:9) The LORD My Refuge
Yahweh Magen (Deuteronomy 33:29)- The LORD the Shield
Yahweh Mauzzam (Psalms 37:39)- The LORD Their Strength
Yahweh Mauzzi (Jeremiah 16:19)- The LORD My Fortress
Yeahweh Mephalti (Psalms 18:2)- The LORD My Deliverer
Yahweh Mekaddishkem (Exodus 31:13)- The LORD that Sanctifies You
Yahweh Moshiekh (Isaiah 49:26&60:16)- The LORD Your Savior
Yahweh Nissi (Exodus 17:15)- The LORD My Banner
Yahweh Ori (Psalms 27:1)- The LORD My Light
Yahweh Uzzi (Psalms 28:7)- The LORD My Strength
Yahweh Rophe (Exodus 15:26)- The LORD (our) Healer
Yahweh Roi (Psalms 23:1)- The LORD My Shepherd
Yahweh Sali (Psalms 18:2)- The LORD My Rock
Yahweh Shalom (Judges 6:24)- The LORD (our) Peace
Yahweh Shammah (Ezekiel 48:35) The LORD Is There
Yahweh Tsidkenu (Jeremiah 23:6)- The LORD Our Righteousness
Yahweh Tsuri (Psalms 19:14)- O LORD My Strength
Each of these names tell us something about the Great God which he wants us to know or understand about himself, that is who he is for us. In the ancient world it was considered a privileged and source of great power to know a "god's" name, this is one of the reasons that Moses, upon the heights of Mount Sinai may have asked the Lord, in his manifestation in the burning bush, to know his name.
"Moses said to God, “Suppose I go
to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’
and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to
Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has
sent me to you.’” Ex: 3:13-14
The Incarnation
The Great God who's names we read of in the Bible,
the very one who revealed himself and appeared to the Patriarchs and Prophets
of Israel has in his great love for humanity come and given us a self-disclose
of himself in the Person of his Son Holy Jesus Christ.
Consider, the God who is beyond all human comprehension,
the Creator of all things, the God who is above all and has no limitations has
visited us through his Son Jesus Christ the second person of the Holy Trinity
in the incarnation, that is, God has taken on our very own humanity, he has become one of us giving us
union with himself.
We read of this incarnation in the Gospel of St. John. St. John’s account
begins in what we might call Eternity past,
before all else was but for God the Holy Trinity.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things
were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."
"and the Word became flesh" John:1-3, 14
They believe that this reflects only two with
in the God-Head, but when they ask "where is the Holy Spirit
if He is God, where is He?" what they miss is this; it is the Holy Spirit who is speaking to us. So, the Holy Spirit is
there in plain view.
The Holy Spirit is the voice that speaks to us
from the pages of the account of Scripture, and what is the very first thing
that the Holy Spirit, out of the depths of Eternity that he speaks to us
about? Jesus, the Word of God becoming one of us in the incarnation.
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit always speaks about Jesus, this has in Eternity
past and now is and eternally will be. The Holy Spirit will always speak to us
about Jesus.
"When the Advocate comes,
whom I will send to you from the Father--the Spirit of truth who goes out from
the Father--he will testify about me" Jhn:15:26
The Name of Jesus
Through the incarnation the Great God not only
assumes our humanity, but also takes to himself a human name by which we may address him and know
him and to have a relationship with him. The name Jesus, which means Savior, or
the one who saves is who he is and what he does.
This reflects such a humility that God would accept a human name to himself.
Jesus is a human name and it is this human name of Jesus that God the Father
has exalted above every name.
This also speaks to us about the divine love and empathy and God's loving
desire to and for us all. It also shows us that he identifies with us in every
way as he so desires us to identify with him.
"Therefore God exalted him to the highest
place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth," Philip:2:9-10
This name of Jesus is exalted even above all the names we find in even in the Old Testament
for God; for in Jesus, all that these names spoke of regarding God is fulfilled
in the Person of Jesus Christ. He is everything that these names reflect.
" For he himself is our peace" Eph:2:14
"It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has
become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and
redemption."1Cor:1:30
"our Lord Jesus Christ,"2Cor:8:9
"I am the good shepherd."Jhn:10:11
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through me."Jhn:14:6
These are but a few of the names
which are found in Jesus , that Jesus is for each and all of us The name of Jesus supersedes and sums up in fulfillment all
the names which we find in the Old Testament for the Great God.
It is understandable, and proper , that some Christians will look
to those names and to show them reverence and honor for them, but above
them, through the declaration of the Holy Word of God is the name of Jesus to which all will bow, even the angelic host
in the highths of Heaven will bow at this human name of Jesus as the
focus of all the honor and the worship that is due the one to whom it belongs.
"that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, Philip: 2:10
Bowing before Jesus also shows the truth that Jesus is all
that the names of God spoke of and were intended to point us to. It is
acknowledging Jesus' exalted place as the Son of God, the only Savior of
humanity and our acceptance of this truth.
In Jesus, the Great God has taken on a human name in the Person of his Son Jesus,
by whom we can come to know him, and all that he is for and toward us.
This is why God has given Jesus, that name which
is above every name and at his exalted name every knee will bow.
"Therefore God exalted him to the highest
place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth"
Benediction: May we each, and all, give
all honor and glory to the name above all names, the name of Jesus, today,
tomorrow and forevermore. Amen
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