Our new mission statement is: To Make His Name Glorious!
1. Declare our God is an Awesome God.
2. Magnify who He is and what He does.
3. Recognize and submit to His Lordship.
4. Acknowledge His presence, power and purpose over us in all aspects of our lives.
5. Say this is the Day the Lord has made and we rejoice in it.
What is the NAME we are to make glorious? Our name defines us. It separates us from others. It places us in a category—we belong to the Smith family. It can even say something about our heritage—where we’re from, who were our ancestors.
Can we define God by a name? Does His name describe Him?
In a distant village, a long time ago, there lived six blind men. One day a man brought an elephant into the village. They had never seen or felt an elephant before and so decided, to go see what the elephant was like.
“The elephant is a pillar,” said the first man who touched his leg.
“No! It is like a rope,” argued the second after touching the tail.
“It is like a thick branch of a tree,” the third man spouted after touching the trunk.
“No, it is like a big hand fan” said the fourth man feeling the ear.
“It is like a huge wall,” sounded the fifth man who groped the elephant’s side.
“It is like a solid pipe,” Said the sixth man with the tusk in his hand.
They argued as to who was right, each sticking to their own perception. A wise man heard the argument, stopped and asked them “What is the matter?” They said, “We cannot agree on what the elephant is like.”
The wise man then calmly said, “Each one of you is correct and each one of you is wrong. Because you had only touched a part of the elephant’s body, you only have a partial view of the animal. If you put your partial views together, you will get a better idea of what an elephant is like.”
When we want to know what God is like, we read stories about His activity in Scripture and what He has done becomes our understanding of who He is. In the first verse of the Bible we see Him as the One who created all that exists. As we study His creation, we discover He has unlimited power that by merely speaking, things came into being. We see amazing variety within creation itself. In our first glimpse, we say He is an awesome God.
As we read on it becomes obvious that there is a plan He is working out—there’s just too much detail within His design. Then it dawns on us, He is not just making all that is, but He is working on some type of plan. He’s not just filling up the world, but engineering things with a purpose in mind.
We read on and learn He is a holy God with holy requirements which Adam and Eve violated. Then we discover a new word: accountability. God gave them limits and they failed to stay within those limits. From then on He is the reconciler, working man back toward relationship with Him.
We continue reading the Book and hear the name God Almighty and find He is unlimited in what He does. He reveals Himself through such words as: deliverer, healer, the God who sees, our fortress who provides security and protection, our Savior who draws us to Himself, our provider, our shepherd, our King. Names for God that have to do with how man has interacted with Him throughout Scripture.
But when God formally introduces Himself, He uses the word YHWH. The word is all consonants so how to pronounce it remains a mystery. In the past, men have merged these consonants with certain vowels and come up with Jehovah or Yahweh. In our Bible it is the word LORD in all capital letters. In the Jewish Bible they use the word Adonai.
God used that word in two of the most significant passages of Scripture when He wanted people to know who He was:
Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations. (Ex 3:13-15)
The Shema: Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! (Deut 6:4)
LORD is an all-inclusive word that wraps up all the other names of God into one. ROPE
Remember how our human minds cannot take in all there is to know about the ways and thoughts of God…neither can we comprehend God in all He is and all He can do. Peel back one layer and there is another layer just as complex and amazing as the one we think we understand. We can spend our life trying to discover who God is and the one string we’ve focused on is merely one thread in an infinite number of strings that make up the rope of YHWH. I AM WHO I AM.
YHWH is more of a statement than a name. It’s in the present tense so it remains true even as that statement moves through time. As God was, He is and as He is, He will be. He cannot and will not change. God is God in every moment.
He is never not present, powerful and purposeful.
YHWH or LORD, carries the weight of preeminence. There is no one else in my category as LORD. It is a word exclusive to God alone. A king may be called “his eminence” because he is Lord of His kingdom. But God is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He has preeminence.
Pre-before. Preeminence-before all other's with emenince.
Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. They will say of Me, 'Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.' (Isa 45:22-24)
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:9-11)
As LORD, no one else was to be given His position. So to help His people know what this meant, He said: Have no other gods before Me. (Ex 20:3)
Before: in front of, behind, above, beside, alongside, over, around, up against, opposite, next to, near.
I am distinct from all objects of devotion and dedication and authority. So let no one or no thing assume preeminence in your life except Me.
Jesus gave us a new title for God: FATHER. Father, all life originated in Him, but He is also, more so, Chief, Head, Master, Lord.
He said: Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. (Matt 23:9)
Why? Because the same tendency remains for us to search for substitutes, replacements, second opinions.
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Rom 1:21)
If God is not preeminent, we will allow something else to be.
Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matt 6:9-10)
God’s will in Heaven is indisputable, unquestioned, without opposition, absolute. Not may your will be done on earth but your will be done on earth as it is being done in Heaven.
His prophets understood this and said things like:
I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. (Job 42:2)
Is anything too difficult for the LORD? (Gen 18:14)
'Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, (Jer 32:17) Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?" (Jer 32:26-27)
Abraham, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. (Rom 4:20-21)
Paul saw it and wrote: I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:6) And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28)
David wrote: Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; (Ps 138:7-8) Is God big enough to accomplish whatever concerns you?
God is not some hobby.
He’s not a subject to be studied.
He is not an addendum to our over-crowded lives.
He is not just the blesser or punisher of life.
We are not doing Him some religious favor by believing He exists.
He is God Most High! He is Almighty God! He wears the name that is above all other names. He is LORD! [He is Lord…]
How might that affect your prayer life? [Who you are talking with, what He’s capable of]
How might that affect how much you trust Him? [For your life, your health, your future,
your kids, your grandkids.]
How might that affect your confidence in His love, ability and plans in your life?
How might that affect your focus when you worship?
How might that affect your perspective on “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!” [Irrespective of what’s going on. Regardless of circumstances]
TAKEAWAYS:
1. Believing in God is not acknowledging that He is, but who He is.
2. Believing in God is declaring He is LORD.
3. If He is LORD, He is more than a religious entity.
4. If He is LORD, He is present, powerful and able to do exceeding abundantly beyond anything we could ever imagine.
5. Before we can have Easter, we must have a God able to plan, orchestrate and pull off the impossible.
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