God's NAME Is A Sacred Four-Letter Word

Last week I began a series of meditations upon prayer, especially The Prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray. The Prayer he gave them is known by millions around the world as the LORD's Prayer. So far we've pondered what it means to call upon Our Father in the heavens (Matt. 6:9). We continue our prayers by asking that our Father's name be hallowed (Luke 11:2).

I've often led my readers to ponder the Name of God, the Name above all names, shared by all three persons of the Holy Trinity, the name we have translated as I AM. This is the Name God first revealed to Moses when He sent Moses to stand before Pharaoh in ancient Egypt.

Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his Name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people 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 thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. - Exod 3:13-15 ESV

This ancient believers in Old Testament times would not even pronounce The Name, because they held it so sacred.   The four-letter Name looks like this in Hebrew.

Believers feared to offend God in some way or to leave the impression they held some other god before Him (Exodus 20:3). Thus, to avoid speaking this sacred Name in anything less than reverence, fear and deepest awe, they would instead speak their name for LORD, pronounced as Adonai. Even that Name was used only in prayer. Elsewhere the pious believer would speak only of The Name. In our English Bibles translators usually indicate the presence of The Name in Hebrew by writing LORD. 

Now our LORD Jesus, who shares The Name with the Father (Rom. 10:9), teaches also us to hold the Father's Name in deepest reverence. Surely we too must hold this God in the same deep awe as did believers in the days of the Old Covenant. By Him all things were made. In Him all things hold together. 

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens (Shamayim), who spread out the earth by myself, - Isa 44:24 ESV

Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; ... to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; - Psa 136:3, 5 ESV 

 And yet our Father has chosen us to be His children and invites us to draw near to Him as dear children draw near to their earthly fathers, completely unafraid. More next time on how to hold God's Name holy and yet come to Him as our Papa in childish delight and confidence. 

Jesus' Name Of Power

This week I write about Jesus' ascension and return to power and glory at the Father's right hand. But  I want you to understand that I do not write as an academic. You see, I am 78 years old and this weekend the doctors will operate on my heart for the second time in just over four years. Granted, they tell me I'm in relatively good physical condition and that the replacement of my aortic valve stands a 90% + chance of being successful and without complications. Nevertheless, something unforeseen could happen. So I turn to my faith and invite you to meditate with me upon the promises of God's Word that I hold dear.

The Apostles' Creed says, "He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty." As Jesus prepared to leave, He spoke these words to His disciples, "I AM with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). Those are exceedingly comforting words.

Any and every I AM statement Jesus made links Him to the Name of God revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" - Exd 3:13-14 ESV

Some translate: I will be what I will be or I am what I am.

This is the name shared by every person of the Trinity. It is the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Whenever and wherever that Name is invoked, there is power, the power  Jesus demonstrated again and again in His earthly ministry. He is the great I AM who listens to us, identifies with us and answers our every prayer.

The Gospel of John calls Jesus demonstrations of His power signs. The God whose name is I AM, who delivered His people, fed them in the wilderness and brought them into the promised land, is among us, writes the Apostle.

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. - John 2:11 ESV

Thus I rejoice that Jesus has come among us to free us from anxiety. He is quite capable of caring for me as I face this operation. He is ready to care also for you in every crisis you face today. Ponder with me seven signs John records, signs that point to Jesus' power.

• John 2:1-11 - He turned water into 190 gallons of the best wine. Consider His control over all sources of food, all plants and animals and everything we need to feed, nourish and heal our bodies and bring joy to our hearts. 
• John 4:46-54 - As He healed a nobleman's son, He is ever ready to hear our pleas for help and healing. 
• John 5:1-9 - Even a helpless paralytic was healed at the Bethesda pool. However helpless we feel, Jesus is ready to rescue and restore us. 
• John 6:1-14 - If He could feed over 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, He can surely provide for us this day. 
• John 6:15-21 - As Jesus calmed the storm on the sea of Galilee, so He comes to us in the midst of our extremities to remind us of His presence and power to make everything calm. 
• John 9:1-12 - Jesus healed even a man blind from birth
• John 11:1-44 - And above all, behold how He raised Lazarus from the dead. Here is a wondrous sign to us that we who are in Christ will never die, even though we set aside this body. 

For behold, Jesus rose from the grave Himself! All that I have written above hangs on this. If Christ is not risen, then your and my faith in Christ is empty, pointless and foolish. Everything flows to and follows from this greatest of all signs. When attacked by His earthly contemporaries Jesus said, 

"An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. - Mat 12:39 ESV 

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ... An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." So he left them and departed. - Mat 16:1, 4 ESV

Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, essentially dead and without hope of life (Jonah 1:17). But then the fish vomited him out on dry land. Likewise Jesus was dead and for three days He was in the belly of the earth. But on the third day He rose from the dead. No one can and ever will be able to prove otherwise. As Paul says, 

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. - 1Cr 15:14-20 ESV

This is the same Jesus who meets us all as we gather in His name to worship Him. He is with us to heal our wounds and bind up our broken hearts with His word of forgiveness and His promise to bring us safely to our Father's home. This is my faith as I face yet another operation. This is my comfort amidst all dangers and doubts. I pray that it is yours as well. 

Where Is Jesus To Be Found?

The church has always taught that Jesus ascended into heaven after His resurrection. Where then is He? In heaven? Yes. And everywhere else. But where may I find Him so that I too may speak with Him and hear Him speak to me? The specific answer to that question is where two or three are gathered together in Jesus' name. Let me explain.

As Jesus prepared to ascend to His rightful throne in heaven, He emphasized an important truth about Himself. He is both true Man, the Son of Man and He is LORD, the God who revealed Himself across the centuries to His people Israel. His is the Name revealed to Moses,

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" - Exd 3:14 ESV

A footnote translation reads: I am what I am, or I will be what I will be.

This is the Name of Jesus Christ. He is the ONE who revealed Himself to Moses and gave him the Name. This is the consistent witness of all true believers. As the Apostle Paul writes about true worshippers,

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Phl 2:9-11 ESV

To gather together in Jesus' name is therefore to gather together to worship, to praise and to pray to Him. Even before His ascension the LORD Jesus promised,

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." - Mat 18:20 ESV

Where is Jesus found? In His body, the assembly of the believers, the church among whom His Name is held sacred. There He is, teaching, warning, comforting, consoling and guiding. It need not be a great assembly of thousands—although it may well be. It can be two or three gathered to worship and praise. There He meets us. There He comes to speak to us through the mouths of our brothers and sisters. There is the power that only He can exert. There He speaks the word of forgiveness to the penitent. As Jesus said after His resurrection,

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld." - Jhn 20:22-23 ESV

We all may at times have personal difficulties with the way our fellow Christians act. Even after baptism we believers retain our old Adam, our sinful natures. And we give into that nature. Indeed our life in Christ is a constant struggle, as Paul writes,

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. - Rom 7:18-20 ESV

And yet when we are assembled together in Jesus' Name He is among us, speaking His Word. The world around us does not see Him. But we do. And we rejoice in His Presence. He is what He is and He will be what He will be.

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. - Prov. 18:10