Thursday, August 22, 2019

The Names of God - The Beginning of the Creation of God


The Beginning of the Creation of God

Revelation 3:14 (ESV)
“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation…’”

With each letter to the churches in the book of the Bible titled, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” the Holy Spirit instructed John to include names that describe Jesus. In the letter to Laodicea John called Jesus “The Beginning of the Creation of God.” (KJV)

This is not when Jesus was “created,” because He was not created. He has always been, because He is eternal as part of the Godhead – three in one. But, just as both Genesis and John declare, “in the beginning … God said …” (Genesis) and “in the beginning was the Word …” (John) Both of these are references to Christ, the Word of God, who later was born as a man called Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore, all of God’s creation began with Jesus.

I know it is difficult for our human mind to fully comprehend this, but we see the triune nature of creation all around. Matter exists in three states: solid, liquid, and gas. Music has a triune nature: three notes form a chord, there are three aspects to music – melody, harmony, and rhythm. Man is a three-part being: body, soul, and spirit. In all of these cited you cannot have one part of it without the rest. The same is true of God: The Father, The Word, and The Spirit.

When you also consider the other names used in this particular letter from The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, The Amen and The Faithful and True Witness, you can see that Jesus is not “beginning” in this process. He stands by to give the “amen,” which means, “so be it.” He is also referred to as “The Faithful and True Witness.” He was with God in Creation, actively participating as The Word (the voice of God), by speaking into existence the things created. The Spirit was also actively responding to The Word and forming the very creation on the words being spoken.

As a matter of fact, the worlds we see only exist because of the words that were uttered by The Word during creation.

Hebrews 11:3 (ESV)
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Imagine that! The things we cannot see are more real than the things we can see. This is the essence of faith. We believe in something we cannot see, but know that it is more real than our very existence. The Word of God, Jesus Christ, Messiah, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Savior was present at creation and now is seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for you and me. I’m so glad to know that the One that formed the worlds is interested in my world to the point that He would pray to the Father regarding my concerns. That is some kind of Lord!




Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The Names of God - Author of Peace


Author of Peace

In earlier writings I looked at other names of God that include “peace” as part of the title; names like Jehovah-Shalom, Peacemaker, and Prince of Peace. All of these were given for a specific time in the life of those who penned these names. The title “Author of Peace” is only found in the King James translation of scripture. You will notice that “author” is in italics, which means it is not found in the original manuscript, but was added by the translators to make the passage more easily understood by the reader.

1 Corinthians 14:33 (KJV)
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Here is a representative translation used by other Bible translators:

1 Corinthians 14:33 (ESV)
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

The absence of “author” does not change the meaning of what Paul is trying to say. Anything that comes from God, hence, the notion of author, will be of peace and not confusion. The reason is that God in His very nature IS peace. This why so many Biblical writers used “peace” to describe Him. Other names include “God of Love and Peace,” “Lord of Peace,” “Our Peace,” and “God of Peace.”

Christians have the Holy Spirit within. It is the promise Jesus made before leaving earth. He said, “I will send another One just like Me to live IN you forever.” I believe the main way the Holy Spirit directs our lives is by peace. This is the reason Jesus came in the first place.

Luke 1:79 (ESV)
“… to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Regardless of the circumstances we face we can rest in the storm, just like Jesus did on the boat with His disciples. They had to wake Him up to tell Him how violently the storm was raging around them.

As we saw earlier when we considered other names for God, Author of Eternal Salvation and Author and Finisher of Our Faith, that God is writing our story if we are following his leading. He will, by His Spirit, guide us into peace and lead us by peace.

The greatest promise we have regarding the peace of God is found in the following verse.

Philippians 4:7 (ESV)
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We cannot fully understand the peace that God brings, but this same peace will guard our heart and mind because we are in Christ. This is a wonderful promise for us as Believers. Not only are we reconciled back to our Creator, and washed clean by the blood of Jesus, but salvation also brings us peace. The very thing everyone desires is included in the package of the New Covenant when we exchange our life for the life that God has for us.

We are now connected to the God of All Peace, the Author and Finisher of our Faith, and the faithful Author of Peace.





Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Names of God - Buckler


My Buckler/
Buckler to All Those That Trust In Him/
Buckler to Them That Walk Uprightly

Psalm 18:2 (KJV)
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

2 Samuel 22:31 (KJV)
As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.

Proverbs 2:7 (KJV)
He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

A buckler is a type of shield. It has a different name because of its function. Battle in Biblical times was very different than today. It was mostly hand-to-hand combat. There were spears that were hurled and arrows shot from bows that could travel a fair distance. That is why warriors would have large shields, large enough to hide behind to protect them from flying objects.

However, once they were close enough to engage the enemy the large shields were discarded and swords were then used to attack the enemy. While wielding a sword in one hand, the warriors would have a second, smaller shield that was either held in the opposite hand or strapped to their forearm. This was used to protect from sword strikes from the enemy.

Scripture tells us in many places that the Lord is our shield and buckler. This is not redundant. Both are needed. The buckler, however, had a specific use. Even though it was a defensive piece of armor it was only effective while on the offensive.

All the references to buckler are found in the Old Testament because in those days God would actually lead Israel into battle to physically overtake an enemy or those who occupied the land given to The Chosen People by God. It is still a valid analogy for the Christian, even though, as a Christian, we do not engage is physical hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.

Instead, it is a comfort to know that our God, our Buckler, is always ready to protect us from any attack of the enemy while we pursue the plans and purposes for which we were saved: to take the love of God to those who need to hear and to show others the Christ, our Savior. This is evangelism. This is how we share the Gospel.

If we confuse spiritual warfare with the “great commission” we will see anyone outside of the Church as an enemy to be conquered instead of souls to be reunited with their Creator. The “lost” is not the enemy. They are the very ones Jesus came to redeem. The only enemy is Satan, the devil, and his kingdom of darkness. Paul made it pretty clear that we do not engage this enemy with standard warfare.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (ESV)
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

The heart, the thing the buckler (small shield) is designed to protect, is the very thing that must be vulnerable to the lost. A heart connection is what the Holy Spirit uses to communicate the love of God to a hurting world. If we keep our heart “protected” from other people we will never have the impact needed to restore a lost one to the Father. Allow God to be our Buckler to protect us from the enemy so we can remain open to our world and allow them to see Jesus in us. This is living by faith.



Thursday, August 8, 2019

The Names of God - Apostle and High Priest of Our Confession


Apostle and High Priest of Our Confession (Jesus)

Hebrews 3:1-3 (ESV)
Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.

Apostolos is probably one of the more familiar Greek words from the New Testament. Its meaning is a little less familiar. Most immediately think of “The Twelve” that Jesus chose to help Him in His earthly ministry. However, we learn here in Hebrews that Jesus, Himself, is an Apostle.

The Greek meaning of apostle: a delegate; specially an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ (with miraculous powers); he that is sent. It is derived from a couple of other words which mean “set apart, i.e. (by implication) to send out (properly on a mission) literal or figurative.”

When referring to Jesus as Apostle it is easy to see this definition working in His life. He was sent from Heaven by the Father to live as the Son of Man in order to redeem us and restore us to full fellowship with our Creator.

The second term used in this phrase is High Priest. The Greek word used here is archiereus and means “the high-priest (literal of the Jews, typical Christ); by extension a chief priest.” I recently described this in detail in my book The School of Worship, where Jesus obtained His priesthood from the order of Melchizedek. This is all described later in the book of Hebrews.

Why does it matter that Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our Confession? I guess it depends on what you consider to be “our profession/confession.” The Greek word for this is homologia, which means “acknowledgment.” It means, “to say the same thing.” It is when you agree with God. Salvation comes to us when we identify with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seating at the right hand of Father, and then receiving the Holy Spirit Jesus sent to inhabit us so we can then be empowered to reconcile others to the Father.

By “profession/confession,” the writer of Hebrews is telling us that Jesus was sent (Apostle) to represent the Father (His love) to the world, and when we acknowledge (confess/profess) Him (Jesus), He then presents us (High Priest) to the Father as an offering to Him. Because we have been made clean by the blood of Jesus we are accepted by God.

Through our confession of Jesus Christ as our Lord we become heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. The very One (Jesus) that purchased our redemption also acts as the Executor of His will (New Testament). He does this as our Apostle and High Priest: sent from God to redeem us and serves as High Priest to reconcile us back to God.

This gives us confidence in approaching the Father in prayer, knowing that our Advocate, our High Priest, Jesus, is speaking to the Father on our behalf. The very one the Father sent to redeem us is giving testimony to the Father of our salvation through our confession/profession of faith in Him.