The Names of God - The Branch – Jesus

The Branch – Jesus

Zechariah 3:8 (ESV)

Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch.

When thinking from a New Testament perspective, the word “branch” normally brings to mind the teachings of Christ where He described Himself as The Vine and The Church as a branch. However, before Bethlehem and the virgin birth there were those waiting for THE Branch, the Messiah. This is to whom Zechariah made reference.

The prophetic words being spoken in Zechariah 3 were addressed to the priesthood. God, through His prophet, referred to them as “a sign.” God then made reference, again, to the coming of One called The Branch.

The Hebrew word used here, semaḥ, which means, “a sprout, literal or figurative; branch, bud, that which (where) grew (upon), spring (-ing),” is interesting. If you recall, when God first gave the Law to Moses, He also chose one of twelve tribes to be His own. The means by which the choice was made was to bring all the staffs of the leaders of the tribes together. You can read the account in Numbers 17.

Moses was instructed to place the twelve staves before the “testimony”, or the Ark of the Covenant, and leave them until morning. Here is what happened.

Numbers 17:8 (ESV)

On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.

A dry, dead piece of wood budded, and even produced fruit – ripe fruit – in one night! Through Zechariah, God spoke to very ones whom He chose by a sign of a “sprout” and told them a “sprout”, or Branch, is coming. Jesus Christ became the fulfillment of the original priesthood, whose sole purpose was to bridge the gap between God and man. Jesus would, once for all, offer the sacrifice of His own blood to redeem mankind back into right relationship with the Father.

This puts a whole new perspective on what Jesus then said about the Church. As He was preparing to give His life as the supreme sacrifice on the cross, Jesus His disciples some very encouraging words, though they did not fully understand them at the time.

John 15:5 (ESV)

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Just as Jesus had become the fulfillment of the “sign” of Aaron’s rod that budded, now we, the Church, have become The Branch from THE Vine! Now, we are to bear much fruit as we remain connected to Him. This is why THE Branch came: to graft us into God. It was the plan all along since the Garden.

The Church is the representation of Christ on the earth. Christians are the ambassadors that bring the message of Heaven to the people of this world. We are to show others the Kingdom of Heaven so they, too, can be grafted into Christ through the new birth.

Through this picture given to us by Zechariah we see that God always works by a process. He started redemption in the Garden after the fall, which separated man from fellowship with the Creator, so that we could once again “walk with Him.” Because of sin, we are all dry, dead wood like those staves of Israel. But if we will place ourselves before the Mercy Seat (which was atop the Ark of the Covenant) we can bud with new life, and bear fruit.

Another Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, gives another perspective on this Branch.

Jeremiah 23:5-6 (ESV)

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’…”

Jesus, from the lineage of King David, would rule and reign as a Righteous Branch. Jeremiah then gives one of the Seven Hebrew Names of God: Jehovah-Tsidkenu. It means, “The Lord Our Righteousness.” (I dealt with this name in the first book of The Names of God.)

Through the process of redemption, completed by the Holy Spirit, we are then grafted into eternal life in Christ. We are also made the Righteousness of God. We no longer have a sin nature, but now we live with the mind of Christ as He is formed in us.

The Names of God - Blessed and Only Potentate

Blessed and Only Potentate

1 Timothy 6:13-16 (ESV)

I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign (KJV – Potentate), the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Here is a word you probably do not hear every day. Potentate, in essence, means, “powerful ruler.” It’s easy to see how this name would be ascribed to Christ. It comes from the Greek word dynastēs, which means, “a ruler or officer; of great authority, mighty, potentate.” Our word today is sovereign. When we use this word in reference to a nation it means they are self-ruled. No one else has authority over them.

This is certainly true about our Lord. Paul described it this way:

Romans 16:25-27 (ESV)

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

This is commonly sung in church gatherings as The Doxology. My friend, Joey Holder, penned these words in his song, “Unto the King.”

Unto the King eternal

Unto the King immortal

Unto the King invisible

The only wise God

The only wise God

Unto the King be glory and honor

Unto the King forever

Unto the King be glory and honor

Forever and forever, A-men

“Unto the King” words and music by Joey Holder

©1980 Far Lane Music.

Regardless of how you express it we should give praise and glory to the Blessed and Only Potentate, our Savior, our Sovereign, our Soon Coming King, Jesus Christ, the Lord. He is the only “man” worthy of praise as a sovereign, because every other man that has ever lived, or will ever live, will bow to The Sovereign (Potentate), Jesus. As believers we do this on a regular basis. Our very lives are to be lived as a praise offering unto The King. (Ephesians 1:12)

The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego illustrates when a man decides to exalt himself above God. Nebuchadnezzar decided he was a potentate. Everyone treated him as a god, such that when the call to worship was given, everyone bowed to his image. However, these three Hebrew boys knew there was One higher, even though they had yet to meet Him. When the call to worship sounded they remained standing and would not bow. Even when threatened with death they refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar.

For the Christian, there is nothing and no one that deserves our praise other than Jesus Christ, our Sovereign. Never compromise your life by paying homage to anyone other than Jesus.

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!

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.