On the last post we dived into just how important your name is. What you call yourself & what others call you matters a lot; they’re either speaking life or death into you(1 Samuel 25:25; Proverbs 18:21). But today, we are going to discuss just how important it is to know that God has a lot more than one name. And no matter what your circumstance is, He has one to meet your needs or desires(as long as it aligns with His will:).
So let’s start with the foundational ones. God is a tri-unified being, in that He is one God in three different ways. He is God the Father, God the Son(Jesus Christ-God in flesh), & God the Holy Spirit/Ghost. You can think of the Trinity in a sense of a man holding different roles in his life. For example, a man can be a father, a son & a brother all at the same time. It is one person, but in a different role depending on the situation. Scripturally speaking, God the Father, God the Son(Jesus Christ-God in flesh), & God the Holy Spirit/Ghost are found acting in unity in Genesis 1:26, Ezekiel 44:6, John 15:13-15.
The Fathers role is, you guessed it, a Father. The Father is not only one to the fatherless but also to those who have been abused, neglected, or mistreated by their biological or otherwise father. God understands that so many of humanity’s problems outside of the initial fall have been rooted in wrong upbringings from parent to child. With that in mind He became just what all of us needed: a loving Dad. He did so for the father’s role in a home but also for those who may have been mistreated by their mother or other family role model(Isaiah 45:15-16). Once we’re born again(Luke 3:16; John 3:3-8) God the Father raises us to be His sons in the spirit(Romans 8:16).
Now onto the Son. Jesus’ role in the Trinity is not only as our Atonement(payment)for sin, but He also stands as our Friend & High Priest to intercede for us to God the Father(John 14:14; Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 6:13-9:18). If you’ve ever just wanted to be with someone who understands you, look no further than Jesus. Jesus is the human, tangible image of the invisible God(Colossians 1:15). In simple terms, He’s the part of God that you can see & relate to. The Bible says in Hebrews 4:15 that Jesus can sympathize with all of our human flaws because He was tempted with the same things that we are as humans(y’know, cus He is a human)but didn’t sin. So not only does He have mercy on us for falling short of His glory(or His standard), but He also helps us to overcome our downfalls by His Spirit(Zechariah 4:6). Jesus is 100% God & at the same time 100% man. The big difference between His appearances though comes through His ascension to Heaven. Now Jesus looks completely different than what He did when He was originally on earth(Compare Isaiah 53:2 to Revelation 1:14-15).
Speaking of His Spirit, let’s wrap this first part up by talking about the final member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit/Ghost. First off, He is a person, not goosebumps. Second off, the Holy Spirit & the Holy Ghost are the same person. It’s like someone calling you by your first or your last name; you’d answer to both. Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s discuss why we need Him. We were chosen & predestined before creation for adoption as sons of God the Father through the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ(Ephesians 1:5). We were also redeemed by Jesus Christ from sin & death through His sacrifice of Himself at Calvary. And we are sealed for salvation & empowered to live holy through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit(Leviticus 19:2; 1 Peter 1:13-16; John 14:16; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22.) Jesus told us in John 14:12 that anyone who believes in Him the works that He has done & even greater than those we will do. That means every single miracle that Jesus did & even greater than those, He has commissioned us to do as well. Not to put on a show or to become prideful, but to love God, be obedient to Him & to love & serve others(John 14:15).
The best part is, we don’t(& shouldn’t try to) do them alone. That’s what Holy Spirit is with us for, to help us accomplish & establish the will of God here on earth as it is in heaven(Matthew 6:10; John 14:26). We should never try to rely on our feeble human strength to establish God’s kingdom here on the earth without Him, but only through partnership with the Holy Ghost can His will come to pass in us, through us, & around us.
Now that we’ve laid the ground work we can go further into the Old Testament names of God next time & why they’re just as significant to us now as they were then. Until next time: God bless you, may you be a bold, obedient & courageous disciple of Jesus!!