Previously we established that He is El, Ab, and that the Father dwellt in Him, He and the Father were Once and that is the I AM of Exodus.
But there is much more to be understood. There are many Names of God given in the Old Testament and they are reflected in what Jesus Christ did on the cross. Perhaps that is too subtle a way to put it. The nature of our Father God was fully expressed on and through the cross.
We know about His nature because the many names He gave Himself in the Old Testament express His nature, and we know that Jesus Christ is the exact impression of that nature… so we will find each of those Names fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
We can see the full nature of God the Father and we can understand Jesus Christ when we look at Him in this way. So here is just a short list of the Name of God in the Old Testament and how they relate to His complete work on the cross, His “one act of righteousness”…
- When He cried out “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” He was fulfilling the meaning of His Name: Elohay Selichot – God Of Forgiveness: (Nehemiah 9:17).
- By taking all sin upon Himself and setting it aside and abolishing it, He fulfilled the meaning of His Name: Elohe Tsadeki (Psalms 4:1)- GOD of My Righteousness. Note how personal that Name is: my righteousness.
- By destroying death, destroying the devil and destroying all the works of the devil He fulfilled the meaning of His Name: Elohim Machase Lanu (Psalms 62:8)- GOD Our Refuge. Again it is personal, OUR refuge.
- By saving us from sin, death, the devil and his works, He fulfilled Jehovah Keren-Yishi (Psalms 18:2)- The LORD the Horn of My Salvation and He became our refuge: Jehovah Machsi (Psalms 91:9)The LORD My Refuge, and Jehovah Magen (Deuteronomy 33:29)- The LORD the Shield, and Jehovah Maginnenu (Psalms 89:18)- The LORD Our Defense, and Jehovah Metsudhathi (Psalms 18:2)- The LORD My High Tower, and Jehovah Roi (Psalms 23:1)- The LORD My Shepherd, and Jehovah Mephalti (Psalms 18:2)- The LORD My Deliverer. Note the frequent use of the word “my” in those Names.
- By judging sin (and then taking the full chastisement for sin) He fullfilled His own Name of Elohim Shophtim Ba-arets (Psalms 58:11)- GOD that Judgeth in the Earth, and Jehovah Hashopet (Judges 11:27)- The LORD the Judge. The full righteousness of God according to the law was not avoided, it was fully judged and expressed and poured out as chastisement onto Jesus Christ on the cross. Not a letter passed from the law, it was all fulfilled.
- By literally walking amonst us and sleeping and eating with us in our homes, He fulfilled Immanu El – God Is With Us: (Isaiah 7:14), and Jehovah Immeka (Judges 6:12)- The LORD Is with You, and Jehovah Shammah (Ezekiel 48:35) The LORD Is There, and Jehovah-Shammah “the Lord is present” (Ezekiel 48:35). Again the personal words “us” and “you” are used.
- It was He who sanctified us (made us righteous, right with God) and in this way He showed us that He is the fullness of Jehovah Mekaddishkem (Exodus 31:13) The LORD that Sanctifies You, and Jehovah Tsidkenu (Jeremiah 23:6)- The LORD Our Righteousness, and Jehovah-Mekoddishkem “The Lord who sets you apart.”The Lord who makes holy, Exodus 31:13. Note the personal words “you” and “our”.
- He healed us by His stripes, and in this way He showed the fullness of the Name Jehovah Rophe (Exodus 15:26)- The LORD (our) Healer, and Jehovah-Rapha “the Lord that healeth” (Exodus 15:26)
That was just a selection of His Names as Father God which we shown to us as He walked amongst us and died in our place. Some of those names are also suitable for the Holy Spirit, because Jesus said He was going away but would come back… as the “Wonderful Counsellor” (Isa 6:9) which He did do at Pentecost, so these Names refer to Him now being with us.
By literally walking amongst us and sleeping and eating with us in our homes, He fulfilled Immanu El – God Is With Us: (Isaiah 7:14), and Jehovah Immeka (Judges 6:12)- The LORD Is with You, and Jehovah Shammah (Ezekiel 48:35) The LORD Is There, and Jehovah-Shammah “the Lord is present” (Ezekiel 48:35).
The eventual fulfillment and fullness of God being present with us was pointed to by Ezekiel…
Eze 37:26-28 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
First please note to whom He is speaking, it’s not to a “saved” people, but to a people who are spiritually “dead”…
Eze 37:12-13 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.
And I think it’s important to notice that these things that Ezekiel speaks about also comes because the people ASK Him to do it. The impetus is Sovereign, the direction comes from Him, it’s in His timing… but the people ask Him to do it. That means that our faith and willingness is required…
Eze 36:37 “Thus says the Lord GOD: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock.
“I will let”… those words seem to imply a period of waiting, while He “lets” the people ask Him. So once again an active faith is shown to be a part of the key, with the other part being His willingness and His timing, because as Jesus Christ said, the Father sets the times and seasons…
Act 1:7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
There is no room for passively waiting. If our eyes are open to these things, then it is time, it is that season, because He has opened our eyes and ears to Himself. No one can come to Him, unless He enables us. So if it’s time, then we are required to have faith and ask – in order to receive.
Someone I knew and respected once observed that it’s not 100% God and 0% us (this leads to passivity). It’s not 100% us and 0% God (this leads to deception and presumption). It’s not 50% God and 50% us (this is ineffective). It’s really 100% God and 100% us… that leads to revival and change and healings and everything else we so ferverently desire.
We can see this truth in the words of Jesus Christ when He said “you can do nothing apart from Me”. It is clear that He expects us to DO things. But we must remain connected to what He has done on the cross, in order for us to be effective.
Joh 15:5 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.
Let me say it again, there is no room in Christianity for passivity. Our biggest (natural, humanly speaking) enemy seems to is low self-esteem, it causes us to wait for something to happen. But that something has already happened!
If we do not believe that He came, or that He resolved all things, then we will wait until He comes again for Him to resolve things. That is unscriptural to the extent that it is anti-the-Christ. Not believing that He died on the cross while taking all sin and restoring everything in Heaven and on Earth back to our Father God, is to deny His work on the cross. This stronghold is common in the church and it must be pulled down, in order for the church to become all it can be. We simply must get connected to the Vine and drink from Him.
Taken from…
Book: If My people (v35!) (1+MB) – A free daily devotional which is under development. 167 pages.
Faith + Hope + Love 