OUR WHOLY HOLY GOD
Our Wholy Holy God
Who is
God? That question has no simple answer,
unless it be, “Our Creator.” That answer
is true, but is much too simplistic. God
is complex in nature, yet easy to get to know when the heart is receptive. Volumes upon volumes have been written about
God over a period of several thousand years, but the best source of information
is still the Bible, His Word.
God
reveals Himself to us through nature (natural revelation), but it is through
reading His Word (special revelation) that we come to know Him. Reading the Bible brings us into a
relationship with Him, for this is the means through which He communicates with
us. Through His Word He comforts, He
warns, He teaches, He professes His love.
His promises bring us hope or fear, depending on which path of life we
choose. Those choices are defined in His Word.
When we read His Word with our hearts, and not just our eyes, He reveals
Himself to us as our loving Father, the Father of all creation, the Father of
time, as we know it. God Himself is
timeless.
God is
the name above all names. He attaches
great significance to names in the Bible, including His own. The name “God” appears 3,979 times throughout
the English Bible. It appears as “LORD,”
in all capital letters, or “Lord,” with only the “L” capitalized, 7,484 times
(NIV). But there are more variants to
the name than those translated into English.
“El” and “Yahweh” are the two most frequently used names for God in the
ancient versions of the Old Testament.
There are several variations of the Hebrew name “El,” such as “El
Shaddai,” meaning God Almighty, “El Hai,” meaning the living God, and “Elohim,”
said to be the plural of majesty, eminence, fulness, or greatness. “Yahweh” is believed to be a form of the
Hebrew verb “to be.” It further means
“He is,” He exists,” “He is present.” He
describes Himself as the “I AM” in his conversation with Moses at the burning
bush (Exodus 4). Some English
translations use the name “Jehovah” in place of Yahweh.
Because
of man’s fascination with God, who He is, and what He is all about, many
studies have been done. The word
theology comes from the Greek word “theos,” meaning God, and “logos,” meaning
“word” or “discourse.” (Enns, p. 183)
The meaning later expanded to include Christ and the Holy Spirit in the
study, since they, too, are part of the Godhead.
One of
the more complex issues about God is the Godhead. The Godhead is three Persons--God, Jesus
Christ, and the Holy Spirit--in one. Each Person in the Godhead assumes a role in the lives of mankind, yet
they are One. They were all there at the
creation of the universe (John 1:1-3), but God the Father maintained his role
as the invisible sustainer of the universe while His Son, Jesus Christ, assumed
the role of flesh and blood. With this
human identity came the limitations of and demands of the flesh, such as
eating, drinking, being tempted, suffering, and dying. We will never be able to stand before Him on
Judgment Day and say, “You don’t know how hard it was.”
Christ’s
purpose in coming was multi-faceted, such as to set an example for us, to teach
the Apostles and others in person, and ultimately to take our sins upon Himself
so that we might be redeemed. In this
state Christ was still God, but was somewhat limited by his fleshly
nature. He is The Word, the gospel, the
good news. All things that are, ever
were, or ever will be, point to Him.
After
Christ ascended into heaven, He left behind His Holy Spirit, which came in a
mighty manifestation upon the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost, ten days after
Christ’s ascension. The Apostles were
given special gifts from the Holy Spirit, such as healing, speaking in other
languages, casting out demons, and an immunity to snakebites. The Apostles could pass the gift onto certain people but those people could not pass it on (I Cor. 13:8-10). The purpose of the special gifts was to prove Jesus was, and is, who He said he was and still is. However, all are given the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit at baptism (Acts 2:38). This
phenomenal gift from God helps us to learn the truths of God, pricks our
hearts, and motivates us to take action. Our lives are transformed; we become new creatures. When we repent and are baptized, we too become wholly holy.
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