EmmDev 2022-08-31 [Attributes and Names of God] Omnipresent

Omnipresent

God is able to be present to all of His creation.
David explores the geographical extent of this when he talks about heights and depths and even the far side of the sea.
But then he goes even further:
Can the darkness hide him?

What kind of darkness is he talking about?
Physical darkness, emotional darkness, spiritual darkness?
Is he talking about the darkness of sin?
Will a Holy God go there?

The Good News is that He does!
John chapter one reminds us that Light shone in the darkness.
And darkness could not understand or overcome it.
Jesus came into our broken world.
Into the darkness of our broken systems and broken hearts.
Into the darkness of our failures and rebellion.
Into the darkness of our need.
He came.

And He loved, and He gave and He saved.

HALLELUJAH!

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalms139:7-12)

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EmmDev 2022-08-30 [Attributes and Names of God] Omniscient

Omniscient

God knows.
He knows everything.

That's pretty mind-bending!
The Psalmist recognises it: "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain."

We can't understand it, but we believe it.
-He knows our thoughts, our words and our actions.
-He knows our plans and our history.
-He knows our boundaries and limits - He hems us in.

Some commentators suggest that there is even a hint of frustration at being so thoroughly known.
If that is the case, the Psalmist, David, gets over himself, because at the end of the Psalm he opens himself to God's full knowledge:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts."

A God who does not know fully can be surprised.
A God who does not know fully is limited.
A God who does not know fully can't see clearly.

And so we believe that He is God and that He knows all.
We also believe that His knowledge is for our greater good and not to leave us exposed.
His all-knowing is also all-loving.
He knows us and loves us and sent His Son for us.

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in--behind and before; You have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. (Psalms139:1-6)

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EmmDev 2022-08-26 [Attributes and Names of God] Yahweh Mikoddishkem

Yahweh Mikoddishkem

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.'" (or "the God who sanctifies you.") (Exodus31:12-13)

Our divine name for today is Yahweh Mikoddishkem.
In Hebrew, "Kadosh" means "Holy".
This word is the root of the verb "Mikaddesh" which means to "make holy", "consecrate", "purify" or "sanctify" .
The "kem" on the end means "you" (plural) or "y'all".

This name appears twice in the OT: here in Exodus and then in Leviticus 20:7-8.
In both passages there is a clear pattern:
1. God instructs to the Israelites to be holy or to behave in a holy fashion.
2. He assures them that He is the God who makes them holy.

While this seems like a contradiction, it is not.
We are not able to be holy by ourselves.
But God, in grace and mercy, reaches out to us in our unholiness to bring about change deep within us so that we can begin to become like Him. He is asking us to grow into what He has already made us.

But there is a another nuance we must notice here:
When the generations to come observe how their parents and grandparents observed the Sabbath and walked in the pathways of God, they didn't say: "What amazing forebears we had." They knew and realised that it was God who made them holy.

We don't undertake holy behaviour to become holy.
We gravitate toward holy behaviour because God has made us holy within.
When we live like this it brings glory to God.

The really, really, really good news is that our God is Yahweh Mikoddishkem - the God who makes us holy.
The name Jesus - Yeshua - means Saviour.
John the Baptist said of Him: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."
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(Incidentally, we looked at Lev 20 in the third devotion in this series. You can find it here: https://emmdev.blogspot.com/2022/08/emmdev-2022-08-04-attributes-and-names.html )

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EmmDev 2022-08-25 [Attributes and Names of God] Yahweh Shammah

Yahweh Shammah

In the 25th year of the Exile in Babylon, God gave Ezekiel a vision of a new temple and a new Jerusalem. This vision is unpacked in detail for a full eight chapters, including a description of the River of Life that will flow from the temple and measurements that reveal the cubic symmetry of the city.

This description parallels the pictures of the New Jerusalem in Rev 21 and so many interpreters are quick to picture these as prophecies of the Heavenly City that awaits us in the future. What is interesting about Ezekiel is that after 8 chapters of painstaking measurement and description, the section and the book ends dramatically with a single sentence: "And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE."

Yahweh Shammah - The Lord is There.

This hope of restoration sustained Ezekiel in the exile. He longed for a day that they would return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. This hope sustained the Early Church as they faced the lions and gladiators and dreamed of a Heavenly Jerusalem.

BUT it is more than a distant hope!
There is another temple that we often forget. That temple is you and me. We are the temples of the Holy Spirit. God, by sending His Son to die for our sins, made it possible for us to be forgiven and restored. He is building His temple in us - and the name of our city, our lives, is Yaheh Shammah - God is there!

"These will be the exits of the city: Beginning on the north side, which is 4,500 cubits long, 31 the gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel. The three gates on the north side will be the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah and the gate of Levi. "On the east side, which is 4,500 cubits long, will be three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin and the gate of Dan. "On the south side, which measures 4,500 cubits, will be three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar and the gate of Zebulun. "On the west side, which is 4,500 cubits long, will be three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher and the gate of Naphtali. "The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits. "And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE." (Ezekiel48:30-35)

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EmmDev 2022-08-24 [Attributes and Names of God] Yahweh Roi (Shepherd)

Yahweh Roi (Shepherd)

Today's name for God is also one of His key attributes.
The LORD - The "I AM" of Israel is also our Shepherd.

The "Roi" of Ps.23 should not be confused with the "Roi" of Genesis 16:13. Although they look the same in English, they are spelt differently in Hebrew (one has an "Aleph" while the other has an "Ayin" as the silent consonant in the middle). One is a Shepherd, the other is "the One who sees". (We'll come back to the "God who sees.")

Although "Yahweh Roi" is found only once in the OT, namely here in Psalm 23, the theme and motif saturates both the Old and New Testament. It is an important motif and there are significant nuances. Palestinian shepherds lead their sheep, they don't drive them. They are not ranch hands with whips and brands, they are shepherds with a staff to drive off enemies and a crook to lift a stuck sheep out of a tight spot. They anoint with oil for healing and to drive off ticks and bugs. They lead their sheep to pasture and safety, often through the difficult terrain of fear, darkness and death.

The Good Shepherd, according to the images we find in Scripture:
- Lays down His life for the sheep
- Has a voice that the sheep know and trust
- Leads the the sheep safely
- Protects the sheep (even lying in the kraal doorway to prevent predators)
- Gently leads those who have young
- and so much more.

Take a moment to read the beautiful Psalm below and reflect on how God has shepherded you...

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalms23:1-6)

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EmmDev 2022-08-23 [Attributes and Names of God] Yahweh Nissi

Yahweh Nissi

One of the earliest battles the Israelites fought was against the Amelikites. They were not an experienced army - they were slaves who had recently become nomads. They faced a cruel enemy.

As they went into battle, Joshua led the troops while Moses watched over them from a hilltop. When his hands were raised over them, they were winning. When his arms drooped, the Amalekites surged back. So Aaron and Hur sat Moses on a rock, stood either side of him and held up his arms. When the battle was done, the victory was credited to Joshua, but God instructed Moses to record the battle and Moses built an altar called "Yahweh Nissi" - The Lord is my Banner.

We find banners in a couple of places in the OT...
Here are a few examples:

• Psa.60:4 But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
• Isa.11:10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples;
  the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.
• Isa.49:22 See, I will beckon to the Gentiles,
  I will lift up my banner to the peoples;
  they will bring your sons in their arms
  and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

From these passages we can see two nuances to the idea of the Lord being our banner.
The first is that the banner is a rallying point and call. We need to come towards, turn to, look up to, raise our hands towards and be summoned by the Lord who is our banner. The second nuance is the implication of victory and triumph - When the Lord is our Banner, we will triumph over our enemies.

There are dangers with this idea: We can use the Lord's name as a rallying cry and even as a guarantee of victory. We can appear to be honouring God's name and renown but actually just using His banner to manipulate others.
In the light of these dangers, there are three aspects from Moses' story that are important here:
1. Moses had to remain focussed on the Lord.
2. Moses had faithful people to support him.
3. Moses built an altar - He was crystal clear about who deserved the glory.

God is our refuge, our rescuer and deliverer. He is our Banner. If we rally to Him and remain focussed on Him, He will lead us to victory.

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up--one on one side, one on the other--so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. 14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." 15 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. (Exodus17:10-15)

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EmmDev 2022-08-19 [Attributes and Names of God] Yahweh Tsidkenu

Yahweh Tsidkenu

Jeremiah had one of the most difficult ministries: Warning a stubborn Israel that judgement was coming in the form of the Babylonians. He was in many ways like Winston Churchill warning about the trouble brewing in Germany and nobody listened. While Jeremiah never got to lead the nation like Sir Winston did, he had an even greater privilege: To have a vision of the coming Messiah and the New Covenant that he would bring.

This hope is beautifully presented in Jeremiah 31-33. He talks of a covenant written on hearts instead of stone, he buys land on the eve of an invasion and looks forward to the hope of the Messiah.

The picture Jeremiah has is of a "Righteous Branch" sprouting from David's line.
This is a clear picture of Jesus who "came to do what is just and right in the land."
And then He saved us, and we are the people who can be called by the name "Yahweh Tsidkenu".
("Tsidaka" is the Hebrew word for righteousness - the "oe"/"u" sound on the end is the possessive pronoun "of us")

That's literally what Jesus did for us.
We could not be righteous - so Jesus came to be our righteousness.
He had no sin of His own to pay for, so He could die for our sins.

In our third dev in this series we looked at the God who is holy and holy-making.
This theme is repeated in this beautiful title:
Yahweh Tsidkenu - God is our Righteousness.

Some 580 years before Christ, the prophet Jeremiah saw God's Plan which revealed God's Nature.
And it gave Him hope!

"In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; He will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness." (Jeremiah33:15-16)

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EmmDev 2022-08-18 [Attributes and Names of God] Yahweh Rapha

Yahweh Rapha

Our reading today is an interesting one. The Israelites have come through the Red Sea and entered the wilderness. Water is scarce and they come to a spring called Marah, but the water was bitter. Moses, with God's guidance, throws some branches in the water which makes it more palatable. Then God speaks to them warning them to obey the Lord so that they will not experience the diseases of Egypt. Then He introduces Himself as Yahweh Rapha - the God who heals.

Rapha means "to heal" "to make whole" "to properly mend by stitching" and "to repair." God does all of these things for us through his healing power. Rather than merely being about the healing the body, this Hebrew verb is also used in other ways - for example, God "heals" water, land, and nations, and he "repairs" an altar.

On a surface level, the application is straight-forward: Just as God healed the water, so He can heal us. Just as God can sweeten Marah (which means bitter), He can sweeten our bitterness too.

The Christian author Jamie Buckingham, in his book, "A Way through the Wilderness" offers a very interesting perspective from a journey he did retracing the journey of the Exodus. Buckingham suggests that the bitter of water Marah would not only have tasted bitter, but would probably have caused diarrhea which would have flushed many of the worms and gut parasites that that the Israelites brought from Egypt. The branches sweetened the water to taste, but they would probably still have experienced the other effects. This purge/cleanse/detox would then be symbolic of the cleansing that God wanted to do in the Israelite hearts.

God heals bodies, hearts, minds and souls. He heals societies and structures. He restores, renews and forgives. He is God our healer.

Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah. ) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?" 25 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. 26 He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you." (Exodus15:22-26)

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EmmDev 2022-08-17 [Attributes and Names of God] Yahweh Shalom

Yahweh Shalom

Gideon felt small...
He was from the smallest clan and the smallest tribe and he was threshing wheat in a winepress which is not efficient for wheat, but it is efficient for staying out of trouble.

God appears to Him.
It is not an angel of the Lord, but the angel of the Lord: A pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus.
Gideon doesn't recognise him and they talk. Gideon raises the aching question, "If God is with us then why are we experiencing such pain?" This question reflects the age old debate we call Theodicy: "Where is God when we are hurting?"

The Angel's answer is to commission Gideon to be part of the solution.
Gideon decides to bring an offering and asks for a sign.
When Gideon has prepared the sacrifice, it is miraculously consumed by fire.
Gideon realises that He is in the presence of God and assumes that this will result in his death.

But God speaks the words we hear so often in Scripture: "Peace!" and "Don't be afraid."
-It's God's promise of His presence in Lev.26:6
-It's the promise of restoration in Jer 30:10 and 46:27
-It's the comfort given to Daniel in Dan10:19
-It's the news given to the shepherds in Bethlehem's fields in Luke 2
-It's the reassurance of Jesus in John 14:27

Gideon encounters God and gets given the mission of rescuing Israel from the mighty multitudinous Midianites. What name might we expect him to associate with God? One might expect "God Almighty" or "God of the Armies" or "God our Deliverer" but Gideon calls the Altar "Yahweh Shalom"
- He had lived in fear of his enemies
- He had lived in the struggle of Theodicy
- And he'd lived with the deep sense of inadequacy and brokenness
But God found him, heard him and called him.
His simple sacrifice was received and Gideon experienced deep and profound SHALOM.

In Hebrew "Shalom" is more than the absence of trouble.
It is wholeness, health, internal integration, connection, purpose and comfort.

Gideon's enemies are still there and he is going to have to pull down his father's idols and lead an army.
But Gideon, out of all he had experienced in his God-moment, holds on to one thing above all else: "When God met with me, I felt deep peace."

He is YAHWEH SHALOM.

The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together." 17 Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return." 19 Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak. 20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so. 21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!" 23 But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die." 24 So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. (Judges 6:16-24)

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EmmDev 2022-08-16 [Attributes and Names of God] Yahweh Yireh

Yahweh Yireh

Providence: God provides.
This is a key attribute of God and, in the OT, is one of the titles that is given to God: "Yahweh Yireh" (Many are more familiar with the phrase "Jehovah Jireh" which is how many people used to pronounce the Hebrew.)

Abraham assured Isaac that God would provide a Lamb.
Interestingly enough - it was a ram that was provided on that day.
But John the Baptist on seeing Jesus at the start of his public ministry said: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

God provides.
He gives us our daily bread.
He gives us our opportunities.
He gives us breath in our lungs and vitality in our bones.
He gives the people who sustain us and opens and closes doors for us.
And most of all: He gave His one and only Son...

Today we recognise that God provides!

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" 8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. 9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. 12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place "The LORD Will Provide." And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." (Genesis22:6-14)

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EmmDev 2022-08-12 [Attributes and Names of God] Faithful

Faithful

Not only is God loving.
He is also Faithful.
This means that His love perseveres, endures and persists.

Our reading today is a Psalm that celebrates God's faithfulness.
- He is faithful throughout generations - His love stands firm forever
- He is the God who keeps His Covenant
- The cycles of creation testify to His faithfulness
- Even the heavenly beings testify to His awesomeness, might and faithfulness

So what is faithfulness?
It's that God is reliable, consistent and unchanging.
That His word is true and that His promises are sure.
God's faithfulness means that we can trust Him and rely on Him.

Paul puts it so beautifully in his letter to Timothy:
If we died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure,we will also reign with him.
If we disown him, he will also disown us;
if we are faithless, He will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself. (2Tim3:11-13)

God is faithful - we can trust and hope in Him.
Read about it in the Psalm below...

1 I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. 2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. 3 You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, 4 'I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.' " Selah 5 The heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. 6 For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? 7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him. 8 O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you. (Psalms89:1-8)

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EmmDev 2022-08-11 [Attributes and Names of God] God is Love

God is Love

When people talk about love they often turn to 1Corinthians 13, but as beautiful as that chapter is, it actually only tells us what love is like.

John, the "apostle of love", makes the argument that love is not a thing or an emotion, but the very expression of who God is.
Look at the progression in John's argument:

• We who call ourselves Christians, should love, because love comes from God.
• Love is the hallmark of those who are born of God and know God.
• In fact, love is not optional, because God is love.

What is love? Love is God!
What did Love (God) do?

• He showed love by sending His Son
  (John makes it clear that God took the first steps - He always makes the first move to us - He always initiates)
• His Son made it possible for us to live - He died as an atoning (at-one-ment) sacrifice.
• Love (God) makes it possible for us to love others
• Love enacted makes God visible.

What is Love? Love is God and God is love.
What did love do?
- Love (God) always takes the first step.
- Love (God) self-reveals and comes to us
- Love (God) makes sacrifices for atonement
- Love (God) enables us to love. (If we don't love then we don't know God.)

What is love? John 3:16.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son..."

When we were far away, insensitive and unresponsive, God came to us.
He saved us and knowing Him transforms us. This is God and God is love!

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1John4:7-12)

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EmmDev 2022-08-10 [Attributes and Names of God] Omnipotent

Omnipotent

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation1:8)

This is how God reveals Himself to John on the island of Patmos.
And what a powerful introduction it is.
God is omnipotent (all-powerful).

Look how He nuances it:

• Alpha and Omega: the first and last letters of the alphabet (and everything in between!) If you can think it, name it and spell it, it is part of who God is.
• The One who Is, Was and Is to Come: The present, the past and the future
• Almighty: the Greek word is "pantokrator" which means "has dominion over all!"

Who is is God?
He is omnipotent.
Nothing is outside of Him.
Nothing pre-dates Him and nothing will outlast Him.
He has dominion over all things.

Now many struggle with this...
If God is good and if God is all powerful then why is there chaos and brokenness in the world?
The answer is that God allows it.
He makes space within His sovereignty to allow us limited free will.
This freedom exacts a terrible price - we would need rescuing and our rescue would cost Christ His life.

Omnipotence is hard for us to grasp but the alternative is frightening: If there is something that God is not in control of then we are in trouble.

And so, while we struggle with a world we can't control and understand, we take comfort with Jeremiah, who in the midst of being besieged by the Babylonians had the faith to say: "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you." (Jer32:17)

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EmmDev 2022-08-05 [Attributes and Names of God] Infinite

Infinite

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans11:33-36)

My need for sleep makes me I am deeply aware that my energy is finite.
My lack of answers makes me deeply aware that my knowledge is incomplete.
The brokenness of the world around me reminds me that human goodness isn't nearly enough.

God, on the other hand, is infinite.
His wisdom and knowledge are so vast that you can't use google to search them.
He needs no advisors and has never had to borrow from anyone.

He is the Source of all things ("from Him")
He is the Sustenance of all things ("through Him")
He is the Meaning and Destination of all things ("to Him")

God is Infinite - immeasurable and glorious.
He doesn't need us, but we sure need Him!

And it is our need of Him that brings Paul to this point of praise.
He's been writing to the Romans about the human condition.
That all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.
That we were unable to save ourselves.
But that the infinite God, allowed His Son to become so finite that He died.
And then in the miracle of love, He was able to defeat even death and sin to be our infinite and limitless God.

Do I hear a Hallelujah?!?

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EmmDev 2022-08-04 [Attributes and Names of God] Holy and Holy-Making

Holy and Holy-Making

Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy. (Leviticus20:7-8)

There are numerous passages that speak about the holiness of God.
What is holiness?
It is righteousness, purity, justness.
It is to be free from malice, pettiness, jealousy, insecurity and falsehood.
It is moral excellence and internal consistency.
God is all of these things. This means that we can trust Him completely.

Our passage, however, takes it further:
His holiness is so full and good that it calls us, draws us and demands of us to be holy too.
We strive to be holy because of who He is.
We walk in His ways to become like Him: His holiness should be attractive to us.
Unfortunately we are broken and cannot emulate God's holiness by ourselves.

But the passage takes us further still!
Not only is God Holy, and not only does God's holiness call us to be holy, but God will make us holy. The name we give to this process of holy-making is "sanctification." And from the outset God has sanctified us so that we can experience His presence.

Initially, the sanctification was outward and provided ceremonial/symbolic holiness:
- God gave animal skins to naked Adam and Eve.
- The burning of sacrifices and the blood of sacrifices cleansed worshippers' consciences.
- The practice of ceremonies and rituals and the keeping of law shaped lives from the outside.
Although God gave us these avenues to be holy, we kept failing...

But God had something even more beautiful in mind:
The whole of the OT pointed to Someone who would take away our guilt in one day and then send His Holy Spirit to renew us from the inside out. And so Christ came - the Holy Son of God who died to take away our unholiness and give us His Spirit so that we could become holy from the inside.

What an amazing God! Holy and making holy!

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EmmDev 2022-08-03 [Attributes and Names of God] I am who I am

I am who I am

Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' " God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. (Exodus3:13-15)

Picture Moses in the desert. He's an exiled and defeated man struggling with what is happening to his people and yet when he tried to do something about their plight, it backfired and got him into trouble. He's given up hope on the future and has resigned himself to a nomadic life.

Then he comes across a burning bush that burns but isn't consumed.
And God meets him there.
Moses needs to take off his sandals (the humility we talked about yesterday).
And as he encounters God, he is given a mission to go to liberate his people.

But Moses has doubts. If the people were as disillusioned as he was, what picture of God could he give them? The burning bush has set Moses on fire, but what will put flame to their hearts?
"Give me your name" he asked...
But this is dangerous territory...
In Hebrew culture when you know someone's name you have power over them - they must respond when you call...
So God doesn't give a name. He gives a concept. "I am who I am."
"I am" - present continuous first person singular of the verb "being".
"Who am I? I just am."
"Not I was." (This implies a beginning - God has no beginning - all things start with Him)
"Not I will be." (This implies a destination or end or journey - God has no end - all things find their end/meaning/purpose in Him.)
He is the X in the equation - we can't pin down its value, but it changes everything.

When He does give a name, it is derived from the verb "Being".
The Hebrews wrote it as "Yahweh" (for a while people pronounced it "Jehovah" but the Hebrews would never read the name aloud, they would substitute it with a more generic reference to deity: "Adonai" (Sovereign One.)) (When you see LORD (with small caps) in your Old Testament, you are seeing Yahweh...)

So God's name revolves around the fact that He IS. No beginning, no end.
He can't be pinned down and even the chosen name He gives indicates His independence.
He is eternal, limitless, uncontainable and worthy of our humble worship.
All other things burn and are consumed - but God is self-contained - He needs nothing - but His presence changes everything!

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EmmDev 2022-08-02 [Attributes and Names of God] Humility Required

Humility Required

God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. (Ecclesiastes5:2)

For the next while we're going to look at a series on some of the attributes and names of God.
I pray it will be meaningful and impactful.
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It was 1988 and I was a first year theology student. These were the opening words of our first year Systematic Theology Professor Johan Heyns:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, don't think that we will be putting God on a microscope slide and examining Him.
We can never be the Subject who will examine God as the Object.
Anyone who attempts to examine God will discover that God is always the Subject and that it is us who look up from the microscope slide to get a small glimpse of the One who sees us in entirety."

Over the next few weeks, we will be talking about who God is and what He is like.
This should always be done with great humility.
Even our ability to perceive Him and think about Him are a gift from Him.
We see only what He reveals to us and only what our minds can cope with.
(The brain-bending photographs from the new James Webb telescope come to mind in this regard and the photographs aren't photographs of God, just photographs of His handiwork!)

Normally when we describe something or someone, we are setting the boundaries. We talk about delimiting and delineating... This is normal when we are the subject describing an object. But when we talk about God we can never be the subject.

Whatever we say about God does not define or delimit Him, but makes a demand on us to respond.
If we describe God as Holy then we are called to be holy in as much as we can
If we describe God as love then we are called to love in as much as we can.
If we describe God as Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient then we are called to worship because we cannot be of those!

The writer of Ecclesiastes took the razor of pragmatism to the complexities of life and the meaning of it, and yet, when it came to God, he refused to be reductionist - he insisted on wonder:
"God is in Heaven - you are on earth."
God is the Subject. You and I are the object.
And so we let our words be few...

I pray our series will be one where we will attempt to describe just a little (few words) of what we understand about God and then I pray that we will contemplate in worshipful wonder!

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