“O LORD our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance.” (Isaiah 26:13, ESV)
Bringing It All Together
Before I move on to look at the names of God in the New Testament, I wanted to take a moment to bring these Old Testament names together in one place.
When we look at each name individually, we end up seeing each name in its own place, disconnected from the other names. It’s helpful to do that occasionally because it helps us dive deeper into one name/attribute of God. However, we never want to stay there long. It’s more important that we see how each of these names interact with each other to give us a fuller picture of the God we worship. When we do that, we find it to be a beautiful picture.
Summary of OT Names
Herman Bavinck helps us bring all these names, and their meanings, together into one place, helping us to see how they interact with one another.
“The name Elohim denotes God as Creator and Sustainer of all things; El Shaddai represents him as the mighty One who makes nature subservient to grace; YHWH describes him as the One who in his grace remains forever faithful; YHWH Sabaoth characterizes him as king in the fulness of his glory who, surrounded by regimented hosts of angels, governs throughout the world as the Almighty, and his temple receives the honor and acclamation of all his creatures.”
(Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, p. 146)
That is a beautiful picture!
God From Beginning to End
I can’t help but worship as I read that summary of our God. He truly is God from beginning to end. He is the one who created everything in the beginning. He is also the God who will bring everything toward its fulfillment in the end. He is holding up his creation—actively working in the world. Nature isn’t “running wild” but is obedient to our Mighty God. Yet, our Mighty God is faithful to His people. He will never leave us nor forsake us and will fulfill all of His promises. Yet, he isn’t just our “buddy.” He is the God of Glory—the King of Kings. He sits on his throne with all of creation, and angels, and the redeemed shouting praise and honor and glory to Him forever. He is ruling and reigning over creation and history. He is ruling and reigning as the powerful, faithful God of grace who created all things.
Bringing Balance
Each of us has a tendency to grab hold of things we like and let go of things we don’t like. So, when we look at the individual names/attributes of God, we do the same thing. Those of us who like to emphasize God’s faithfulness and grace will hold those names dearly but neglect the aspects of God’s power and might. Those of us who like to emphasize God as a Mighty King will gravitate toward those names but neglect the aspects of God’s grace and faithfulness. This is not how we are to view God.
We are called to view God in the fullness of his being. We must work hard to embrace the fullness of who God is. We must balance his mighty power and his grace, his judgment and his mercy, his “otherness” and his relatability to us. We must continually work to keep these aspects of God’s character in their proper balance as we worship and follow Him.
So, take some time this week to meditate on Bavinck’s summary of God’s names. Make sure you take extra time to meditate on the names that don’t naturally “grip” you. Pray that God would work in your heart so that EVERY one of his names/attributes would stir your heart to worship.