The Word of His Name...

the Word

God invites His people into a deeper relationship with Him, inviting us to pray, think, and ponder the depth of the meaning of the words, and thus the fullness of His Word.

The essential purpose by election of Jesus was, of course, to die for our sins on the cross and, through repentance and faith in him, open the way for us to experience eternal life with the Father thus fully vindicating His word above His name. To begin with, we must understand that this is a difficult saying that gives the impression that God somehow exalts His Word above His character. God’s vow, His promise is magnifying the revelation of the “Word” before reason. So, how was Isaac, Jacob, Solomon, etcetera, justified in the covenant line? Blood lineage as reasoned is overridden by the revelation of one’s own faithfulness or lack of faithfulness. Remember it was revelation that revealed to Rebekah that Jacob was to be given the birthright. When we rightly divide the word of truth we will see that Ishmael, Esau, and Adonijah lacked faithfulness. In all situations we must let God’s will be worked out without our interference. His word will come to be as providenced. Esau was also blessed—with the bounties of the earth, and with the potential to cast off the yoke of oppression; but like most of us he valued what he had lost after it was gone and rued the day he had traded the birthright off to Jacob. He bitterly resolved to get revenge by fratricide when he saw the blessing of transmittal of the birthright actually confirmed upon the head of him to whom he had bartered the right to it.

God underscores His word by standing behind it with His name…He is God. God’s name is His authority and reputation…”in the name of Jesus Christ we pray”. God exalts His Word above all other things that are under His authority, even His authority itself.  Let me repeat that…God, in all His authority, has exalted His Word. In the culture of the Old Testament, God’s people already understood that the “name” of God was exalted above all things, so there would not be much point in saying it. On the other hand, to hear that God exalted His Word above His very name, His authority, is an amazing revelation. God’s word is His principled promise. And it is precisely His promises why we can see the likes of Jacob blessed with the inheritance before ever he was born. God’s name speaks of His great power and majesty, His perfect character and utter holiness. God has magnified His word above His name!  He has made His word more significant than His name! He did so because without knowing His Word, we cannot know how to access the power of His name.

His name is called the Word of God.

We cannot profess to have a deep relationship with God if we don’t have a deep relationship with His Word…thus the light of men that we think we have, is actually the darkness…if we simply can’t comprehend His Word. God’s truths are definitely offensive to many. Think about it, Jesus Christ was graceful and kind yet he rebuked, reproved, corrected, and chastened when confronted with sin and falsehood…that’s no different than the Word of God. God, Himself, stands over and watches over His own Word, making sure it is fulfilled. He will hasten His word to perform it. God’s Word accomplishes that which He purposes in the thing for which He sent it. God magnifies His Son above every other manifestation of Himself. Jesus, the Word, is the revealed splendor of God the Father in His present glory.

God’s word unlocks the power of His name. The power of God's Word lies in the truth it proclaims. And His name is magnified forever. As we study the word it increases in significance and intensity. This gives purpose to the narrative prepared by God. God’s election is called to reveal His name and His character and His purpose to the chosen people that He has selected, and then through us reveal His name and His reputation to all the nations. God, the title, is the category of being deity. When He refers to His name He declares “I Am that I Am”. This, the revelation of who He is. This, His memorial unto all generations. It reveals Him in His self-existence. Thus, His word is more than existence. It is not just that He is, but also what He is. His word embraces His name…”I Am”. His word gives thought to His character…”I Am that I Am”! What is He, then, in this which He is? What is His name as to character. He has revealed not only that He is, but He has revealed what He is; and this in order that all may know Him; may know His name in its fullness, and as it is in truth. Hear God proclaim His name…The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. This is what He is. He only said in more words what He said at the first, "I AM THAT I AM”. The words, "The Lord, The Lord God," express self-existence, as do the words "I AM." All the rest of the words of that glorious name express His character, as do the words, "I AM THAT WHICH, or WHAT I AM."

And what a Word is revealed. "Merciful," full of mercy, which is the disposition to treat persons, even offenders, better than they deserve. The disposition is the very heart’s core of the person. And He is full of the disposition, it is His very nature, to treat all the people of this world, forever, better than they deserve. For this is His name; and His name is but expressive of His nature; for His character is but himself. Then it is himself to treat all people better than they deserve. And He takes pleasure in those who hope in this, His disposition to treat them better than they deserve. "Gracious;" extending favor to all people, everywhere, and forever. And this is what He is; and He cannot be anything else; for He cannot cease to be. He is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." "Long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." And this long-suffering is especially that none shall perish; because He is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Accordingly, "the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation.” And since His name is long-suffering, and since His long-suffering is salvation, His name, then, is Salvation. This is what He is, and He cannot be anything else. "Keeping mercy for thousands." And this is not simply thousands of individuals, but thousands of generations; for it is written: "Know therefore that the Lord thy

God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.” "Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." Note that it is not written, "I will forgive;" but, He is "forgiving." It is not stated even in the form of a promise, as if it were, "I will forgive;" it is stated in the form of a present actuality: He is "forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." Note also that this is not merely what He is doing, but it is what He is, in His very nature and character. To be everlastingly forgiving is His very essence, and He cannot be anything else; for He is God. Noting His word above His name…He DOES clear the guilty; that He longs to save all; for all are guilty. The knowledge of God is obtained only by revelation; and Jesus Christ is the only revelation of God.

God inspired the writing of Romans 9:11 to get our attention. He will not give us further knowledge, deeper understanding, greater wisdom until we know who and what He is that we not abuse His word. The biblical realities and unifying theological convictions are reasoned to purpose defining truths to form an astonishing unity in the affirmation of God’s call. The truest truth in the bible is God is love. But the word establishes fervent faith in knowing that God Is. The Being of God, as is His word, is the most significant reality there is, and without faith nothing is rightly known apart from this relationship to Him. In the same way, there is no way we will feed on the Word of God and not grow spiritually. The bible helps us grow our faith and make progress in building a deeper relationship with God. God’s word makes Him known as the glory in our passion that overwhelmingly dominant our consciousness. He is the supremacy who absolutely is.

The word of God equips His people for every good work. It teaches us how to love and build each other up in the faith. God’s word in our hearts and minds becomes our strength and weapon when facing temptation to sin or do evil. It is what we are to live by. Knowledge of the word informs us. Understanding the word reforms us. The wisdom of the word transforms us. God’s word is true. All those who wrote the bible were inspired by God to do so. These were transformed by the power of God’s Word. In this reasoning we discern that God’s word is the revelation of his name. It’s the revelation of who He is. Revering God’s word elevates our worship. God’s word is powerful because it has a purpose which He wants it to accomplish. One of the purposes of the Word of God is to discipline us because we are God’s children, and He loves us.  The importance of the Word of God is that as we depend on it and read and study it diligently, we form an unbreakable bond with God. We understand what He wants us to do, His will, and our purpose in His plan. The Lord is close to us when we call upon His name in the truth of the word. The Word of God is the pillar to spiritual

growth. God calls us to desire His Word and depend on it to survive the trials, the tribulations, the troubles that are so soon to be upon us. The benefit of the word of God is it helps us understand what God wants from us as a chosen people.

Think on this…God in His sovereignty puts His word above His name. And we as God’s people must put His word above our every situation, our every circumstance and our very life. When we do this, we can expect God to use us in incredible ways, we will always be in the will of God because we will know it. The bible is the spoken “Word of God” because in all the law, the narratives, we hear the Father testifying to the Son by way of the power of the Spirit. 

God’s word reveals what nothing else can. Creation and nature tell us much about God, particularly about His power and His love.  The Word tells us more.  Reason reveals something of the wisdom and order of God and of how He thinks.  The Word tells us more.  Science explains some of the mysterious power in the workings of God.  The Word tells us more.  Philosophy and imagination try to explain the ways and purposes of God.  The Word truly reveals them.  Taken all together, the names of God reveal much about His nature and His works, but the Word of God expounds and expands beyond what can be communicated in a name.  In short, all the means by which we can know and understand combined cannot begin to match what God has communicated in His Word.  All that is essential to our eternal salvation and well-being can be known only through revelation, and God has been pleased to give us a complete revelation through His inspired word. God’s Word is the authoritative guide for time and eternity.  The bible is the book that must be believed, obeyed, and cherished.  It must guard our thoughts and desires, govern our wills, and guide our actions.  When it opposes what we want; it is right.  When it contradicts our thoughts and opinions; it is right.  When it thwarts our desires; it is right.  When it points out our sins, exposes our weaknesses and failings, and reveals our needs; it is right.  When it denies the validity of appearances; it is right.  When it contradicts circumstances; it is right.  When it runs counter to our emotions and even our reason; it and it alone is right.

God has not left us to guess at His will and wonder at His purposes.  How gracious He is to have revealed to us all that we need to know in time to prepare us for eternity.  God gave us the Word.  He is faithful to His Word, fulfilling His prophecies and performing His promises.  Because God so honors His Word, how ought we to esteem it?  All who believe it and obey it will be saved. God is bound by His word to fulfill it no matter what the cost to Himself or to His Son, and without regard to the sins and unfaithfulness of His people.

God wants us to know everything included in the covenant relationship we have with him. His words are the terms of our agreement to let us know what his character is and what we can expect from him in relation to what our character is and what he expects from us. God wants us to know that the terms of his word, his testament are irrefutable, immutable, and everlasting. God’s word is established so they are accessible to those who seek them. The name of God includes all the perfections of God; everything that God is, and which God has revealed Himself as having—His justice, majesty, holiness, greatness, and glory, and whatever He is in Himself, that is God’s name. And yet He has ‘magnified’ something ‘above his name’—His word—His truth. This truth allies the written word so closely with God’s name that they are inseparable. We know what solemn warnings guard that sacred name: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain”. We must come to the reasoning truth of just how precious biblical reality is. We cannot comprehend this truth without grace. Grace is not something we have a right to, Jesus obtained it for us as we are obedient to the faith.

Herein is His name and the power of His word. Grace is God’s enabling that we receive through faith and are empowered to be the election to do the purpose of the calling. No less reverence is due to the Word that God Himself has placed above His own name. All the communion we have with God in heaven and on earth is maintained by means of the written word. Nothing can render null and void the true principles of His genuine word. God’s word belongs too much to Himself, to His honor and glory. Here is the Word of God: inerrant, full, perfect, authoritative, sufficient. This is how God can never change: God honors His Word above His name. His covenant He will never break nor alter what comes out from His mouth. He upholds all things by the Word of His power. It is settled in heaven.

---

⛰ Go Deeper

This reflection is part of a larger Bible-based study on faith and transformation.

👉 Read more at OnlineBibleCourse.com

---