My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
| 48 |
| BAPTIZER |
| Luke 3:16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. John 1:32-34 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” Acts 1:5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” |
| I imagine John the Baptist was a bit of a fiery preacher, calling the Pharisees a brood of vipers and speaking of wrath to come. So when John described the One coming as the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire, I was somewhat surprised to hear of what (or Who) He will baptize with. First, He will baptize with the Holy Spirit. No one but God Almighty has the authority to baptize with the Holy Spirit. It is not as if the Holy Spirit was to come upon someone in order to provide authority or power for a certain task, as in the Old Testament. This is the next level, where God would create a new humanity on the day of Pentecost. Secondly, He will baptize with fire. Now some think this refers to the tongues of fire in Acts 2, which it might, but the audience at the time had just experienced John’s teaching of wrath. The message those in attendance heard was likely a continuation of wrath-speak. If fire refers to judgement, the audience heard of the One who had the power of judgement over their lives, and of the One who was able to administer wrath. Both of these modes of baptism speaks of the authority and power of our God, of our Savior who came down to make us a new person and to rescue us from the very fire He’ has the power to administer. Think on Him today. Listen to Him and as He speaks to you, honor His name by following His lead. |
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Come join us at Considering the Bible
Considering the Bible 