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.
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| FAITHFUL WITNESS |
| Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood |
| Jesus Christ the Faithful Witness. We are in the middle of a series of names that speaks to the faithfulness of God. The predominant form of descriptor is Faithful, as we see here, and as spoken of in a past post (Names of God – FAITHFUL – 129). To be faithful speaks of God’s nature, not what He does, but who He is. His faithfulness, in our description of God is in regard to the Witness He provides. To be a witness is to be a spectator of some occurrence that needs to be remembered, or recounted for others. A recounting of something that has happened, is actual and reflects reality. A true historical occurrence. Let’s consider a short passage in the Old Testament that gives us contrast to the Faithful Witness. There are bountiful examples of false witnesses, but the following passage seems fitting for our time together today. First, a bit of context – Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard. Worthless men were found to bring a charge against an innocent man. Death ensues. Let’s read the short passage and consider what we read. 1 Kings 21:13 And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. Two men were found, in order to comply with the sham of “religion keeping” the king wanted to portray. The story was brought that Naboth did bad. Nothing specific, for that would open up the story to questions, or contradictions. Just a blanket statement that Naboth did bad. Ahab got what he wanted. A useful story to justify killing Naboth, without carrying the guilt of committing murder. Two worthless men were used to cover the King’s sin. And his vineyard was added to his real estate holdings! These two men, these false witnesses, became a fulcrum for a treacherous King used to kill an innocent man. A man who loved God and resisted a corrupt political power to honor God. Naboth is a great picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we will address him in our series on Jesus in the Old Testament, but for now, consider the differences between these two worthless men and our Faithful Witness The faithless witnesses received some payment for the false witness. Being a Faithful Witness cost the Lord His life The faithless witnesses were used to bring death on a innocent man Being a Faithful witness brought life to dead men. The faithless witnesses were used by a selfish, greedy man Being a Faithful Witness delivers men from selfishness and greed. The faithless witnesses are never heard of again. They are not even referred to by name. Being a Faithfull Witness has elevated the name of the Lord to it’s highest status. No name is higher than the name of the Lord. The faithless witnesses thought they had gained in their deception some status or recognition with the king or queen. Being a Faithfull Witness has elevated Jesus to the highest recognition, with Him being crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is our Faithful Witness, the One whose words we can trust, who experienced the crime first hand, (as He was the victim) and has been raised again to tell of (give witness) the victory. May we tell the story to those we come in contact with, the truth of His resurrection, of the Faithful Witness who delivers us. He is our Faithful Witness. |
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!
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