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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| FREE GIFT |
| Romans 5:15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. |
| Paul is describing the salvation provided by Jesus as a free gift, and as believers we understand that there is no way we could pay our way out of the rebellion that is in our heart and that we have practiced in our lives. The only option we had before a holy and righteous God was that of a free gift of salvation to be provided. In this passage he is contrasting two men and their actions, along with the consequences of those actions. The first is Adam, and the trespass of Adam, along with the resulting fall of all of mankind. He represented both you and I in that action, and as the child of Adam, we have that same rebellion of heart. But some would decry – That is not fair. Why should I suffer due to the actions of another, so long ago. We ”know” we could have done so much better than Adam, and complain (at least internally) that we got the short end of the stick in this deal. What might the Old Testament saint have thought? The mud and mire they were sinking in as they carried the burden of rebellion due to someone else. Might it have seemed unfair for some? A source of complaint against God? Surely it was. In the midst of this seeming unfairness, God had established a legal system that would provide consequences for all from the heads of their families. As Adam did wrong, all following in Adam’s lineage would suffer, owning the rebellious heart along with the judgement of death to be passed on each. But this system of consequences being passed onto family members is a two edged sword. Yes, Adam provided a “free gift” of death for his lineage, but this also provided an opportunity for God to start a new lineage, a lineage that could receive a different free gift, a more extensive free gift. It occurs to me that even in those systems and processes that God has ordained, that seem to be to our detriment, those same processes and systems may be turned around by the Lord Himself and provide greater blessing than we can imagine. But that still may provide us opportunity to complain about His ways and His will. It is for us to be thankful in all things. Paul’s message is much deeper than the scratching I have feebly entered into, but the fact that Jesus has created a new lineage for the many who are experiencing death by Adam is an amazing statement. Death for the many due to Adam. Life for the many due to Jesus. May we who are of the many praise the name of Jesus for His ever expanding grace to the most undeserving of people |
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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