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.
| 164 |
| FULLNESS OF GOD |
| Colossians 1:19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell |
| God dwelling with man. He has sought many ways to dwell with man. Creation comes to mind. God provided an idyllic environment (‘cept for one tree) that would provide both man and woman opportunity to be with Him, to know Him and to love Him. Man rejected the offer of dwelling with God. Oh but then there was the opportunity to obey, or to be in tune with that fragile conscience, and to seek God through prayer. During the time of Seth, people began to call on God. Promising for a time, yet in the background the general population was deteriorating. Did you know that at Seth’s death, Noah’s birth was only 14 years later? That is incredible, and speaks of the seeming downgrading of the population, to the point that full scale judgement was to fall during Noah’s time. So it seems that man rejected the offer of dwelling with God again. Ok, so with Noah a new arrangement, a new start, a realization that rejecting God and His presence ends in catastrophe. And yet by the time God was about to call out a nation for His own name, only one man was found that seemed intent to know God. What is going on? I though we were generally good people? So mankind rejects the offer of dwelling with God again. That man I just mentioned, Abraham, well he wanted to follow God, and He is considered the Father of our faith, rightly so. He was groundbreaking in his relationship with God, and God found someone that sought Him But as we all know, he lived in a time when most around him rejected God, knew nothing of God and they mocked Abraham as he seeking God. So mankind rejected the opportunity to find dwelling with God. Again. From Abraham, a family began, a dysfunctional family (like mine) made up of men and women that wandered and rejected God for the most part. As the family grew into tribes, a young man was rescued from the reeds in order to provide another opportunity for God to dwell with man. Eventually God rescued the tribes through this man, delivered them to a new land and provided them a tabernacle. The tabernacle housed the very presence of God. This was truly a huge step on God’s part to take, and the privilege the Israelites were granted was beyond any nation on earth. Yet we know that the nation rejected the dwelling of God, rejected all the counsel, became apostate, was taken into captivity, rescued and brought back to the land. Mercy upon mercy, yet the nation became hardened, trying to create a sense of dwelling with God, all the while rejecting Him. So mankind rejected the opportunity to find dwelling with God, even upon privilege and the exhibition of tremendous mercy. Rejection again. A baby born to a young girl. A highly unlikely solution to the problem, for He had no training, no status, no riches or obvious advantage. Yet this little child actually was the dwelling of God. And let me make this a bit clearer. It pleased God to dwell in this child, even as He grew into a young man. Man generally rejected the opportunity to dwell with God, and yet God was continually reaching out to man in so many ways. It wasn’t simple indifference on the part of so many, but outright rejection of the opportunity to experience the dwelling of God. Granted, there were saints in the Old Testament that experienced God dwelling with them, being with them, training, teaching, comforting, guiding, feeding them. Yes there were many great men through the ages. But I can find nowhere in the Word a statement describing any saint as experiencing all the fullness of God. Not only that, but that God was pleased to dwell fully in the man. Oh the Spirit may have been with David and Isaiah, Moses and Jeremiah in mighty ways, empowering them to do mighty acts for God. Yet at times it seems the Spirit was willing to pull back, to leave for a period of time. Even David was fearful of the Spirit leaving him. Nothing like that with Jesus though. God was completely comfortable in the body of the Lord, residing in Him. Jesus – God and human. Consider what it means when Paul states that it pleased God to dwell completely and without reservation, fully in the flesh and blood body of the man Jesus. No reluctance, no hesitancy, no struggle. To dwell completely and fully. Not a portion of the Spirit, but without any doubts or uncertainty. It has been the intent and desire of God since creation to dwell with man. That Man is Jesus, and He is the only One who has experienced this. Only as we seek Jesus, do we have opportunity to experience God’s dwelling, for God’s dwelling may only be found in Jesus. Are you pleased to dwell with Jesus? |
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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