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.
HIM WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME
Revelation 1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
Four verses after our chosen passage, we find the same name referred to.
Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
The Lord God is declaring His name as Alpha and Omega, who is and who was and who is to come. It is apparent that this name of God applies to the Risen Savior, as some of the last verses in the the Revelation assign the same name to Jesus. (Check the context of the verses)
Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.
Revelation 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Present
The Revelator refers to the present first, reminding us of His presence with us, His active participation in the time creation of His. Let us remember that He created time and entered into it to relate to His people. Time is not a restriction for our Savior and we should not limit Him to the constrictions of time that fall on us.
Take a moment to consider the Lord as the One who is always in the present.
Past
The Revelator speaks of the past, and of course this is in relation to our experience, our time frame. Throughout history, the Lord has been Sovereign in all.
But let me ask a pointed question.
Does the word sovereign speak of control, or authority? I ask this question, for I was linked to a teaching that assumed sovereignty was synonymous with control. This thinking necessitated that all things past were in the will of God, and forced the assignment of sin to the will of God. This caused no small storm of confusion in my mind, until I reconsidered the term sovereign.
To exercise sovereignty, One is in the place of the Ruler, the King, the Sovereign. Do Kings control all the subjects they rule over? Or do Kings generally set limits, policies, rules and laws for their citizens to come under.
Does a King over a nation of law breakers make Him less of a King? Do the actions of those in the kingdom reflect the King’s character or wisdom?
A bit of an aside, but as we consider the Lord as the One who was, it is good to consider that His character while reigning over His Kingdom is not sullied though His people may be rebels.
Take a moment to consider the Lord as the One who ruled over His people with wisdom and righteousness.
Future
The last phrase in this name is “who is to come”, and it speaks of the return of the Lord. For those receiving this revelation in the first century, is it possible the recipients understood the One to come as appearing at least two thousand years later? Possibly. There do not seem to be any time limits implied on the timing here.
Or are there?
One passage that speaks of His coming is found in Revelation 16:15. It is interesting that the future coming is now described as a present reality for those who received the letter.
Revelation 16:15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”)
Also, as I researched for this blog, I came across a resource that challenged my understanding of His future coming. (See Sunday Morning Greek Blog.) In summary, the author speaks of this phrase as being in the present tense, and may be translated as “Who is already coming”.
He is actively coming for the church, even as a thief in the night as Rev 16:15 declares.
Take a moment to consider the Lord as the One who is at the door, on the cusp of history, ready to break through into our lives in a very real way.
O Lord, help us be awake and ready for when You appear!
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.
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