Today we conclude our exploration of 33 of the Names of God found in the Bible. After looking at some Old Testament Names in October, last week we looked at names Jesus used. The inspiration for this series was a presentation to the Women’s Ministry of the Diocese of the Rio Grande by Mother Sylvia Miller-Mutia which she based on: Anglican Prayer Beads: God the Father by Jenny Lynn Estes and Carol Raines.
This week we are looking
at Names for God used in the Epistles by the New Testament writers. These are
in Greek and some of them are rather long. They do each give us a new lens to "see" God. To the New Testament authors, God was first of all Father—of Jesus, of
Mercies. God is also Lawgiver and Judge but Love as well. God is Majesty,
Savior and Consuming Fire. And for the writer of Revelation, God is Alpha and
Omega, beginning and end.
Psalm 8 says,
O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honour.
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
The Psalmist says it is babies
who most understand God as do the heavens. We humans are barely worth noticing.
However, the amazing good news is that God does take notice of us. In fact, God
became incarnate in Jesus to share our humanity. The Letter to the Hebrews
notes, Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself
likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one
who has the power of death…he had to become like his brothers and
sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high
priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of
the people. (Hebrews 2:14-17)
We are almost to Advent—the
beginning of the church year and the time we pause to remember what it means
for God to be a Baby in a manger.
I invite you to prayerfully read through this list of
names slowly, breathing through the English translation slowly.
Inhaling on the first part of the phrase and exhaling on the second. Do this
several times letting your mind and heart be filled with the meaning of the
words, the reality of Who our God is.
Ho pater tou kyriou hemon
iesou Christou-Father of / our Lord Jesus Christ
Ho soter panton
anthropon-Savior of / All People
Ho nomothetes kai
krites-Lawgiver / and Judge
Pyr
katanaliskon-Consuming / Fire
Ho pater ton
oiktirmon-Father of / Mercies
Ho theos tes agapes-God
of / Love
He megalosyne en tois
ouranois-Majesty / in Heaven
To alpha kai to omega, he arche kai to telos-Alpha and Omega / beginning and end
What images come to mind? What feelings fill you? Is
there one Name that really impacts you?
If one of the Names causes your soul to leap, pause
and sit with that Name. Explore what God is saying to you.
Next week is Thanksgiving, followed by the First Sunday of Advent. During Advent, we'll be looking at some ways of Empowering one another to be kind, joyful, hopeful...
