Dear Members and Friends of IBCZ,
If you are blessed with a wonderful marriage or you have a very close friend and you get asked the question, “Why do you love this person so much?” You probably will list a number of qualities. I read of one married couple where the wife told her husband 100 reasons why she loved him, and the husband responded and told her 101 reasons why he loved her. Afterwards he said to her: “But the 101 reasons don’t really amount to much because I love you for being you more than for these reasons.” In a real sense this is true of God as well. “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.” (Psalm 9:10) We should love God, for His names, for His attributes, for the many wonderful qualities He has, and yet even as we study the names of Jesus in Isaiah 9 on these Sundays of Advent, we are just scratching the surface. “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15) We have to say at the end of it all God is His names and God is His attributes and so when we use His names, when we speak about His names or when we learn about His names, we are learning, speaking, talking about God Himself.
Therefore, on a human level, though it’s difficult to capture the uniqueness of a person just by listing His qualities or His attributes, on a divine level to call God His names and to call God His attributes is to present yourself with God Himself. That’s why God says, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain” (Exodus 20:7), sadly a common habit in society today, even among believers.
Now you and I probably have two or three names. My one daughter complained that we did not give her a third name. She felt that in the corporate business world it was important. When we come to God, He has hundreds of names. Jesus has 280 names given to us in the Bible, and every name is like a present, a gift to us, revealed to us, and we unwrap it in the Bible and it’s filled with the glory and the fullness of Jesus, who He really is, not just the quality about Him. They explain who He really is and that is why these names we have been looking at in Isaiah 9:6 are so rich and we have the privilege of trying to open up another name, the Mighty God, this coming forth Sunday of Advent.
I hope that you will join us at 10:30 for praise and worship, a Bible-centered message and fellowship after the service.
Grace be with you,
Bruce, Interim Pastor/Elder