Names of God – Pt 25
“All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.” Psalm 66:4
I close this series on the Names of God with 2 names that express everything about Who He Is and what He does. It encompasses every one of the other approximately 75 Names of God that we have covered over the last 6 months… and remember our prayer is that you have come to, are coming to, or will come to know God and His great Love for you…and how to begin and/or continue to grow in your love for Him so you can love others in His Truth and Love. This leads us to our final 2 Names and the first we find in Nehemiah 9:17; 1 John 4:8…
El Hesed – God of Faithful Lovingkindness (Nehemiah 9:17; 1 John 4:8)
The word “Hesed” in Hebrew most closely represents The Love of God and its counterpart in Greek in the New Testament that we know as “Agape.” Simply put…
God is Love and The words or “names” in Hebrew for this description of God is “EL HESED – GOD OF FAITHFUL LOVINGKINDNESS” as found in Nehemiah 9:17; 1 John 4:8. Look at the descriptors that are encompassed in this name in the Nehemiah text… “ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and you did not forsake them.”
Isn’t that the kind of Love that you desire…that we all desire? It can only be found in God Himself as we see in the 1 John 4:8 text describing very plainly that “God is Love” and then again in 1 John 4:19, reiterating the principle found in vs. 8…only those who know God know love and we love “only” because He first loved us. This is nowhere more evident than in Christ!
This Name of God, “Hesed” is revealed in the New Testament as “Agape” as Love in Greek being rooted in God and means a pure love that prefers God above all others and from which His sacrificial, self-giving, selfless Love is derived. It literally means “to prefer God above all else.” In other’s words, our love for others has to be grounded and rooted in our love for God above everyone and everything else.
Once again and as always we find this Love in Christ. In His sacrificial life and death He reveals Himself as The Love of God (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; Ephesians 5:2)! In John 3:16, He is The Love that gave Himself to save the world (all who believe in Him); in Romans 5:8, He is The Love that gave Himself for us even while we were still sinners, and; in Ephesians 5:2, He is the perfect and pleasing sacrifice, because of His love for us, that satisfied God’s wrath against sin.
Don’t miss the power of these names and character traits that are all rooted in Love and our final Name of God. The world and many of our churches have proclaimed this “love” while falsely teaching “love” (actually lust of the flesh) and/or failing to teach in such a way that people truly know what this Love consists of and that we can only have by knowing God in Christ!
How much more love do you need to know that He is Love, that He loves you and He has given everything to save you. Won’t you put your trust in Him and receive His salvation by grace through faith?
You can because of Christ…and there’s no better way to wrap up the Names of God and Who He Is then with our final Name declaring just as with Hesed and Agape, everything He does is loving…this final Name declares that everything He says and does is Truth…and that’s the Name itself…
El Emet – God of Truth (Psalm 31:5)
“EL EMET – GOD OF TRUTH” He is Truth (Psalm 31:5).
Isn’t it interesting if you look at the version that I chose to link this Scripture text to that El Emet is described as The God of Truth and Faithfulness. How awesome is that His Hesed or Faithful Lovingkindness is tied to His Faithfulness in Truth! This is Who He Is and we would be wise to understand that He is both Truth and Love in everything that He does…even when we don’t like it or understand it!
This Name of God, Emet (Truth) is revealed in the New Testament where “Emet” is translated in Greek as “Aletheia” or Truth rooted in God and absolute. This is where we can find the foundation for Hesed/Agape as His Love is rooted in His Truth. He can be and do no other. Everything act of Love is Truthful and every point and action of Truth is Loving. Let that sink in because we have very much compromised both of these by making out His Love and Truth to be what we want them to be even as we read and share about them according to His Word of Truth. It is absolute and never fails…just like His Love!
Once again and as always we find this Truth in Christ. In John 8:31-32, we find that it is His Truth that sets us free…not His Love, although as I just stated, He can never separate Himself from either…so His Truth is Love and His Love is Truth! In John 14:6 He declares that He is The Truth (Aletheia) and there is no other! Now that’s ABSOLUTE! Do you know His Truth.
I must point out that so many are familiar with John 8:32 because so many messages and sermons have been preached on it and nearly every message I’ve ever heard on it says little or nothing about v. 31. The only way we can know His Truth…and know Him as Truth is by being His disciples as we remain in His Word. This is not only what reveals Him as Truth to us…El Emet – The God of Truth…but also allows us to know and grow in Him as Truth…and know that we are set free!
Again, as I close this series on The Names of God, my prayer is that you have come to know Him in Christ and are walking in His Truth and Love, sharing it with all that you are given the opportunity to do so. If you have you will understand why I reiterate that even in this fallen world everything He does is Truth and Love!
However, while these words, descriptions and Names of God appear throughout the Old and New Testament in numerous scriptures, I pray above all else that you remember this…God is Truth and Love and everything He does is Truth and Love…even when we don’t like it, when it doesn’t feel good and/or we don’t agree with it!
If you don’t know Him as Truth and Love I pray that you will come to know Him.
Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com if you’d like to know Christ as Savior or know and love Him more as Lord! His Truth and His Love is LIFE…LIFE ETERNAL!
Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – He is El Hesed – The God of Faithful Lovingkindness! There is no other way to know Love but to know and love Him as Love and to know and Love Him! Jesus taught and displayed this sacrificial, unconditional, selfless, self-giving Love as God in the flesh in order that He could be our Savior and Lord. This is the only way to find Love! He is also El Emet – The God of Truth! Once again He reveals Himself as The Only Truth and Christ tells us the same in that He is The Only Way, Truth and Life…there is no other. The only way to know this is by spending time in His Word so you can know this Absolute and Only Truth! I pray that you do!
Love and Lordship…Action Item –
- Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
- Write down what each of the Names of God in this post mean to you.
- What does it mean for God to be Love and Absolute Truth to you?
- Reflect and journal on how you’ve defined and applied love and truth in your life and how that has aligned with (or not) God/Christ as the only Source of Truth and Love.
Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com to find out more about how you can know God the Father, Christ His Son and The Holy Spirit.
Check out this week’s Love & Lordship Mentoring Minute Video