For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace
(Is 9:6).
From beginning to end, the Bible declares the names of God.
Throughout the biblical timeline, starting with His proclaimed I Am to Moses, God has revealed His names to further our understanding of Him.
I Am _________________
(fill in the blank with everything good and great and powerful).
He is all that . . . and more—infinitely more.
Jesus made seven definitive "I am" statements to fill in those blanks for us. Each lend aid to our understanding of Who He is.
God came to be with us—that we may know Him as our Immanuel, the most remarkable of all His names.
Other names represent His character and attributes, however, Immanuel is unexpected . . . unpredictable . . . unlikely. Because it reveals the fact that He chose to draw near to a sinful people, knowing we would reject Him.
That is staggering!
Of all that's been said and written, in the end, He is The Almighty. That is the final name given in the Book of Revelation.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega,"
says the Lord God,
"who is, and who was, and who is to come,
the Almighty"
(Rev 1:8).
How this world needs to know that we have a God Who Is With Us and Almighty!
Immanuel, our God With Us, is the same God David spoke of in Psalm 23 when he said he feared no evil. We need not fear the evil about us either, for that same God is still infinitely mighty.
The prophet Isaiah emphatically declared the word of the Lord as encouragement—proclaiming that the only Savior of Israel would be with them. These same words are encouragement for our discipleship, as well.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior
(Is 43:2-3a).
We will pass through waters and rivers and fire, but the Lord goes with us—for His name is Immanuel, our Savior.
Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen
(Ps 72:19).
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