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In This Lesson
Understanding the Term "Word" | God Reveals Himself in Jesus | God's Feelings, Thoughts, and Plans
Jesus Used the Word | God's Name(s)/Attributes Evidenced in Jesus
Understanding the Term "Word"
The term "word" can be defined as "an expression of meaning uttered or put forth by a sentient being", "a unit of language", or "a single meaningful element of speech or writing". We humans use words to express our thoughts, feelings, desires, plans, and will. What others know about us is, in part, based on the words they've heard from us.
The Bible is often called the "Word of God" because it contains the thoughts, feelings, desires, plans, and will of God as He has revealed them to humankind.
In the Gospel by his name, the Apostle John calls Jesus the "Word" — and appropriately so when you consider that God has revealed Himself to us through Jesus. Jesus didn't just give us God's messages in His teachings. Rather, He is God's message to us — God's Living Word to us.
In defining who Jesus is as "the Word", it helps to understand John's intention when he called Jesus "the Word" and the etymology1 of the word itself as used in the Bible.
As we have previously learned, the New Testament was written in Greek. The English term "word", as it applies to Jesus Christ, is translated from the Greek Logos meaning "the divine word of God". It was a common word in both Greek philosophy and the Jewish thought of that day, so both Jews and Gentiles would readily understand the point John was making when he introduced Jesus as the "Word".
"Word" in the Old Testament
For his Jewish readers, John was pointing them back to the Old Testament where "Logos" is associated with God's revelation to mankind.
The term "word", as it pertains to the carrying out of God's will ["His word", "word of the LORD", "word of God"], appears in the Old Testament more than 260 times: 73 times in the books of 1 Samuel to 2 Chronicles; 53 times in Jeremiah; 60 times in Ezekiel; and 32 times from Daniel to Malachi.
"...while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain." (Deuteronomy 5:5)
"And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD." (1 Samuel 3:21)
"This God — his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him." (2 Samuel 22:31)
"By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host." (Psalm 33:6)
"Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens." (Psalm 119:89)
"Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him." (Proverbs 30:5)
"That is why the LORD is going to teach you letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson. Then you will stumble with every step you take." (Isaiah 28:13a)
Certainly, John's Jewish readers understood what he was referencing.
"Logos" in Greek Philosophy
In Greek philosophy, the term "logos" was used to describe material things that God used as an intercessory means by which He communicated with mankind. The Logos was thought of as a bridge between the transcendent God and the physical universe. Therefore, for John's Greek readers, his use of the term "Logos" would point to the idea of a mediating entity between God and the world.
How appropriate and true when you think of Jesus as our Mediator and the One who bridges the gap between God and sinful man!
God Reveals Himself in Jesus
Normally, an author states his purpose in writing at the beginning of the piece, and sometimes he writes a surprise ending that leaves us gasping in shock. The Apostle John, however, waits until the end of his Gospel record to state his purpose in writing it:"...these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:31) And instead of a surprise ending, he writes a surprise beginning!
Very clever. He begins his gospel with a sentence guaranteed to get his readers' attention. First, he uses a word and phrase that both Jewish and Greek readers would understand:"In the beginning was the word..." But then, he throws them a curve ball [sharply turns the dialog to something unexpected].
His Jewish readers well understood that God created the world by His word ["And God said..."], and they thought of Jesus as a human representative of God's revelation to man, so no surprise so far. And the Greeks readily understood about God using Jesus as a mediating entity by which they could know God.
Both groups of people were correct in their understanding, as far as it went. Then, just as they're getting ready to nod in agreement with John, he presents Jesus — not just as a mediating principle or a physical representative of God, but as a fully divine living Person who somehow had also pre-existed with God.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." (John 1:1-2) Needless to say, those first two sentences definitely got their attention! And just to be sure his readers didn't miss the point he was making, he added: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
No doubt, many of John's Jewish and Gentile readers had to stop and take a breath at this point. They probably had so many questions, they didn't know which ones to ask first. Was this man, John, really saying what it looked like he was saying? Jesus of Nazareth . . . Jesus, the son of a carpenter . . . Jesus, "son of David" . . . Jesus, the healer . . . Jesus, the one who died on a Roman stake, but who some say was resurrected on the third day . . . Jesus, the itinerate preacher . . . Jesus, the man some people say was God's Messiah . . .
And now one of His disciples is saying that this same Jesus was and is the incarnate, divine, living Word of God!
From this surprise introduction, John now goes on to explain to his readers about the living Word of God, Jesus Christ — fully God and yet fully man — who came to show us what God is like, to correct our misconceptions of what God is like, to be God with us, and to redeem us from the penalty of our sin.
God Is Spirit
The Bible says that God is spirit. We can't see, hear, or feel Him with our natural senses. How then, can we know Him? How can weak, finite, sinful man understand the all-powerful, perfect, self-existent, invisible God? How can God show Himself to us?
Of course, we know God revealed much about Himself through His priests, kings, and prophets. Through them, we learned that...
- God is a holy God whom we have to approach on His terms;
- He's a jealous God who will not tolerate our straying to other gods
- He's a righteous God who judges all things and persons justly and without favoritism;
- He is very exacting in details of our worship, our work, our hygiene, our families, and even our rest;
- He cares about widows, orphans, poor people, sojourners, and foreigners;
- He desires to draw near to us, but we often prevent Him by our sinful conduct;
- He cares about the things that we care about; and
- He wants to be more to us if we'll just let Him be.
But God is scary! Just ask the people of Israel:
"Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off." (Exodus 20:18)
Or, ask some of the other people of the Old Testament:
"...the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath." (Joshua 2:9-11)
"When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp." (1 Samuel 17:51-53)
"And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat." (2 Chronicles 17:10)
God's Character
We asked the question earlier, "How can God show Himself to us?"
The answer? Jesus. Jesus reveals God to us through His own human personality. What is God like? We can know by looking at Jesus, His Son.
Jesus was and is the perfect manifest expression of God's love. Just as you or I might use a word or phrase to express our love for someone, God the Father uses the Word to express His love. But God is so powerful and all-encompassing, and His love is so extraordinary, that His Word had to become a whole being — a separate, yet united, living Entity.
- "Philip said to him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father...'" (John 14:8-9)
- "No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." (John 1:18)
- "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." (Colossians 1:15)
Since the Creation and the Fall, God has spoken to humankind in many ways, but the clearest revelation of His character, His personality, His heart, His ways, and His will is in His Son — God's living Word. And God continues to speak to us today as we read about Jesus. Jesus' life, emotions, attitude, mannerisms, work, and teachings all express God in terms of our own experiences, in a "heart language" we can understand.
The writer of Hebrews said: "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets . . . He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power." (Hebrews 1:1,3)
Jesus spoke of God's holiness, goodness, wisdom, justice, mercy, power, and love. But Jesus didn't just talk to people about God, He demonstrated God's character and God's heart. Men saw these qualities in Him. Unlike the Pharisees whose righteousness was a mere show for attention and prominence among the people, Jesus proclaimed and lived the highest moral standard the world has ever known. He was quite literally God's love in action as He ministered to human needs and gave His life to us and for us.
On Calvary, we see the clearest expression of both God's perfect justice and His unfathomable love. God's righteousness demands the death penalty for our sin: "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." (Hebrews 9:22) And even though we deserve the death penalty because "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), God's extravagant love for sinners compelled Him to suffer, not just death of the cruelest and most excruciatingly-painful sort, but such brutal torture beforehand that His face was disfigured beyond recognition (cf. Isaiah 50:6; 52:2-3)!
And yet, as the Roman soldiers were driving the spikes through His wrists and feet, His unreasonable love even compelled Him to pray for forgiveness for them! What love! What a wonderful God we have!
God's Feelings, Thoughts, and Plans
Jesus expressed God's feelings, thoughts, and plans in His teachings and in His person. Jesus was a great Teacher, but He acknowledged, "I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me" (John 8:28) and "for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15) Therefore, we know we can depend on Jesus' teachings in the Gospels as a true revelation of God and His truth.
Through Jesus, we have come to know God as our all-wise, loving Father in Heaven who affectionately cares for His children. Clearly, He hates sin and hypocrisy, but through Jesus, we learned that He very much loves the sinner.
And not only does He tell us how to be saved and how to live a contented and fulfilled life, but He models the same in absolute perfection.
He longs for His wandering children to leave their sins and come home to Him. He lets us know about the wonderful life He has planned for us in His eternal kingdom. We have these truths in God's written Word and we see Jesus living them out before us.
Jesus, the living Word, has revealed God's feelings concerning us. In Christ, God wept over the grief of His friends, the suffering of humanity, and the blind unbelief of a city that rejected Him and was rushing toward destruction. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" (Matthew 23:37)
God's anger was inflamed against pretense, fraud, and the commercialization of religion."And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, 'It is written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you make it a den of robbers.'" (Matthew 21:12)
"And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, 'Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.'" (John 2:15)
Jesus saw the people as victims of an empty religious system overflowing with man-made rules and rituals, and His pity was stirred. "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:36)
See also Mark 6:34 and John 10:11.
Jesus showed us that God wants us to enjoy being in His presence and to be free from sickness, sin, guilt, and fear."So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them." (Matthew 4:24)
And He wanted to liberate us from repressive and empty religious traditions. He wanted us to forsake religion in favor of an intimate relationship with our Abba Father. "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'" (Romans 8:15)
God's Power and Will
Jesus showed us not only what God wants, but that God has the resolve and power to carry out His purposes. Jesus' life of total obedience to His Father and intimacy with Him shows us the kind of life God wants each of us to have. Jesus' miracles were awesome demonstrations of God's power; they reveal to us His desire to help people, whatever our need is. Jesus said that He came to do His Father's will, and that He did the works of His Father.
This proves that God wants to heal us, forgive us, and meet all of our needs today. We don't have to coerce or bargain with Him for provision, health, forgiveness, or other favors. He most gladly gives us His very best — in accordance with His perfect will and foreknowledge — every single day!
"...the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me." (John 5:36)
See also John 14:10.
"...to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (1 Corinthians 1:24 NIV)
Jesus Used the Word
Have you ever thought about the fact that the Living Word of God used the written Word of God as His weapon against evil? The Creator — the Elohim of the Universe, of all that exists — certainly has the power to destroy every evil being with just a word. But He chose a different way. He chose to become the Living Word and to demonstrate to us the authority we all have in overcoming evil with God's Word.
He resisted Satan's temptations with the Word:
"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.' But he answered, 'It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."' Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "He will command his angels concerning you," and "On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." Jesus said to him, 'Again it is written, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test."' Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, 'All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve."' Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him." (Matthew 4:1-11)
In the book of Revelation, Jesus manifests [appears] as having a sharp two-edged sword protruding from His mouth."...from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength." (Revelation 1:16) And to the church in Pergamum, Jesus said He is the one who has a sharp two-edged sword (cf. Revelation 2:12), indicating that God's Word is the strongest weapon for fighting against Satan and his evil plans.
Later, in the vision He showed John of His war with the beast [the Antichrist] and the nations of the earth who had come against Israel, Jesus appears again with the sword protruding from His mouth. "From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. . . . And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse..." (Revelation 19:15, 21)
- The Word Is the Power of God
As the living Word, Jesus Christ represents the power of God. He is the Power of God! So when we preach Christ, we are preaching the power of God, against which no evil can stand."For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)
- The Word Is the Wisdom of God
The Bible tells us that, for those of us who belong to Christ, He is the wisdom received from God.
"And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption." (1 Corinthians 1:30)
"In whom [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:3)
See also Colossians 3:16. - The Word Is Truth
When the Apostle John said "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (cf. John 1:14), he was declaring that God's Truth had come down to us.Jesus, Himself, said that He is the truth. "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" (John 14:6) Notice, Jesus didn't say He was one truth or a truth among many, as skeptics today want to believe. No. He said He is the truth.
"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18)
"But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (1 Corinthians 1:23-24)
In the 19th chapter of Revelation, as we've already noted, we see Christ warring against, and gaining the victory over, the Antichrist. The key to Christ's power in that battle is found in verse 13: "He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God."
See also 1 Thessalonians 2:13 and Hebrews 13:20-21.
And when He prayed for us, He prayed: "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." (John 17:17)
Some other statements Jesus made about Himself as being "true" include:
"Then Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses did not give you that bread from Heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from Heaven.'" (John 6:32)
"I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser." (John 15:1)
God also testifies in His written Word...
"He was the true Light; He enlightens every man coming into the world." (John 1:9)
"And I saw Heaven opened. And behold, a white horse! And He sitting on him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness He judges and makes war." (Revelation 19:11)
Jesus is the one and only standard of truth by which all else is counted true or false. Anything that does not line up with His Word is a lie from Satan, the father of lies (cf. John 8:44). Everything that agrees with God's Word is truth.
"...assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus." (Ephesians 4:21)
"for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth." (Ephesians 5:9)
Jesus' "weapon of choice" was God's Word. That should be our choice, too, when resisting and fighting "against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12)! Not physical strength or will-power, not human wisdom, not profuse dialogue — but the Word. That is the only offensive weapon we have in our spiritual arsenal with which to defeat evil: "and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:17) After all, spiritual warfare is simply replacing lies with truth. And even Satan, as powerful as he is, cannot fight against God's Word.
God's Name(s)/Attributes Evidenced in Jesus
We find many names and titles for God in the Bible. Jesus, the Word, helps us to better understand them because He is the true expression of all that God is.
I Am
When God called Moses to lead His people, Moses asked His name. God answered: "I Am that I Am." (Exodus 3:14) He told Moses to tell the people that I Am had sent him. This name tells us that God is eternal, changeless, always present. He is today, He is yesterday, and He is tomorrow. The Complete Jewish Bible renders that verse: "God said to Moshe, 'Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be],' and added, 'Here is what to say to the people of Isra'el: "Ehyeh [I Am or I Will Be] has sent me to you."'" In the name "I Am", God very plainly tells us that He is what He is and He does what He purposes to do. There is no deceit in Him. We can depend on Him.
But what is it that God is? What will He do? Jesus answers these questions in His sermons recorded in the Gospel of John. Eight times He applies God's name, "I Am", to Himself. Once He used it to describe His own eternal nature, telling us that He existed before Abraham: "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:58)
Several other times, Jesus used this name of God to explain God's character and His own — to show what God does for those who come to Him. The great I AM will meet all of our needs!
- "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes on Me shall never thirst." (John 6:35)
- "I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)
- "I am the door. If anyone enters in by Me, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture." (John 10:9)
- "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." (John 10:11)
- "I am the Resurrection and the Life! He who believes in Me, though he die, yet he shall live." (John 11:25)
- "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me." (John 14:6)
- "I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser." (John 15:1)
YHWH/Yahweh/Jehovah
There have been many studies and books written about the true name(s) and attributes of God. I will not engage in a debate, nor will I attempt to convince anyone of which opinion or study is correct. Herein I simply present a few widely-known and generally-accepted concepts.
The name of God that occurs most frequently in the Biblia Hebraica [Hebrew Bible] is the Tetragrammaton [from the Greek "word with four letters"], which is spelled in the Hebrew alphabet 
[Yod or Yud] 
[Heh] 
[Vav] [Heh] or, reading right-to-left, 
[Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh]. Most of our English Bibles use the all-uppercase word LORD in place of the Hebrew name . And the name is generally transliterated as "YHWH", "YHVH", or "YHUH". Regardless of which transliteration one uses, the Hebrew Tetragrammaton is the distinctive personal name that the God revealed to the nation of Israel ±5000 years ago, which we have Anglicized to "Jehovah" or "Yahweh".
Most translators and Hebrew scholars agree that the Tetragrammaton is a form of the Hebrew root "havah" which means "to be" or "to exist". Thus, Yahweh/Jehovah becomes the Eternal or Self-Existent One who brings into being.
Although the accuracy of such may be disputed, for this lesson, I will use the name "Jehovah". As you are probably aware, the name is often combined with other words to form several compound names/designations. These are all based on personal revelations of God's attributes that tell us more about who He is and what He does, or wants to do, for people. [For example, your name may be Mary. That tells us your name, but nothing about you. But when we add the designations "mother", "sister", "aunt", "daughter", "Christian", "secretary", "soccer mom", "great cook" and "worship leader", we now know much more about who you are.]
Jesus — the Word who reveals God to us — is a physical manifestation of the truth of the following names or attributes of God.
- Jehovah-Jireh [pronounced Yir-á']: The Lord Will Provide
The word "jireh" is the same word used for "seer" or "prophet" and literally means "to see" or "to foresee". One might wonder how "Jehovah-Jireh" has come to mean "the LORD Will Provide". The 19th-century Anglican Pastor H. W. Webb-Peploe explains the transition very well in "The Titles of Jehovah":- "...with God, to see is also to foresee. As the One who possesses eternal wisdom and knowledge, He knows the end from the beginning. . . . From eternity to eternity He foresees everything. . . . Thus with God, foreseeing is prevision. As the Jehovah of righteousness and holiness, and of love and redemption, having prevision of man's sin, and fall, and need, He makes provision for that need. For provision, after all, is merely a compound of two Latin words meaning "to see beforehand". And we may learn from a dictionary that "provide" is simply the verb and "prevision" the noun of seeing beforehand. Thus, to God prevision is necessarily followed by provision, for He certainly will provide for that need which His foreseeing shows Him to exist. With Him prevision and provision are one and the same thing." [emphases added]
"So Abraham called the name of that place, 'The LORD will provide'; as it is said to this day, 'On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.'" (Genesis 22:14)
"But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)"...you were not redeemed with corruptible things, silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot; indeed having been foreknown before the foundation of the world, but revealed in the last times for you," "(1 Peter 1:18-20)
- Jehovah-Rophe [also Rapha, Rophecha) The Lord Our Healer
"...I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer." (Exodus 15:26b) - Jehovah-Shalom: The Lord Is Peace
"Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace." (Judges 6:24) - Jehovah-Rohi [also Ro'i, Ro'eh]: The Lord My Shepherd
- Jehovah-Tsid'Ke-nu (also Tsidkenu, Tzidkaynu, Tsidqenuw) [pronounced T-sid'-kay'-noo]: The Lord Is Our Righteousness
- Jehovah-Shammah [also Samma]: The Lord Is Present
- Jehovah-Nissi: The Lord Our Banner/The Lord Is Our Refuge
"And evening coming on, they brought to Him many who had been possessed with demons. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick." (Matthew 8:16)
Jesus, the Great Physician, heals the body, mind, heart, and broken spirit."I have spoken these things to you so that you might have peace in Me. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
Jesus gives us inner peace that doesn't depend on our circumstances, but on who He is. In Christ, we have peace with God, peace with ourselves, and peace with others."The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." (Psalm 23:1)
"I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." (John 10:11)
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, laid down His life for us, and He now lives to take care of all who follow Him.
"In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'" (Jeremiah 23:6)
"For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21)
There is only one way to have a clean heart and life. We can have the right kind of life and right relationship with God only by union with Jesus. Jesus alone is our Righteousness.
"The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, 'The LORD Is There.'" (Ezekiel 48:35)
"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst." (Matthew 28:20)
"Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16)
Jesus has promised to be with us always. He is always near to help us.
"And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, 'The LORD Is My Banner.'" (Exodus 17:15) "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1)
"You have given a banner to those who fear You, to lift it up because of the truth. Selah." (Psalm 60:4)
"...by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." (Hebrews 6:18)
Jesus is the Banner under which we engage in spiritual battle and defeat Satan, the enemy of our souls. This title means that Jesus is our Leader, our Victory, and Strength. With Him we can be strong and victorious in the daily battles of life.
The victory is ours in Christ Jesus! "He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God." (Revelation 19:13)
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1etymology — n. history of a word; study of the sources and development of words
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