Cornerstone

The name of God in the Hebrew has no pronunciation. It is a word of all consonants. Without vowels it can not be pronounced. It is also made up of all the forms for being: was, is and will be. 

For the Jew, a name represented the essence of the person. It spoke of the history and the reputation of what it represented. Similarly we speak of a person’s reputation as his “good name.” God revealed this to Moses who trembled as he spoke to a burning bush. Moses wanted to be able to tell the Egyptians who had sent him. “What is your name?”, actually meant who are you, what are you like and what have you done? God said, “When they ask who sent you, tell them I Am, that I AM sent you.” In other words, God responded by saying an I am the God of eternity. This is also what the Hebrew writer was referring to when he said, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday , and to day, and for ever.” (Heb 13:8)

The ironic thing about the name of God is that it speaks of infinite potential for change. This seems paradoxical since it also seems to indicate stability. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday , and to day, and for ever.” How can He be always the same and have infinite potential for change? The answer to this question seems to lie in the fact that His character and His essence are solid in their absolutely, unshakeable stability. His creativity on the other hand has the elastic quality of continual possibilities. That God will never change does not mean that He has run out of ideas or that His infinite mind has crystallized. Our God can be counted on to never alter in the absolutes of His character from which we derive our value system. Our God can also be counted on to continue to act in creative ways as He assists us with the difficulties of our lives.

by Dr. Gayle Woods

Col 2:6-12 (7)

To be complete in Christ means that we are settled in our Christian experience, we are supported in our endeavor to develop in character, our faith in God is strengthened, we are learning the precepts of Scripture, and we overflow with thanksgiving to our Lord.

Leighton Ford, once said, (Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 1) “God loves us the way we are, but he loves us too much to leave us that way.” We have not always been complete in Christ, and the paradox is that even when we are complete in Christ we are not complete. The Christian life must be maintained. Our feet must not moved from the Rock on which they stand, the development of Christian character must ever continue, our faith must constantly be reinforced, the Scriptures are never total absorbed in their entirety, and unfortunately our thanks is often slow in being manifested. Our Christian life must be maintained and unless it continually grows it cannot be maintained.

Something we must continually remember is that it is not all our work. We are not making ourselves Christians. We are involved in the process of Gods handiwork but the job is not entirely up to us. J Sidlow Baxter expressed it like this:

What God chooses, He cleanses.

What God cleanses, He molds.

What God molds, He fills.

What God fills, He uses.

Dr. Gayle Woods