YHWH (Hebrew name of God, usually spelled out LORD, but sometimes pronounced Jehovah or Yahweh)

KURIOS ‘O THEOS (Greek name of God, usually translated the Lord God)

“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Exodus 20:1-2

1. Who is God and what does the Bible tell us about Him?

Isaiah 42:8: I am the LORD: that is my name.

Jeremiah 10:10: But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king.

Psalm 90:1-2: Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

The true God is the LORD God – or Jehovah God – of the Bible. He is the living and eternal God who always was, who is and always will be.

2. How many true Gods are there? How many Persons are true God?

Deuteronomy 6:4: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.

1 Corinthians 8:4: There is none other God but one.

Matthew 28:19: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost….

2 Corinthians 13:14: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.

Isaiah 48:16-17: Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me. Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

Numbers 6:22-27: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

1 John 5:7: For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

There is only one true God, but the one true God is three distinct Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three Gods, but one; for God is one. This teaching of the Three/One or Triune God is taught throughout the Bible, beginning in the very first chapter of Genesis and continuing through the last chapter of Revelation. (Study your Bible and find out for yourself.)

3. What else does God tell us of Himself in the Bible?

John 4:24: God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Malachi 3:6: For I am the LORD, I change not….

Psalm 102:27: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

Genesis 17:1: I am the Almighty God….

Luke 1:37: For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Matthew 19:26: With God all things are possible.

Psalm 139:1-4: O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

John 21:17: Lord, thou knowest all things….

Jeremiah 23:24: Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

Proverbs 15:3: The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

Leviticus 19:2: I the LORD your God am holy.

Isaiah 6:3: Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

Deuteronomy 32:4: He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

2 Timothy 2:13: He abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

Psalm 145:8-9: The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Exodus 34:6-7: And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

1 John 4:8: God is love.

The Bible teaches us much about the true God. We call some of these qualities and characteristics of God the attributes of God. God, Himself, tells us in His Word that He is eternal, unchangeable, all-powerful, all-knowing, present everywhere, holy, just, impartial and fair, faithful, good, merciful, kind, gracious and loving.

SUMMARY
We believe that there is only one true God (Isaiah 44:6; I Corinthians 8:4). This God (called the LORD or JEHOVAH) is one divine Being or Essence, but three distinct Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (thus the name, Triune or Three/One God), each being eternal and equal in power and majesty, because each Person is the LORD God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; I John 5:7; Isaiah 48:16-17; John 1:1; Colossians 2:9; I Corinthians 3:16; Hebrews 9:14; I Peter 4:14). We believe that no one can worship or serve the Triune God except he believes that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and the Savior of mankind from sin and its consequences (John 3:18,36; 5:23; 14:6; I John 2:23; 5:11-12). Hence, all who deny the Trinity of God (that God is three Persons) or the Unity of God (that God is one divine Being), or who do not trust in Jesus Christ, the Son, for salvation, do not worship and serve the true God.

“Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.” Luke 2:46-47 (Read Luke 2:41-52)

It is amazing, isn’t it? Rather than returning with his parents and running with the other boys his age on their journey home, what did Jesus do? After three days, He was still in Jerusalem, in the temple, sitting among the teachers of God’s Word, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Jesus were astonished at His understanding and answers.

Some would imagine that Jesus, because He was and is the Son of God, was lecturing the teachers of the law. But it doesn’t say that. Instead, He was listening to them and asking them questions. We must remember that though Jesus had all knowledge, He humbled Himself and studied and learned the Scriptures just as we are enjoined to do by God in His Word (cf. Phil. 2:5-8; Col. 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:15; 3:14-17).

As Jesus said (v. 49), He was about His Father’s business. He was learning and studying God’s Word. His delight was in the law of the LORD, and in His law He meditated day and night (Psalm 1:2). He loved the LORD God with all His heart and with all His soul and delighted in learning God’s Word.

The fact that He delighted in the LORD God and His Word and sought Him with the whole heart (cf. Psalm 37:4; 119:2) amazes us because we do not, as we are by nature since the fall, have such love for God or the desire to learn of Him and His ways. What would you have been doing at 12 years old? What do you do even yet today?

To be honest with you, I’ve heard complaints about sermons which are too long but seldom that they are too short. I’ve not had church members suggest we stay on into Sunday afternoons or, much less, into extra days to dig deeper into the Bible and consider its teaching. Yet, if we loved the LORD God with all our heart and soul and delighted in His Word, we just might do as Jesus did — continue on at church for days in the study of the Scriptures.

Jesus’ love for the Father and for the Word is evidence of His holy life in our stead. We come so far short of God’s commandments, but Jesus fulfilled them for us and then suffered and died on the cross and rose again that He might bear our punishment and win for us forgiveness and life everlasting in fellowship with God the Father.

When we acknowledge our sinfulness and our failures to keep God’s laws and look in faith to Jesus and His life and death in our stead, we obtain mercy and receive forgiveness from God and life eternal. Only through faith in Christ Jesus can we return to God and live.

Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for fulfilling in our stead all righteousness and paying the just debt of our sins by Your innocent sufferings and death upon the cross. Grant us faith in You and Your cross for pardon and forgiveness and give to us a sincere and ever-growing love for God and His Word. We pray in Your name. Amen.

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

In his second epistle (2 Peter 1:12-15), St. Peter wrote: “For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.”

Businesses and corporations often adopt a mission statement and goals to help them stay focused on what is truly important and to keep them from going off on tangents which waste company time and resources. And it is wise for individuals, too, to adopt a mission statement for their lives to keep them focused on what is truly important and to prevent them from wasting time and energy on things which are of no benefit in the long run.

Several years ago, I adopted a personal mission statement to make sure I made it my focus to make known to my children and grandchildren (and all who will hear me) the truths of God’s Word that they too might know and trust in their Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

As a theme verse, I would certainly include the following: “O God, You have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, your power to everyone who is to come” (Psalm 71:17-18).

I remind my children and fellow believers, again and again, to read and study their Bibles. Why? Because the Bible contains all we need that we might know and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation. The Holy Spirit works through the Word to reveal to us Jesus Christ and to create faith in our hearts. Through God’s Word, we see our utter sinfulness and, through the Word, we are offered and receive by faith forgiveness for all our sins and life eternal for the sake of the innocent sufferings and death of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

That is why Paul reminded Timothy: “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:14-17).

That is what Peter is also doing in His two letters to believers. He says this when he writes: “For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.”

While here in this world — and Peter knew his time was short — he reminded believers again and again of the precious promises they had heard before. In Jesus, they had a living hope. They had been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. They had now received mercy and were a part of God’s people — part of the family of God — through faith in Jesus Christ.

Peter, by the working of the Holy Spirit who moved Him to write and inspired the words he wrote, reminded his hearers of the message of God’s Word and still reminds us today of the precious truth upon which our faith rests.

As a called pastor, I have included my congregation in my family and in my mission statement. That is why I remind them, again and again, of the teaching of God’s Word. It’s why I teach them from the Scriptures. It’s why I encourage them to read their Bibles. It’s why I write and publish devotions and Scriptural lessons. It’s why I lift them up daily in my prayers.

“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

It’s through the Scriptures that our faith in Christ is created, strengthened and preserved. That is why I direct people to the Scriptures and to the comfort God gives in His Word and through the Sacraments given us through God’s Word.

And Christian congregations should have a mission statement, too, which includes encouraging each other and building each other up in the true and saving faith through the hearing of God’s Word. This is especially important as we draw ever closer to the day of Christ’s return, and it’s also why it is so important for us to reach out to our fellow believers with the encouragement of the Holy Scriptures.

The Scriptures admonish us: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16; cf Hebrews 10:19-25).

I encourage you and will continue to remind you, again and again, to make it your mission statement to read and study the Scriptures, to come and hear the Scriptures and to receive the comfort and assurance of the Scriptures. And I encourage you to reach out with that comfort of the Scriptures to your family of believers.

Why? That none be lost to Christ’s kingdom! That we all continue to trust in Christ Jesus for forgiveness and life! That we continue in the true and saving faith unto life everlasting!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him….” Matthew 2:1-2 (read verses 1-23)

Once again, through the recounting of the Scriptures, we have heard of the birth of the Christ Child in Bethlehem of Judea. God the Son was made true man, born of a virgin, and laid in a manger. An angel told the shepherds in the field nearby that this Child was none other than the Savior of the world, the Messiah and Jehovah God Himself!

Wise men (the Bible doesn’t tell us their names or how many) from a land or lands east of Judea learned of the Messiah’s birth through the appearance of a star (cf. Numbers 24:17; Isaiah 60:1ff.) and traveled a great distance to come and worship this newborn King and bring Him costly gifts.

When they arrived in Jerusalem, King Herod was troubled at their quest and inquired of the chief priests and scribes where the Messiah was to be born. They rightly understood the Scriptures and quoted from Micah 5:2, pointing out that Bethlehem was to be the place of Messiah’s birth.

But what happened after this? The wise men continued on their journey and were led by the star to Bethlehem and to the very house where Jesus was. There they worshiped Jesus and offered Him gifts.

Herod the king felt threatened by the birth of the Messiah and sought to kill Him and prevent Him from reigning upon the throne of David.

The chief priests and scribes knew the Scriptures and could tell Herod where the Messiah was to be born, but nowhere do we ever hear of their traveling to Bethlehem to worship their newborn Savior and King.

The question today is: “What about you?” You have heard of His birth and know of His sufferings and death for your sins (and the sins of the world) and of His glorious resurrection. You have heard God’s offer of mercy and forgiveness to all who repent and look to Jesus for pardon and life eternal. How do you respond?

• Do you reject Jesus and try to silence those who would speak to you of Him because Jesus is a threat to you and your way of life?

• Do you know all the facts about Jesus and His redemptive work but still fail to come and bow before Him and give Him your praise and worship?

• Or, like the wise men of old, do you follow the star (seeking the guidance of Holy Scripture) to find Messiah Jesus and worship your God and Savior, presenting Him with the costliest of gifts – even your very selves?

O dearest Jesus, You are the Almighty God and our Maker. We thank You for taking on flesh and blood and coming into this world to redeem us from sin and death. We praise You and give to you our treasures and our lives. Amen.

[Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.]