The Trinity
The Names of Jesus
Isaiah 9:6-7
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is
given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there
shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order
it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth
even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
KJV
This one is harder than you might think. First, look at the Isaiah verse above. Consider briefly the implications of these names --
Some are obvious. But what about the child being called "the everlasting Father?" We have seen that God is God, the Father. And we have considered that Jesus is God the Son. But, here we find Jesus being called not only "mighty God" but also "everlasting Father." But, Jesus is the Son! So, the Son is the Father?! This is the marvel and miracle of the Trinity.
In 1925 T.C. Horton and Charles E. Hurlburt published a book entitled The Wonderful Names of Our Wonderful Lord. In 1994 Moody Press published an adaptation of this work entitled the Names of Christ. In this book over three hundred names of Jesus are listed. Among them are Anointed One, Messiah (Christ), King of the Jews, Lion of Judah, Comforter, Lamb of God, Lord, Head, Prince, Chief Shepherd, Word of God. The list is almost endless. I highly recommend this short work to your reading.
On the other hand, I would like
to focus briefly on the name of God as given in Exodus 3:14, consider
a verse in Isaiah, and looks at the names of Jesus as given in John&s
Gospel. Remember from our page on the Names of
God, the Exodus name?
Exodus 3:14 And God said to Moses, And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel,
& " NKJV
Throughout Isaiah chapters 40-55,
God makes great use of this name. For example, consider --
Isaiah 41:4 Who has performed and done it, Calling
the generations from the beginning? &I, the Lord, am the first; And with
the last " NKJV
Without getting into the Greek linguistics, Isaiah makes great use of the second "I Am" of the Exodus name, which in the Greek translation (Septuagint), uses a different wording structure than the the first "I Am." John picks up on both of these in his Gospel as Jesus declares:
John 8:58 Jesus
said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was,
John 6:35 And Jesus said to them, " He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes
in Me shall never thirst.
John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying,
" He who follows Me shall not walk
in darkness, but have the light of life."
John 10:7 Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly,
I say to you,
John 10:11 " The good
shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, " He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, " No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 15:1 and My Father
is the vinedresser.
Along with John 8:58 (quoted above), John uses the "I Am" Greek combination in another other other verses without any qualifying description. These include 6:20, 8:24, 8:28, 18:6.
Envision God of the Old Testament. Jesus has applied God&s name and traits to Himself in these names, showing Jesus knew Himself to be God as He walked on earth. He is no pretender. When He declares that He is the Son of God and that God is His Father, Jesus demonstrates a clear understanding of the relationship we call the Trinity.
John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. NKJV
This is the way we walk with God. We walk in Christ! We walk in the power of the Trinity!
