God’s Name is Holy

Advent Devotion on the Lord’s Prayer 

by Pastor Paul Wolff 

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Jesus said, “Pray then like this, … ‘Hallowed be Thy Name’” (Matthew 6:9)

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God is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Yet the Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit. The Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. It is a paradox, but this is how God reveals who He is.

You might sometimes hear people talk about the “names of God”. Hopefully you will never hear a Christian saying such things because the Holy Bible never speaks of the “names of God”. The Scriptures frequently speak of God’s “name” in the singular, but never in the plural. This seems peculiar because, although Scripture is clear that there is only one God, yet Jesus revealed that God is Triune: three distinct persons united in one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Even in the Old Testament, the generic word for the true God is in the plural form, as if it were to say, “gods”, yet when referring to the true God, the pronouns (and accompanying verbs) for this God are all singular – “he”, “him”, and usually “I” (generally not “we”, though Genesis 1:26 does say, “Let us make man in our image…”) which shows that God is singular and masculine.  

In the days of Moses, God told Moses His name by saying, “I am who I am.” (Exodus 3:14) At first glance, we might think this begs the question, “Then, who are you?” Yet, this does tell us a few important things about God. The true God who spoke to Moses is the God who exists (“He is”), as opposed to the false gods, who do not exist except in the perverse imaginations of their followers. This name also shows us that God is eternal and does not change. This is also why we read in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” He is who He is – eternally. This is why the Jews wanted to stone Jesus when He told them, “Before Abraham was, I am!” (John 8:58) They recognized that Jesus was claiming to be the eternal God who was Abraham’s God two thousand years earlier. This would have been blasphemy if it weren’t true, but it is.

The True God is the one who would live and die to redeem you from your sins and rescue you from death. This is why His name is hallowed among us.

When Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Holy Baptism He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-20) Notice that the “Name” (singular) of God is “the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”. Jesus doesn’t say “names”, but “name”. This isn’t because Jesus did not know grammar. He certainly did, but was teaching us something profound about God. God may be triune, but the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God, not three, yet three distinct persons. It is a mystery, but this is how God reveals Himself in the Holy Scriptures.  

You will never hear me speak of the “names of God” except when teaching against it, as I am doing here. Those who speak of the “names of God” are either being imprecise in their language or they are trying to give the false impression that “all religions are alike”, or that ‘all roads lead to heaven”, or some such lies that try to diminish the unique character of God. The different worldly religions cannot all be different aspects of the same religion and god because all the world religions contradict each other. Rationally we can see that they may all be false, but they cannot all be true. At most, only one may be true. Christianity is the only religion of grace where God does all the work to save sinners, and then gives forgiveness for free through faith. All the other world religions (and false teaching in Christian churches) make you save yourself or do something to aid in your salvation. Which religion do you think is true? This is why God’s name is holy, and hallowed among true believers within all Christian denominations. 

It is also easy for people to be confused about God’s Name because the Holy Bible describes God in many different ways. Each distinct “name” that the Scriptures use to describe God shows a different aspect of God’s nature or personality. They are all true descriptions of God, but each one only shows a partial picture of God’s Name. In the Old Testament God is called such things as the Lord, the Ancient of Days, the Eternal God, the Living God, the Eternal Father, and many more such things. In the New Testament God is revealed through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who also has several distinct titles. Yet we still do not say that “God has many names.” Why? Each of these names for God describe a certain aspect of His personality as He has revealed it to us. Each “name” shows us a part of who God is, but does not show us the fullness of God. It has been said that the entirety of the Holy Scriptures are an explanation of the Name of God. This is a good way to look at it. The Bible tells us who God is and what He has done to save us from our sin through the incarnation of God as a man, Jesus, and His lifetime of work to win our salvation, especially His innocent suffering and death on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 

“You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

In Matthew 1:20-21 An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph of Nazareth in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” The name, “Jesus” means “savior”, and that is His ultimate work. God’s name is truly hallowed among us because of all that God has done to save us from sin and death. God did not have to come down to earth to save us. He could have punished us as our sins deserve, and would have been justified to do so because we deserved punishment for our sins. Yet God preferred to take the hard road and sent His Son to become incarnate to redeem the world from sin through His life, death, and resurrection. 

God is both perfectly just and unfailingly merciful. These characteristics would seem to oppose each other when it comes to God wanting to save us from our sins. God’s holy desire to punish sin with death seems at conflict with His loving desire to rescue us from sin’s necessary consequence of death. Yet, in Jesus, God found a solution. God accepted Jesus as a substitute who would die for sinners and win our salvation. The Second Person of the Godhead became incarnate as a man, Jesus Christ, to live the perfect life in obedience to God’s Law, which we failed to do in our sinfulness, then Jesus offered His life as the perfect sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world. The life of Jesus is sufficient to pay for sin because His life is God’s life, and His blood is God’s blood, given and shed to redeem us all from our sins. God’s name is truly holy, because He found a way to rescue and redeem you from your sins while being perfectly just in punishing the sin of the world through the death of Jesus. In the life and death of Jesus, God found a way to be perfectly just in punishing sin, and perfectly merciful and loving in redeeming us through the sacrifice of the life of Jesus. This is why we will praise and thank God for all eternity for the Salvation He won for us sinners. 

We call the holy family “holy” not because Mary and Joseph are holy, but because Jesus is holy.

There is nothing in all the world more precious than the love of God. He has redeemed us and calls us His children, though we do not deserve it. Yet, because Jesus paid the price for the sins of the world we are happy to receive His forgiveness and salvation as a most wonderful gift, and praise God forever for His unending love. 

This Petition in the Lord’s Prayer in closely related to the Second Commandment, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.” The commandment and the petition both deal with God’s name. Because God’s Name is holy, we should use it properly and not misuse it. This is not easy to do. As time went by after God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, the Israelite people of the Old Testament put too much emphasis on God’s Law and, for fear of misusing God’s Name, they stopped using it altogether. Instead of using the Name that God gave them to use, they instead spoke the general term, “lord”, even in their worship and when reading the Bible. If God had not wanted the people to use His name, then he wouldn’t have given it to them, but God gave us His Name so that we might use it. In Psalm 50:15 God says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” It is for Bible verses like this (and many others) that Martin Luther explains this petition by saying that it is our duty to “Call upon God in every trouble, pray, praise, and give Him thanks.” 

In the Advent season we especially remember God’s name because God sent His Son to be our savior, to rescue us from sin, and to bring us back into the household of God as His beloved children – for the sake of Jesus. God’s name truly is holy, as is everything He has done to give us good gifts in this life, and for the salvation that He has prepared for us through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

God is Our Father

Advent Devotion on the Lord’s Prayer
by Pastor Paul Wolff

Jesus said, “Pray then like this, ‘Our father, who art in heaven …’”

Matthew 6:9

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Jesus prayed to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. He also invites us to pray to God as our Father.

God can be considered our Father because He is the one who created us all. Yet we have orphaned ourselves through our sin. It is not that we have killed our father, but rather, through our sin, we have killed ourselves and rebelled against our good and gracious heavenly Father. Yet, when Jesus teaches His disciples (and us) how to pray, He begins the prayer by teaching us to pray to God as “Our Father, who art in heaven.” This is a gracious invitation that Jesus would consider us His brothers and sisters that we could once again call God our Father. We can only do this due to the redemption that Jesus won for us by His perfect obedient life, and His innocent suffering and death. Since, because of our sin, we all have imperfect examples of what a Father ought to be, we may begin by asking, “What kind of a father is God?”

Several years ago there was a billboard campaign which purported to be some kind of messages from God. These billboards were likely well-intentioned, but were ultimately blasphemous. They showed a black billboard with white lettering ending in the simple tag, “– God” as if to imply that these messages came from God. It was blasphemous because none of the pithy sayings were quotes from Holy Scripture nor otherwise from God. All these messages only contained Law and no Gospel, and many of them contradicted clear teachings of God’s word. Nevertheless, they were sort of amusing in a superficial (though blasphemous) way. One that caught my attention said, “Don’t make me come down there. – God” as if God were a parent warning His disobedient children with vain threats. We should be aware, however, that God is not the kind of father who makes vain threats. When God makes threats they are real, and should be taken seriously, though God also provides rescue from sin and death through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe – which is why we take the time to celebrate His first Advent, and look forward to His second coming also. 

I don’t know exactly what the billboard writers had in mind because they were a little late with their warning that if we disobey God we might make Him come down here to punish us. The first people God created (Adam and Eve) long ago let that cat out of the bag. Because Adam and Eve rebelled against God and brought sin into the world, God DID come down here. Fortunately, when God came down here He didn’t bring about the punishment the billboard sponsors were insinuating. When God came down here He didn’t come to judge and condemn us. Instead God the Father sent His only begotten Son down to rescue and redeem us from our sinfulness. This is the Gospel message. It is also one reason why the church where I am the assistant Pastor is named Emmanuel – God is here with us always for our forgiveness and salvation. The mere presence of God may not be such a happy occasion, unless God comes to rescue and redeem, and He does. 

We can always turn to God as our beloved Father just as the prodigal son was happily received by his forgiving father.

The incarnation of God as a man is the central event in all of human history. That is why we count our years from the date of Christ’s birth (or as close as could be determined at the time, though that is a story for another time). God knew before He made people that we would rebel against Him and we would be lost unless He did something to save us. Yet, He went ahead and created the people who would reject His authority and cause Him immense grief and suffering. Why would anyone do that? Only love could cause someone to go through that kind of suffering rather than avoid it. Saint Paul explained this to the Romans, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:7-8) Christ’s sacrifice for our benefit is the very definition of God’s perfect love. That is why we celebrate Advent every year. All who believe in Christ as our savior rejoice at God’s coming to us to rescue and redeem us from our sins.

All man-made gods require something from their followers to prove that they are worthy of favor. This makes these false gods seem very demanding, but it also makes them seem able to be manipulated by the actions of people. This is why false gods are so attractive to people. Though the false gods can be harsh taskmasters, those who create false gods also make it seem to the people as if they can control their pretend gods. If you can control God, then you are lord over Him and you are, in effect, your own god. It isn’t real, but is just as pretend as the false gods, but ever since the first temptation where Adam and Eve fell into sin, people have been trying to become like a god and make our own rules. This is part of our continuing rebellion against God, our Father, and why we need to repent of our sins and ask God our Father to forgive our sins for the sake of Jesus.

The true God is not like the false gods. Jesus didn’t come to us to demand anything from us. There is nothing we can give God that doesn’t already belong to Him. We can’t make up for our sinful rebelliousness. Jesus didn’t come to take anything from us. He came to give. Jesus came to live the obedient human life that none of us are capable of doing. Jesus perfectly pleased God the Father with His obedient life, and then He offered His life in place of ours on the cross. Because of what Jesus did on the cross (and throughout His whole life) we are saved from our sins. All who trust in the forgiveness that Jesus won for us will be rescued from death and blessed with eternal life in paradise. This is why we can confidently pray to God as our Father and why we celebrate the Advent (“coming”) of Jesus and look forward with eager expectation to His Second Advent on the last day.

Perfect Love Drives Out All Fear

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Jesus and the Little Children from Emmanuel Lutheran Church Dearborn, Michigan

1 John 4:16b-18

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

You may have heard people say, “Fear is a great motivator.” Few, however, are honest enough to complete that thought. If someone ever tells you that “Fear is a great motivator” you can be sure that they are trying (or will try) to manipulate you to do something which will benefit them, but will not necessarily benefit you.

Fear paralyzes people. Fear makes people want to act to save their own lives, or avoid getting hurt, but they cannot act out of fear that they will be harmed in the process. It’s a vicious circle. This is why tyrants employ terrorist tactics to cower people into submission. Fearful people will not effectively resist forceful oppression and therefore can be manipulated and easily subjugated by evil people.

Creation and the Fall into Sin from Holy Cross Lutheran Church Detroit, Michigan

Fear of Punishment

As St. John notes in the Scripture quote above: fear has to do with punishment, or a desire to avoid pain and suffering. When Adam and Eve first disobeyed God they should have run to Him and confessed their sins and asked Him to rescue them from the doom which they had brought upon themselves. They should have known God would have mercy on them (as He ultimately did), but instead they feared the righteous punishment for their sins and ran away from their savior instead of running toward Him for help and salvation. At that time Adam and Eve were naïve about sin, and they were not used to living as sinners as we are, but we act in exactly the same way.

As I was preparing this article I found this interesting news story: Police detectives in California recently solved a 30 year old murder case. Evidence pointed to a 48 year old man who, after police questioned him about the details of the case, took his own life rather than face the consequences of his actions from three decades ago. For thirty years he must have lived in fear that his crime would be discovered. Then, when it was discovered, he feared the punishment so much that he carried out a capital sentence on himself. Now, I’m not saying that the self-imposed punishment did not fit the crime, but until the murderer’s life ended there was forgiveness available for him in Christ. The state’s punishment may not have been as bad as what the man feared, and he could have received true forgiveness in Christ long ago. I don’t know why he didn’t seek Christ’s forgiveness earlier, but had he repented he could have given the family of his victim some sense of justice by confessing to the crime and taking the civil punishment for the crime. Instead, his fear gave him torment throughout his life, and no doubt added to the sorrow and suffering of the victim’s family, also.

What Can Stand Against Fear?

After the Japanese attacked the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor in 1941, President Roosevelt told the American people, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” It was a fearful time, but Roosevelt wisely called for courage in the face of fear. Courage is the antidote to fear. But where does courage come from? Courage is not a natural response to fear. Panic is the natural response to fear, but courage comes from somewhere else.

Samson Window from Holy Cross Lutheran Church Detroit, Michigan

Courageous people act out of love. Love is simply when one cares more for someone else than for oneself. Courageous people are more concerned for others than for themselves. So when courageous people see someone in danger they only think of how to help someone in need, they don’t stop to consider their own safety. Courageous people may have fear for themselves, but they do not take time to think about their own needs as they act bravely to save others. Courageous people (i.e. Loving people) cannot be terrorized. They cannot be manipulated. They cannot be forced to submit to tyrants.

Perfect Love Drives out Fear

Saint John writes in his first Epistle, “Perfect love drives out fear.” This sounds like a good thing. I would like to find some perfect love. The only trouble is that we all are sinners in a sinful world, and you will never find “perfect love” in a sinner. However, even the imperfect love of sinners can accomplish wonderful things. Love can heal wounded or broken hearts. Love can drive out wicked tyrants. Love can give comfort and hope to those in despair. But where there is only imperfect love – fear remains.

So where can we find the perfect love which drives out all fear? Since we can’t find it in ourselves or in other sinful people we must look for it outside of ourselves. The only place to find perfect love is in Jesus Christ. There are many descriptions of this in the Scriptures, but one of my favorites is in Philippians 2:5-11. Saint Paul tells us, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!”

Jesus paid the price for your sins Holy Cross Lutheran Church Detroit, Michigan

Jesus is the only person who ever lived His whole life in perfect love. Jesus loved God, the Father, with all His heart, all His soul, and all His strength; and Jesus loved His neighbors as Himself. Even when Jesus learned that it was God’s Will to punish Him for the sins of the world in order to save sinners from that punishment, Jesus loved God, the Father, (and us wretched sinners) enough to do all that needed to be done. Jesus is the only one who could save us from the punishment for our sin because Jesus is fully God and fully man in one person. His death paid the full price for the sins of the whole world. That is why the only place you will ever find perfect love is in Jesus Christ.

The perfect love of Jesus drives out all fear because fear has to do with punishment. There is no greater fear than the fear that God will send us to eternal punishment for our disobedience. He would be completely within His rights to do so, but He would rather take the punishment Himself and save us from that torment – and that is exactly what Jesus did for us. We need have no fear because Jesus endured the punishment for all our sins. Because of Jesus, God no longer has anything more to punish us for. So if we do not need to be afraid of God, then there is nothing in all of creation which ought to cause us fear.

How do we receive the perfect love of Jesus? We can only receive it as a gift through faith in Jesus by believing that Jesus died to save us from our sins. God, the Father, counts us righteous through faith and gives us salvation and eternal life. The courage and love that comes from being forgiven is just one of the many bonuses granted by God’s Holy Spirit.

This is not to say that love has any particular power on its own. It does not. Strictly speaking, love, itself, does not save us. Only the perfect life and innocent death of Jesus can save us. It is true that it was the love of Jesus that caused Him to endure God’s punishment for our sins, but until Jesus was physically hanging dead on the cross our salvation was not complete. It is like a parabolical argument I like to use against decision theology: Three frogs are sitting on a log in a pond. One decides to jump in the pond. How many frogs are left sitting on the log? The answer is three, because until the frog actually jumps into the pond he is still sitting on the log no matter what he has decided to do. Likewise with Jesus, He can love us as much as He wants, but all people were still subject to condemnation for our sin until Jesus lived the perfectly obedient life in our place, and then died to pay for our sin.

Christ has taken away all need for our concern about ourselves. Baptized Christians are God’s children through faith in Christ and God will provide for all our needs of body and soul. His perfect love has removed all threat of God’s punishment, and where there is no threat of punishment there is no fear. In Christ we are freed to think about our neighbor without fear that we might come up short. Jesus has overcome all our shortcomings.

The Crown of Life from Zion Lutheran Church Columbus, Ohio

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)