900 Names of God

As a church, we just finished a series looking at the various names of God and simply asking whether or not we see God this way, and whether we believe these names to be true. If God is a Counselor (2 Co. 1:3-10), is he the first person we go to when we’re hurt or need counsel? If he’s a Friend (Jn. 15:13-15), do we really talk to Jesus and receive him like this? If he is Lord (Lk. 6:46-49), do we actually obey him? It was powerful to reflect on what we may know about God intellectually, but functionally and practically don’t receive him in the many ways he has offered himself to us.

(If you’re interested in the “Cultivate” sermon series, you can find the first sermon and then follow along here).

Throughout the series, I often found myself thinking, “Man, I thought I was good at this, but I honestly don’t approach God like this at all.” My guess is that, if you’re honest with yourself, you’d say the same thing.

There are, according to some scholars, over 900 names of God given throughout the Bible (names, metaphors, attributes, roles, etc.). Here’s the problem: this means there are over 900 different ways God has self-disclosed himself to us in the Scriptures, but my guess is we only relate to about 4 to 8 of those names on a regular basis! Every other name of God, even if we know it in our heads, we likely don’t know it in our hearts, believe it on our souls, or approach him like this in our strength. No wonder why God can feel distant, boring, or uncaring; it’s not God that’s the problem – it’s us!

There’s More of God to Receive

Imagine I laid out before you a 900-course meal (I know, it’s an analogy – somehow you can eat all of it!). If you only ate 12 of those courses, you’d have consumed just 1.3% of what was offered. Say all 12 courses were phenomenal and you loved them, but you stuck with those 12 for the rest of your life and never ate anything else. Sure, you’d learn those 12 really well and probably build a palate that could enjoy those 12 things better than when you first ate them. But you’d still only be eating 1.3% of what is offered. And, the entire 900-courses are just as good! In fact, in certain seasons of your life, they’re even “better,” because they hit what your soul is craving in that moment.

Most of us only relate with a tiny, tiny fraction of a portion of the goodness of God. Sure, we know him as Father, or Friend, or Master, or King, we know him as God. But what if we knew him as Husband? How would that change things in our lives? If we really believed he was the “Door?” What if we “consumed” another course of Christ?

We Don’t Settle for 1.5% of Anything Else!

Imagine I told you today, “Hey, sorry, for the next year you’ll only make 1.3% of your salary.” None of us would be okay with that! Yet, somehow, we’re content to do this spiritually. You get the metaphor already – there’s more of God to be had and enjoyed! You’re likely eating about 12 of the 900 plates you could have with God and each of them is different and delicious in its own way. Each of them is, in fact, needful in different seasons.

Throughout the sermon series, we’ve had very simple applications for our church, like: “Approach God like a Friend in prayer this week. Refer to him often as a friend.” What would it look like for you to try to know more of Christ? To believe he’s a Shepherd, a Rock, a Deliverer, YHWH, a Provider, Lord of all lords? What if you simply approached or thought about God differently? Worshipped him for these characteristics, attributes, or truths in your life? What if you prayed this, believed this, acted on these things about Christ? What if you could get more of him, simply by seeing more of him? I believe you can.

Jesus the Name of God 

Jesus is the one who makes it possible for us to relate to the many names of God. Jesus – the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the I Am himself – came to earth to reveal God to us (Jn. 1:18, 14:9; Col. 1:15). All the truth revealed throughout Scripture in the names God has given to us to see him as, Jesus embodied to perfection. Yet, Jesus died, his name was mocked as “King of the Jews,” so that we, who shouldn’t even know one name of God and should be distant from him, might now know him as Savior, Abba, Advocate… as Friend. Praise Jesus!

Reverse Poly-Theism

Missionaries have encountered a unique challenge in sharing the gospel with people coming from the Hindu religion due to their polytheistic belief in hundreds of gods. When sharing the gospel with them, many love the idea of Jesus, but just try to lump him in with their other gods. At times, they’ll even concede to make him the “highest” god while still holding onto other gods. Ironically, God embodies all the names they hold onto! Whatever they seek in these other gods can be found in Christ! Not only are they false gods… they literally don’t need them if they truly have all of Jesus.

Let’s not be arrogant or pompous – we do the same thing. Because we don’t realize God is a Comforter, we’ll go to the internet or a human comforter. Now, they may be able to provide a measure of comfort! But can they comfort like the Comforter? No. We go to other gods. What if we learn to receive God for the fullness of who he is? This would change everything!

This week, try it. Whatever you read about God, whatever “name” you see, ask yourself: Do you believe this to be true? Do you receive God in this way? Do you approach God like this? It will change your relationship with God. You’ll slowly but surely learn to stop going to these other gods and to feast on the fullness of Christ. 

You may never be able to eat all 900 meals of Christ, but by practicing this, you’ll start eating more than 1.3%, and your soul will be more and more satisfied – delighted – in all of who God is!

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