Nicknames have a way of taking on their own identity. Depending upon the person and setting in which this nickname was derived, this can bring a new dimension to someone’s personality. As for Moses, God introduces Himself as El-Shaddai. While I have heard Michael Card’s classic song on numerous occasions, I never realized that this name refers to God as the Redemptive One.
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty [El-Shaddai], but by My [a]name the Lord [Yahweh—the redemptive name of God] I did not make Myself known to them [in acts and great miracles], Exodus 6:3.
Over the course of the Old Testament, followers of God mention more than 20 distinct names when addressing this Supreme Being. Twelve of these reflect personalities of God in the form of Jehovah. Each title distinguishes the abilities, nature and power of God. In the passage above, God introduces Himself to Moses as the Redemptive One.
For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ([d]unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him, John 3:16-17.
Thousands of years later, Jesus meets with a first century Pharisee named Nicodemus. This religious leader wanted to know more about Jesus’ teaching of being born again. After a touch of sarcasm from Nicodemus in John 3:1-4, Jesus privately reveals God’s plan of salvation. John 15:12-13 and Romans 5:7-8 both highlight the spiritual powers of the Redemptive One.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 