"THE UNKNOWN GOD"
The ancient Greeks labelled the Creator: "The
Unknown God" (Acts 17:23). They forgot WHO He
is - because they had lost the meaning of His
name! That name is important - what is it? What
does it mean?
Part 4
by
Herman L. Hoeh
WHAT IS THE FATHER'S "FAMILY NAME"?
Now carefully read Psalm 83:18: ".......that men may know
that you, whose name ALONE is YHWH, art the most high over all
the earth." This verse does NOT SAY, as some assume, that the
Creator had only ONE name - it plainly declares that the CREATING
FAMILY ALONE of all which men worship is YHWH or eternal.
But did you know that the name of the Father in heaven is
also a FAMILY NAME? In Ephesians 3:14-15 we read: "For this cause
I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom
the whole family in heaven and earth is NAMED." Jesus Christ is
the Father's Son. Every son bears his father's name. We bear our
human father's last name and we shall, like Jesus, bear our
heavenly Father's name!
Notice John 10:36: ".....Say you of Him, whom the Father has
sanctified, and sent into the world, You blaspheme; because I
said, I AM THE SON OF GOD (Greek Theos)?" Jesus claimed to be
"God's Son." We, too, may be called God's Sons (1 John 3:1).
The supreme, divine, all-ruling family is the GOD Family!
It is the Family or Kingdom of God! Jesus' Gospel - His entire
message - was about the Kingdom or Family of GOD and how you may
be born into it! His whole message was about the DIVINE
NAME - Theos in Greek, "GOD" in English.
Just before Jesus was crucified, He prayed that His Church
would be kept "in the Father's name." Notice John 17:11-12, "
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world,
and I come to you. Holy Father, keep through your own name those
whom you have given me, THAT THEY MAY BE ONE, AS WE ARE. While I
was with them in the world, I kept them IN YOUR NAME."
What is the Father's NAME in which the NT Church is to be
kept? The name of "God"! In 12 passages in the NT, the name of
the Church is called "the Church of God." Paul wrote, "unto the
church of God, which is at Corinth" ( 1 Cor.1:2). Paul wrote to
the Gentile Thessalonian converts: " For you, brethren, become
followers of the churches of GOD which in Judea are in Christ
Jesus" ( 1 Thes.2:14).
Either your ENTIRE NT is a FRAUD and must be rejected, or
the true Church is rightly named "the Church of GOD"! "God" is
the "Family Name" of the divine creative Kingdom.
The Hebrew name YHWH - the Greek KURIOS, the "Eternal" or
"Lord" in English (remember, God inspired the name to be
translated from Hebrew) - though one of God the Father's NUMEROUS
given PERSONAL names in Psalm 110:1, is throughout the OT one of
the PERSONAL names of the SON. The YHWH who speaks in the OT is
the one who became Jesus, The message of Jesus Christ, the
gospel, emphasized the FAMILY NAME - the "GOD" family, the "God"
kingdom. Jesus Christ came in the name of God, His Father. He
called Himself the "Son of God" numerous times - never the son of
Yahweh.
Read John 9:35, "Do you believe on the Son of God?" See
also Matthew 16:16-17 and especially Mark 1:1, "The beginning of
the gospel of JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD"! Jesus came bearing
His Father's name - "God's Son" - the "Son of God."
Jesus' whole message - which He spoke "in the name of the
Lord" - or "by His authority" - was to explain that the name
"God" - the Hebrew Elohim - is a family NAME! His Gospel, or
good news, is the message that we may also bear the name, God
- that we may be called the sons of God and be "born again."
The Church today which "has not denied" the Savior's NAME
(Rev.3:8) is not one which clings to the Hebrew sounding word,
but a Church before which Jesus Christ is opening the doors of
radio and the printing press to preach His Gospel, His Message,
to all the world; and which is believing and making known His
POWER, AUTHORITY, PERSONALITY, CHARACTER, FAME AND REPUTATION of
the Almighty, Everliving, Eternal GOD,
God's Church today is named the CHURCH OF GOD!
..........................................
So ends the article by Herman Hoeh, written so many years ago.
Thanks Herman, it was one of your "good" ones from yesterday.
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