The Names of Jesus That Reveal God's Character

Introduction

"God's word is beautiful, but it is even more beautiful when you live it every day." With these words, Pastor René Ouandji of the Église Évangélique Vie Nouvelle opens the third part of his series "The Names of God That Can Change Our Faith." He starts with a little game with the congregation to recall the names already covered: Yahweh Yireh, Yahweh Shalom, Yahweh Rapha, Yahweh Shammah, Yahweh Roi, Yahweh Sabaoth.

Why so much insistence? Because through his names, God reveals his character. When you know someone's temperament, whether patient, gentle, fiery or quick-tempered, the relationship becomes easier. Without that, you expect a warm embrace and the person stays cold, or the other way around. It is the same with God: "When you stand before God and you know who God is, you know his personality traits, you know his character, and your prayer has much more power."

This Sunday, the pastor focuses on Jesus, God with us. He walks through the names that describe him: the Word, Immanuel, the Messiah, the Lamb of God, the light of the world, the prince of peace, the bread of life, the Lord, the Alpha and the Omega. Each one says something about God and changes the way you pray.

Outline of the Message

1. Jesus Reveals the Character of God

John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The pastor warns against reading the Bible "like a novel": this passage means that God revealed himself through his word, through Jesus.
When Jesus overturns the tables in the temple and declares that his house will be called a house of prayer (Matthew 21:13), he reveals a holy God, who wants us to approach him with respect and submission.
"Prayer is not a time when you raise your voice." It is a time when you humble yourself before God because, without him, you can do nothing. If you do not like to pray, tell your flesh to stop lying to you, to stop making you believe that you cannot fast or that you have something else to do when the church is praying: the flesh and the Spirit have opposing desires (Galatians 5:17).
When Jesus turns to the crowd and is moved with compassion for them (Matthew 9:36), he reveals a God of compassion. To the one who says "nobody loves me" or "you are not there when I cry out to you," the pastor answers: "False, false and false." God does not forget his children, and his arm is not too short (Isaiah 59:1).
At the house of Zacchaeus, the tax collector whom everyone avoided, Jesus declares: "Today, salvation has come to this house" (Luke 19:9). He reveals a God of love, who had a plan of salvation from the moment man sinned.
The woman with the issue of blood is healed by touching the garment of Jesus (Mark 5:25-34): God is Yahweh Rapha, the God who heals. He can heal instantly or take his time, as with the blind man who first saw blurry shapes (Mark 8:22-26). "You must not give up until God has said his last word."
Paul wanted the churches to move from milk to solid food (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). For the pastor, this means leaving behind complaints and our little troubles to know the one we believe in, serve and pray to. "If I did not know this God, I would not spend time in prayer." When you know who he is, you want to be in his presence, because Jesus said it: "for apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

2. Immanuel, God With Us

Matthew 1:23: "Behold, the virgin will be with child, and will bring forth a son. They shall call his name Immanuel;" which is, being interpreted, "God with us."" Here, God's word explains itself: "it could not be any clearer."
The pastor invites you to put yourself in Joseph's shoes: his fiancée is pregnant even though they are not married, and the child will be called neither Peter, nor Eric, nor Stephen, but "God with us."
God did not stay high up in the heavens. The creator of heaven and earth decided to come down and live on earth like us. Jesus did not walk on a red carpet or wait for presidential and royal guards to welcome him.
Hence a parenthesis on discernment: when a man calls himself an apostle or a prophet, "he turns people's eyes away from God and toward himself." Neither Paul, nor Peter, nor John ever said: "I am the apostle of Jesus, listen to me." He alone must be lifted up. To tell the true from the false, immerse yourself in the word and meditate on it.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17: you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God lives in you. The pastor tells of watching a video on YouTube in which a so-called Christian used crude language. Without judging, he asks: someone in whom God lives cannot let vulgar words or words of cursing come out of his mouth. If that is you, ask God to live in your heart. Conversion means saying: "I no longer want to be what I was before."
God in you does not fall asleep. Jesus said that his Father is always working (John 5:17). You cannot say that God was not with you these last two weeks: he moves and walks with you.
Psalm 139:1-4: "Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me." God knows when you wake up at 2 or 3 in the morning, when the brioche you love was missing, when your train is late on the platform. He knows who you need to be reconciled with, for which loved one you keep on praying, and how much you tremble on the eve of an exam.

3. The Messiah, the One Sent by God

John 1:41: Andrew says to his brother Simon: "We have found the Messiah!" (which is, being interpreted, Christ). The Messiah is the Christ, the anointed one, the one sent by God.
God did not send Jesus to "wander around on earth" to see whether people were nice. He had a mission: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). "You and I are here because Jesus accomplished his mission," and many souls still need to be saved.
His mission is even broader. Luke 4:18: the Spirit of the Lord anointed him to bring good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and to set free those who are oppressed.
When you pray for a brother or sister in the name of Jesus, you know why you speak that name: it belongs to someone able to heal a broken heart thousands of kilometers away. "When we pray, it changes everything."
Matthew 28:18-20: all authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth. This full authority is not addressed only to apostles, prophets or bishops, but to you: power to heal the sick, to cast out demons, to move mountains, whether they are a kilometer or two meters high, and to walk on the power of the enemy.
Some people avoid a place because it is supposedly "full of evil spirits." "That is exactly the place where you need to go." If the Holy Spirit is in you, you are not the one who will be disturbed.

4. The Lamb of God Who Takes Away Sin

The almighty God became a "very small lamb." John the Baptist sees Jesus coming to him and says: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).
This does not mean that there is no more sin in the world. Taking away sin means taking away its consequences, death and hell. The devil was rubbing his hands together, not knowing that God's plan was going to crush his head.
This name reveals a God of love "who does not condemn, but reaches out his hand." To benefit from the mission of the Lamb, you have to give your life to Jesus. "It is as simple as that."
The pastor also speaks to the church: no one is perfect, but if the Holy Spirit has spoken to you about a sin in your life, that sin will have consequences. "It is never too late to turn to the Lamb of God."
Isaiah 53:4-7 already foretold this lamb: wounded for our sins, crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brings us peace fell on him, and by his stripes we are healed. He did not open his mouth, like a lamb led to the slaughter.
Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Have you already received this gift? "I do not know when Jesus will return, but hurry. Put your life in order."

5. The Light of the World

Genesis 1:1-4: the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the deep, then God said: "Let there be light." The pastor sees two moments here, the time of darkness and then the time of light, and two opposing forces.
In the Bible, darkness refers to everything that does not come from God. Whoever lives in rebellion and sin is in darkness, and God wants that second moment in him: that light would come. This light is Jesus, and where it arrives, the darkness is driven out (John 1:5).
"If God had not brought me out of darkness, I would not be standing among you." What God did in his life, he can do for anyone.
John 8:12: "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life."
This changes the way you look at those who do not know the Lord, however kind and open they may be: your father, your mother, your cousin. Jesus did not only see the hunger of the crowds, but their spiritual suffering. That is why we must pray, work and preach for souls. Evangelism, the pastor reminds us, is "our first mission."

6. The Prince of Peace and the Bread of Life

The week before, the pastor had spoken about peace in the face of frightening events. Here he goes further: "True peace is reconciliation with God."
The Bible calls those who do not know God "children of the devil" (1 John 3:10), because the devil is in rebellion against God. Whoever lives as a rebel has no bond with him. Someone was needed to reconcile God with his rebels: Jesus, the prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6).
2 Corinthians 5:19: "namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself."
John 6:35: "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." God is the most faithful Father, who gives daily bread, but he also wants to feed you spiritually by revealing to you who Jesus is and his plan of salvation for you.

7. The Lord, the Alpha and the Omega

Despite his simplicity and humility, born in a stable, Jesus is the Lord, the King of kings. The New Testament, written in Greek, uses the word Kyrios: the one who holds sovereignty, all authority, all power.
John 20:28: Thomas, who doubted, is invited to reach out his finger and cries out: "My Lord and my God!" Philippians 2:9-11: God gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Jesus has the same authority, the same sovereignty and the same power as God. The commandments therefore apply to him as well (Exodus 20:3-7): you shall not take the name of Jesus in vain, you shall have no other Savior than him, you shall make no idol, "neither on your jewelry, nor at home."
Revelation 1:8: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." These are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. Jesus opened the history of the world, your history, with your troubles and hardships, and he is the one who will close its door.
2 Peter 3:10: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night." The pastor summarizes the course of the end times as he teaches it: the return of Jesus for his own, the great tribulation, Satan bound for a time, a thousand years of peace, then Satan released, and Jesus returning to throw him into the pit and put an end to it. "Do you know the story of our future?"
He concludes with an appeal: "There is no shame in saying: Lord, I need my life to be in order." In the church as well as behind the screens, he invites everyone to raise a hand and give their life to Jesus, because "it is never too late."

Key Takeaways

Through his names, God reveals his character. When you know who he is, you praise, you pray and you expect things from him differently.
Immanuel means that God lowered himself to reach you and that he lives in you. He knows every detail of your day.
Jesus, the Messiah, received all authority and entrusted it to you: you know why you speak his name when you pray.
The Lamb of God takes away the consequences of sin. It is never too late to give him your life.
Jesus is the light of the world and the Lord of history: he opened it and he will close it.

Personal Application

Which of the names of Jesus (Immanuel, Messiah, Lamb, light, prince of peace, bread of life, Lord) speaks most to what you are going through right now?
Do you love prayer, or does your flesh make you believe you always have something else to do when the church is praying?
What comes out of your mouth this week? Do your words show that God lives in you?
Who in your family or circle does not yet know the light of Jesus, and for whom will you keep on praying?
Have you already received God's free gift, or is there an area of your life to put in order today?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the name Immanuel mean?

Immanuel means God with us (Matthew 1:23). For René Ouandji, this name shows that God did not stay high up in the heavens: he came down to live on earth like us, with no red carpet and no royal guard. Since you belong to Jesus, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit and God lives in you. He knows everything you go through, even the late train or the fear on the eve of an exam.

What does "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" mean?

Sin still exists in the world. According to the preacher, taking away sin means taking away its consequences, that is, death and hell. Jesus is the lamb foretold in Isaiah 53, wounded for our sins. To benefit from his mission, you have to give him your life, because if the wages of sin is death, the free gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23).

Why does knowing the names of Jesus change the way you pray?

Through his names, God reveals the traits of his personality. When you know that Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted and that he received all authority, you know why you speak his name when you pray. For René Ouandji, whoever knows the character of God praises, worships, prays and expects things from God differently.