Knowing His Name- Adonai
The Names of God • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction:
Introduction:
As we have been looking at the wonderful truth of who God is, I trust that your understanding of your God has grown in ways that you may not have thought possible.
And as your knowledge of God grows, I trust that your love for God grows as well.
There are many times in our Christian life that our knowledge of who God is can be lost, because we only know certain facts about Him.
We know that fact that God is love, good, holy, righteous, patient, and many, many other things we know to be true of God.
And while all of those things are true and wonderful about God, there is always something that is lost when we do not know His names.
All of the things that we just mentioned that are true of God are great, and they are wrapped up in His Name.
So while we may know those things to be true of God, we have not necessarily thought that those things go hand in hand with His name; which they do.
So we need to ask ourselves, “what else may I be missing by not knowing the names of God?”
“What else do the names of God declare about Him?”
What does a name say about our God?
We saw that the first name was “Elohim”.
And we saw that in that wonderful name, that appears in the first verse of the first verse in the Bible, is the name that speaks that God is all-powerful and that he is a Triune God.
The interesting thing about the truth of God is that the Scriptures do not open up with a massive apologetic defense of God’s existence, but it does open up and tells us immediately that He is an all-powerful triune God; that He is an all-powerful Trinity.
He is the all powerful, creator, sustainer, Godhead.
Last week we saw another wonderful name and that is the name “El-Elyon”.
We saw the “El” also speaks about the fact that God is all powerful, but that “Elyon” speaks about the fact that that name says that He is the Most High God.
That He is the preeminent one, that He is the Sovereign One, that there is no one else, in heaven or earth, that is above Him.
And because He is the Most High God, He is the possessor of everything.
And since He is the possessor of everything, He alone decides who gets what.
And when we give back to the El-Elyon, we are giving back what already belongs to Him.
We also saw that since He is the the Most High God, that He is able to defeat our spiritual enemies.
Now, what I want you to understand is that not only does El-Elyon have the have the power to defeat your spiritual enemies; namely the Devil and his emissaries, but that He also has the power to defeat their tactics.
El-Elyon has the power to defeat distraction, despair, depression, doubt and all other things that the enemy of our souls will try and throw at us.
So, El-Elyon not only defeats them, because He is the Most High God, but He also defeats their plots against us.
Now, we come to another great name, Adonai.
I. The Meaning of Adonai
I. The Meaning of Adonai
It is very difficult to pick a “favorite” name for God, because everyone of them have a particular part of the name that we will find very comforting and magnificent.
And this is no different as we come to Adonai.
The name Adonai first appears in the book of Genesis.
And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
The word “Lord” is the word “אָדוֹן” and this word appears in relationship to God approximately 395 times in the Scripture.
Now, just for some context on the first time that Adonai appears.
In chapter 15 it has been about 20 years since God made the promise to Abraham concerning his seed.
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Abraham was now about 85 years old and he has not seen that promise fulfilled yet.
He needed some reassurance from God that the promise was going to come to pass.
After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
“Abraham, I am still here and I still plan of doing what I promised you that I would do”.
Then in verse 2, Abraham calls God “Adonai”.
Now, the name Adonai can refer to both deity and to people in the Bible.
However, when it is used of people in the Bible it is translated “lord”, with a small “l”.
It is also translated “master” or “owner” when referring to people.
This speaks of a servant and his relationship to the master.
When it is used in reference to God, it is translated “Lord” with a capital “L”.
One of the most fascinating times this word is used is in the Psalms.
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Here Jehovah (LORD) is speaking to Adonai.
Now, what kind of conversation is going on here in heaven?
To gain some insight into this we go to Matthew 22 and Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisees.
Jesus begins by asking them a question.
Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
Now, understand that when Jesus asked about “Christ” the “Χριστός”, He was not referring to Himself, directly, but was speaking about the Messiah.
Jesus was not asking what they thought about Him, but from what lineage does the Messiah come?
Because Χριστός means, anointed One.
When we speak about Jesus Christ, what we are actually saying is not his first and last name, but we are saying that Jesus is the anointed one, the Messiah.
So, Jesus was not asking about Himself, but about what THEY thought about the Messiah, who son is he?
And they said, “They Son of David”.
And by characterizing the Messiah as the son of David they were just thinking of the Messiah as a national leader or deliverer.
Now, Jesus is going to correct their misconception and he begins by saying that David was speaking through inspiration.
He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
Then Jesus points this out:
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
Jesus points out that David, under Divine Inspiration, called the Messiah “Lord” or “Adonai”.
And by saying this Jesus was pointing out that the Jewish leaders where incorrect in their view of the Messiah.
He was far more than just a son, or descendent, or David that received his authority from David.
Then Jesus asks.
If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
The Pharisees could not understand how the Messiah could be both the son of David and the Lord (Adonai) of David, so they did not ask Him any more more questions.
And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
Jesus made it clear in Matthew 22:41-45 that the name “Adonai” on Psalm 110 is a reference to Himself.
In Psalm 110:1 David, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, referred to God the Father as LORD and God the Son as Lord or Adonai.
Notice the title that Christ is given.
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Christ is the MASTER over all masters.
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
These references make is plain that Jesus is the Lord.
He is the Master, the Owner.
II. The Manifestation of Adonai
II. The Manifestation of Adonai
The names “Elohim” and “El-Elyon” reveal the person, power, and presence of God in the world.
However, this name for God speaks of relationships.
“Adonai” refers to the relationship between a slave and his lord or master.
This relationship requires absolute obedience from the servant.
Abraham asked God:
And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
He was basically saying, “What is your plan? Have you changed your mind?”
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Astronomers estimate that the Milky Way, the galaxy in which our sun belongs, has more than 100 billion stars.
Abraham certainly could not see them all with his naked eye, but he could see more than he could count.
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Abraham’s faith in Jehovah is the proof of his faith.
Abraham submitted to the will of God and it was reckoned to him for righteousness.
III. The Material of Adonai
III. The Material of Adonai
Ok, so what are we to do with information?
We understand that “Adonai” “Lord” means “Master” or “Ruler” and so obedience is understood in that relationship.
We must understand this, and a lot of people miss this, that in order for us to have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ we must understand that He is our Adonai, our Lord.
To put it today’s words, He must be the boss.
Listen, it requires more than just words.
And listen, another things that people miss is that we do not MAKE Jesus Lord, HE IS Lord; we submit to it.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Here Christ points out the folly of half-hearted service to Christ and commitment to Him.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
The point is that if we say we are Christians but do not submit to His Lordship, our “faith” will not last through the storms of temptation, sorrow, and adversity.
We have all seen people “come to Christ” only to return to their old lifestyle because they never submitted to His Lordship in their life.
When someone submits to the Lordship of Christ, they are faithful in their time, talents, and treasures.
In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus told a parable of talents.
In which a master called in his servants and to one he have five talents, to another two, and to another one.
Upon his return the owner rewarded the faithfulness of the servants and punished those who had been unfaithful with what their lord had entrusted them.
In that parable, the reward in material, but the real reward for faithfulness to our Lord is spiritual.
Because Jesus is the Adonai, he is the Master, the true follower will submit to the authority of the Master.
So, who is our God.
He is the All Powerful, sustaining creator Godhead, who is the Most High possessor of all, who is the Lord, the Master over it all and demands obedience to Him.
And for the true child of God, Obedience to the Adonai will not be a problem, but will be the desire.