Dennis Edwards
Psalm 8:1 “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent
is Your name in all the earth! You who have set your glory above the heavens.”
The Jehovah Witnesses
tell us that the name “Jehovah” is the most excellent name in all the earth by
which we need to approach God. The Muslims tell us that “Allah” is the name of
God. The Jewish people will tell us that God’s name is so holy that it cannot
be spoken. The Hindus and Buddhists will tell us God has no name for God is not
a person but a spiritual energy.
The New Testament tells
us that the most excellent name in all the earth is the name of the son of Man,
the Messiah, God the Son, Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:15-17 “Who is
the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by Him
were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers:
all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and
by Him all things consist.
Hebrews 1:1-4 “God, who
at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by
the prophets, Has in these last days spoken unto us by
His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the
worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of His power,
when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on high: Being made so much better than the
angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”
Philippians 2:6-11 ”Who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But
made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was
made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion
as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him,
and given Him a name which is above every name: That
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Revelation 5:12-13 “Saying
with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb (Jesus) that was slain to receive power,
and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And
every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and
such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and
honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him (God the Father) that sits upon the
throne, and unto the Lamb (Jesus the Son) for ever and ever.”
Acts 3:13-16 “The God of Abraham, and
of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus;
whom ye delivered up, and denied Him in the presence of Pilate, when he was
determined to let Him go. But ye denied the Holy One
and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And
killed the Prince of life, whom God has raised from the dead; whereof we are
witnesses. And His name through faith in His name has
made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by Him has
given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”
Acts 4:12 “Neither
is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven
given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
The name that saves is Jesus, not Jehovah, or
Allah, or any other secret name or phrase. Jesus’ name, though a common Jewish name,
in fact means, “God saves.”
Psalm 8:2 “Out of the mouth of
babes and sucklings have You ordained strength because of Your enemies, that
You might still the enemy and the avenger.”
Jesus quoted Psalm 8:2 during His interaction with the
Pharisees as He entered into Jerusalem a few days before His passion. The
people began to throw palm branches and shout, “Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”[Matthew 21:8-9]
Matthew 21:15-16 “And when the chief
priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children
crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore
displeased, And said unto Hm, Do You hear what these
say? And Jesus said unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of
babes and sucklings You have perfected praise?”
Luke 19:40 “And he
answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace,
the stones would immediately cry out.”
Psalm 8:3 “When I consider Your
heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have
ordained.”
God has ordained the sun, moon, and stars, “for signs and for
seasons, and for days, and years.” [Genesis 1:14]
Isaiah 40:26 “Lift up
your eyes on high, and behold who has created these things, that brings out
their host by number: He calls them all by names by the greatness of His might,
for that He is strong in power; not one fails.”
God even calls the stars by names. Various verses
seem to indicate that God is stretching out the heavens which could be a
confirmation of the Expanding Universe Theory and Red Shift promoted by modern
science.
Isaiah 45:12 “I have made the earth,
and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and
all their host have I commanded.”
Here is a list of some other verses which speak of God stretching out the heavens: Job 9:7-8, Psalm 104:2, Isaiah 40:22, Isaiah 42:5, Isaiah 44:24, Jeremiah 51:15, Zechariah 12:1.
Psalm 8:4-5 “What is man, that You are mindful of him? and
the son of man, that You visit him? For You have made Him a little lower than
the angels, and has crowned Him with glory and honour.”
Though mankind has been made a little lower than the angels, we
are made in God’s image. Apostle Paul admonishes us that “we shall judge angels,”
[1 Corinthians 6:3]. The Son of man who was made a little lower than the
angles, but later was crowned with glory and honour, is none other than Jesus.
Hebrews 2:9-10 “But we see Jesus, who
was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every
man. For it became Him, for whom are all things, and
by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain
of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”
Psalm 8:6 “You made him/Him to have dominion over the
works of Your hands; You have put all things under his/His feet:”
We can interpret the “him” in the above verse as either
representing mankind in general, or Jesus specifically. God has given mankind
dominion over the earth and told us to care of our habitat.
Genesis 1:28 & 2:15 “And God
blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish
the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth…And
the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and
keep it.”
However, Jesus has been given ultimate dominion
and will fulfil “putting all His enemies under His feet,” and deliver the
kingdom to His Father.
1 Corinthians 15:24-26 “Then comes the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
Psalm 8:7-8 “All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the
field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes
through the paths of the seas.”
What’s interesting in the above verse is that the father of
Oceanography, Matthew Maury, a serious Bible student and Christian, was struck
by the part “paths of the seas.” Could there be paths in the seas? He noticed
that Isaiah seemed to say the same thing.
Isaiah 43:16 “Thus says the Lord, which makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters.”
As a Navy seaman, the idea that there could be paths in the seas caused him to investigate and search for those paths. Though an injury kept him from active duty on board, he, nevertheless, was able to collect information from the logs and records of the Navy’s vessels. Through careful study and analysis, he was able to confirm that paths in the seas do in fact exist.
Maury was the first to chart a map of the Atlantic Ocean currents. He later produced charts for both the Pacific and Indian Oceans. He contended that whoever studies the sea, “must look upon it as a part of that exquisite machinery by which the harmonies of nature are preserved, and then (they) will begin to perceive the developments of order and the evidences of (God’s) design.”
Some years before his death he made the following statement in a speech upholding the authority of the Bible against the attacks of secular science. He said,
“I have been blamed by men of science, both in this country and in England, for quoting the Bible in confirmation of the doctrines of physical geography. The Bible, they say, was not written for scientific purposes, and is therefore of no authority in matters of science. I beg to pardon! The Bible is authority for everything it touches. What would you think of the historian who should refuse to consult the historical records of the Bible, because the Bible was not written for the purposes of history? The Bible is true and science is true, and therefore each, if truly read, but proves the truth of the other.”
Psalm 8:9 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!
The name of Jesus saves. Call upon His excellent name today. Jesus will answer.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment