Our series for February and March is entitled, "What's In a Name?"

The series title is a question so that we can think about what is found in a name. It identifies a person, place, or object and brings a distinction between it and another.

So far we've looked at 3 names of God:
Elohim - The God who is Creator
Yahweh - The God who is Personal/Relational
Abba - The God who is Intimate

Our text today is found in Genesis 15:1-2 where we see another name by which God revealed Himself to us; the name is Adonai: The God who Rules.

The first few words of Genesis 15 are important, "After these things happened." We can look at Genesis 14 to get the back story.
In Genesis 15 we see that because of Abram's continued faith, God reaffirms His earlier promise from Genesis 12 to Abram concerning a great posterity and prosperity.
It's important to note that about 10 years have passed by since Genesis 12 and Abram is feeling the pinch; he's getting old.
Do you ever get tired of waiting for something?

We get an insight into Abram's view of God, a new one for us, when he calls God Adonai Jehovah.
The word Adonai is found over 400 times in the Old Testament and is a plural reference to God who is singular in nature but reveals 3 distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The name comes from the singular word Adon, which is translated to "master" or "ruler".
Psalm 24:1

The cultural background of the word Adon is associated with humanity and deals with masters who owned slaves. However, we cannot read into the idea of "slave" in our own cultural experience. Abram was an Adon who submitted to Adonai.
Since God is the absolute ruler and owner, our response to this name comes through our total submission.
Too many Christians today have settled for talking about our Creator, Elohim, having a relationship with Jehovah, and having a loving daddy Abba, but never submit to their ruler, Adonai.

Many Old Testament characters (Abraham, Moses, Gideon, David, & Isaiah) have acknowledged Adonai and after doing so, they saw God work amazingly on their behalf.
In the New Testament, the declaration "Jesus is Lord" indicates that Jesus is God.
(1) Jesus holds “all authority in heaven and on earth” according to Matthew 28:18.
(2) Luke 6:5 states that Jesus is “Lord of the Sabbath”;
(3) Jude, the brother of Jesus wrote about Him in Jude 1:4 as “our only Sovereign and Lord”; and
(4) the Apostle John called Jesus“the Lord of lords” in Revelation 17:14

Here are 3 truths that we are confessing when we say to God; "You are my Adonai."

1. We are ASKING God to take full ownership of our life and AGREEING to submit to His Word and Will.
Romans 10:9-13
Philippians 2:9-11

2. We are ACKNOWLEDGING ourselves as His servants and ACCEPTING God's priorities for our lives.
Luke 1:38

3. We are ADMITTING that God alone has the authority and the ability to guide us and ALIGNING our lives to His purposes.

Spiritually speaking, surrendering our lives to Adonai opens the pipeline for God to bless, grow, use, protect, and direct our lives.
Luke 6:46
Matthew 7:21
Living life as a “faker"; saying you believe in Adonai but living contrary and going through the motions of faith in a half-hearted manner are a cause for concern. None of us would likely tolerate these kind of actions or attitudes from employees or servants … what makes us think God will?

Birthdays and Anniversaries:

Sunday, March 7 - Joy Deitrick
Wednesday, March 10 - Kelly Shaver
Thursday, March 11 - Darwin Reid, Chuck Reigler
Friday, March 12 - Emily Mater
Saturday, March 13 - Lisa Sterkenburg