The Coming One Matt 11:3

John heard about Jesus’ ministry and sent his disciples to ask, "Are you the Coming One?" John always knew that (Matt 3:11) He said that one was coming after him greater than he was, than Jesus came to be baptized. At the baptism a dove came down as a sign. John knew to look for the one the spirit rested upon. Actually, John knew even before he baptized Jesus that Jesus was reluctant to baptize even while still in the womb Luke 1:41.

The imprisonment had made him unsure of what he had always known. Now he asked for assurances that Jesus was indeed who he had always believed him to be. So John asked are you the coming one. Jesus’s answer was the testimony of Isaiah coming true before their eyes.

Is 29:18 (NKJV)
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

Is 35:4-6 (NKJV)
4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted,
"Be strong, do not fear!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
With the recompense of God;
He will come and save you."
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
And streams in the desert.

Is 61:1 (NKJV)
1 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

Chief Cornerstone

This is one of the names for God that is not completely understood. In the natural world a cornerstone is a large chunk of rock or masonry, like a concrete form. These are quite frequently hollow with a time capsule enclosed. The time capsule holds a treasure that needs to be remembered saying this is who we were and what we were all about. The question arises how could Jesus have been a physical thing rather than a being.

Is 28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
"Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.

Jesus was a very special stone placed in Zion through the womb of a young woman, first presented in a stable. As 1 Peter 2:4-10 calls him a living stone, us as well.

1 Peter 2:4 -7, 9- 10 God said 4Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." (NKJV)

I once had a pastor was preaching about believers being living stones and how some were moving from church to church. I drew a cinder block with a face, legs, and arms that was running away from the building the was placed in.

(1Peter 4:7) Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone," (8) and "A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense."

Is 8:14 He will be as a sanctuary,
But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
To both the houses of Israel,
As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

The old testament was a precursor of the new. You need to bear in mind there was nearly a 500 year separation between Isaiah and Peter. Isaiah predicted far in the future Peter confirmed what had happened.

1Peter 4: 9But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Since Peter was trying to impart knowledge and relationship with the risen Savior to the new Christians. I would imagine Isaiah had only the dimmest notion of what he was predicating.

Before lambs bled in Egypt, One was given.
Before the worm tore Eden, pain was faced.
Somewhere, before earth’s cornerstone was placed,
a hammer crashed in heaven—nails were driven.
Keith Patman (Draper’s book of quotations for the Christian World)

In (All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible by Herbert Lockyer) there is a very interesting turn of the phrase.

Peter not only describes Christ as "A living stone," (1 Peter 2:4, 6), but those redeemed by His blood as "lively stones" (1 Peter 2:5). They are as "chips off the old block" as it were, partaking of His appearance and character."

A cornerstone is important. It is called corner because it forms part of a corner or angle in a wall, and is usually laid at the formal inauguration of a building. No building is considered complete until it has this important signature of the building.

Zech 4:7 ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"’"

The divine Builder brings His pattern from heaven and builds according to His own image.
(All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible by Herbert Lockyer)

This has little to do with the cornerstone except for the fact that to this is often where important documents are preserved.

…archaeology throws interesting light on the possible reason for the repairmen’s finding this document in their work on the temple. The discovery is closely linked with the activity of the stonemasons and carpenters, and it is entirely possible this copy of the Pentateuch had been placed in the cornerstone of the temple when it was erected by Solomon (c. 966 b.c.). Doubtless the masonry documents come to light. Archaeology has demonstrated that it was customary in ancient times to place documents in the foundations of buildings, as it is done even to the present day. (Willmington’s Guide to the Bible)

Life Application Bible puts it this way:

Although Jesus had been rejected and defeated by his own people, the Jews, God would raise him from the dead and seat him at his own right hand. Nothing can thwart God’s purpose.
They wanted a political king, not a spiritual one. Yet God’s plans will not be thwarted. One day that rejected stone will indeed become the "cornerstone" with all the right qualifications—for Jesus will come as King to inaugurate an unending kingdom. And he had already begun a spiritual kingdom as the cornerstone of a brand-new "building," the Christian church.
The "rock" refers to Jesus himself (his work of salvation by dying for us on the cross). This would mean that Jesus is the divine architect of our faith and that he himself is the chief cornerstone.

Biblical Theology of the New Testament tells us about Cornerstones and capstones

They were valued architectural pieces. Stone masons demonstrated their ability by choosing just the right rock. Cornerstones anchored and shaped the foundation of a large building. They had to be square and solid. Capstones required a special shape. They were the final piece in an arch. Jesus is both cornerstone and capstone. Jesus’ role gives shape to all of history.

I am sorry I had to spent so much time quoting from the reference books but my knowledge doesn’t hold a candle to the scholars of the ages.

Christmas Prophecy Names

We are in the midst of Christmas and this one verse is filled with references to God.
Isaiah 9:6 (NKJV) 6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

"For unto us a Child is born"- First Jesus came to Earth as a child. The Greek myths had stories of their gods coming forth full grown. Jesus was no myth! In some ways he seemed that way to many people. There would be a blessing at every Jewish wedding asking for the children of this marriage to be "the promised one" but they weren’t really expecting there child, or their grandchild to be the one. And in spite of Joseph taking Mary as his wife I imaging people who has seen Mary’s state prior to their living together as man and wife thought some pretty bad things about her. I can only imagine based on how people would look at things today, it was worse back then Mary could have been stoned because she was expecting before the actual wedding.

"Unto us a Son is given" - us could have been Mary and Joseph both were told by angels that a son was coming. Mary accepted to be a most unusual mother haven never been with a man. Joseph accepted being a most unusual father. He had waited a long time to marry, he had possibly been waiting for Mary specifically she would have been barely old enough to have children and Joseph when he became engaged probably wanted children. Even after he took Mary into his home as his wife he had to wait for her son to be born before he could pursue his own son. But he delivered Mary’s child he had no part of and he raised God’s son as his own. God had given his son to both of them and to us as well.

And the government will be upon His shoulder. Jesus is the king, and judge, the leader of armies. Still a lot of this line is still waiting th be fulfilled. One day governments will operate in line with God’s will with Jesus as our leader.

And His name will be called Wonderful. In American Sign Language the same sign is used for wonderful and awesome. In some ways that gives a better understanding of the concept of wonderful. It is something so awe inspiring and full of wonder the words are inadequate to convey the true meaning of who the Lord is.

Counselor. I personally think of the Holy Spirit as more of a counselor than Jesus. The Holy Spirit is always with us as an advocate and counselor.

Mighty God, This is El Gibbor, or God our Hero. This name was used in Jer 50:36 and Ezek 32:21.

Everlasting Father. God himself was the everlasting father. All three persons of the trinity were present when Jesus came to Earth.

Prince of Peace. Prince of Peace was a very significant name for Jesus it identified his as a part of the royal line which was true both through his mother Mary, as shown in Luke’s genealogy, and his foster father Joseph as shown on Matthew. The peacefulness would largely come through the legacy of his death and resurrection. In accepting the Lord you can really experience true peace.

Introduction

For a long time I have been working to understand all the names and titles of God. It started when Tom Wood taught on it in one of his sermons it caught my attention. You heard him called God, Lord, and Jesus but the other things were a hidden treasure. This afternoon I checked out two mysteries. I like searching for clues and figuring things out. To me the various names were a trail of clues leading to a true understanding of God. Not only were there the bits of the puzzle hidden in the Hebrew and the Greek language. But other pieces were hidden in plain view like Jesus being referred to as the stone rejected by the builders which became the cornerstone. I began what Would turn out to be a twenty year quest.

Along the way I found a number of authors and for a long time I wanted to join them with a book on the names of God. For a while in my arrogance I wanted to combine everything I could find into the ultimate reference on the names of God. As if I could surpass Nathan Stone, Herbert Locker, Lester Summerall, Kay Arthur, all the others who had written on a topic. I also considered writing poems with each name, because back when I first started the study I was writing a lot of poetry. I considered writing a series of devotionals about the time I was ready to do this Elmer Towns wrote one. Mine would have been different but I doubt I could do a much better job. Now I don’t know if there will ever be a book. I do know I will be informally discussing what I have discovered over the years, and what I am finding as I go.