By Huiyong
Since I believed in the Lord, I have prayed to God in the name of “Jesus” in everything. One day, I found that the Israelites all called upon God’s name “Jehovah” in the Old Testament. The believers began to pray in the name of “Jesus” in the Age of Grace of the New Testament. Moreover, Revelation prophesied that people will call God by the name “the Almighty” at the time of the holy city coming down. Until then did I know that God can be called by another name the Almighty besides the names of Jehovah and Jesus. Then I thought: Now that God has three names, which name should I pray in? Feeling confused, I went to see a pastor. He said to me: “In Acts 4:12, it says, ‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’ So we must hold on to the name of the Lord Jesus, pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, and not call on other names. …” Hearing what the pastor said, I thought: Isn’t it recorded in the Bible that God also has the names of Jehovah and the Almighty? If we can’t call on other names, then aren’t we denying the two names?
With the question, I began to study the Bible. In the Old Testament, it is recorded that Jehovah God said: “I, even I, am Jehovah; and beside Me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11). “this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial to all generations” (Exodus 3:15). However, it is recorded in the New Testament: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Now that, in the Old Testament, it is said that only Jehovah is the Savior, why do we accept the name of Jesus? Since the name of Jehovah lasts forever, then why do we pray in the name of Jesus? And in the New Testament, it also says: “Neither is there salvation in any other” (Acts 4:12). “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). Aren’t these words contradictory? I felt very confused, so I often prayed for the Lord to enlighten me to understand the mysteries contained within.
Until one day, my father told me: “The Lord Jesus has come back, and He is the incarnate Almighty God in the last days. He has revealed the mystery of God’s name in His words.” Hearing this, I hastened to seek and investigate it. Then my father read several passages of Almighty God’s words to me: “The work that Jesus did represented the name of Jesus, and it represented the Age of Grace; as for the work done by Jehovah, it represented Jehovah, and it represented the Age of Law. Their work was the work of one Spirit in two different ages. … Although They were called by two different names, it was the same Spirit that accomplished both stages of work, and the work that was done was continuous. As the name was different, and the content of the work was different, the age was different. When Jehovah came, that was the age of Jehovah, and when Jesus came, that was the age of Jesus. And so, with each coming, God is called by one name, He represents one age, and He launches a new path; and on each new path, He assumes a new name, which shows that God is always new and never old, and that His work never ceases to progress in a forward direction” (“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “In each age and each stage of work, My name is not baseless, but holds representative significance: Each name represents one age. ‘Jehovah’ represents the Age of Law, and is the honorific for the God worshiped by the people of Israel. ‘Jesus’ represents the Age of Grace, and is the name of the God of all those who were redeemed during the Age of Grace. If man still longs for the arrival of Jesus the Savior during the last days, and still expects Him to arrive in the image He bore in Judea, then the entire six-thousand-year management plan would have stopped in the Age of Redemption, and could not have progressed any further. The last days, furthermore, would never arrive, and the age would never be brought to an end. This is because Jesus the Savior is only for the redemption and salvation of mankind. I took the name of Jesus only for the sake of all the sinners in the Age of Grace, but it is not the name by which I shall bring the whole of mankind to an end. Although Jehovah, Jesus, and the Messiah all represent My Spirit, these names only denote the different ages of My management plan, and do not represent Me in My entirety. The names by which people on earth call Me cannot articulate My entire disposition and all that I am. They are merely different names by which I am called during different ages. And so, when the final age—the age of the last days—arrives, My name shall change again. I shall not be called Jehovah, or Jesus, much less the Messiah—I shall be called the powerful Almighty God Himself, and under this name I shall bring the entire age to an end” (“The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
My father fellowshiped with me: “In the Age of Law, God did His work under the name of Jehovah. In the Age of Grace, God did His work under the name of Jesus. He uses the name to start a new age and end the old age, and to represent the work of one age. His name changes according to the change of the age. The Bible says: ‘I, even I, am Jehovah; and beside Me there is no savior’ (Isaiah 43:11). ‘this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial to all generations’ (Exodus 3:15). The words are under a certain background and refer to one age and one stage of work. They don’t mean that God’s name is Jehovah in any age, but that, as long as the age and the stage of work God starts doesn’t finish, people have to keep His name in that age, which can be transgressed by no one. The ‘all generations’ and ‘for ever’ here refer to the scope of the Age of Law. When God starts a new work and a new age, His name will change accordingly. That is to say, God’s name doesn’t remain the same forever, but changes with the development of His work. In the Age of Law, God’s name was ‘Jehovah.’ When the Lord Jesus came to work, then God’s name changed to ‘Jesus.’ This is why we hold on to the name of the Lord Jesus. In the last days, God carries out a new work and His name changes to ‘Almighty God.’ People must pray in the name of Almighty God. This fulfills the very prophecies in the Bible: ‘Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God: and I will write on him my new name’ (Revelation 3:12). ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty’ (Revelation 1:8). These words prophesy that God will have a new name. Since it’s a new name, it can’t be the name of Jesus, but that of Almighty God.
Every time when God carries out a stage of work, He will take a name with the significance of the age to represent the work He is to do and the disposition He is to express in that age. The Bible says that God’s name is ever unchanging. It only means that God’s name remains unchanged in that age. But when the age changes, God’s name will change accordingly. It is the reason why the name of the Lord Jesus has changed to Almighty God. Moreover, each name of God has its meaning. His name is closely related to His work, with one name representing the work of one age. The name of Jehovah represents the work God did in the Age of Law. The name of Jesus represents the redemptive work God did in the Age of Grace. Finally, the name of Almighty God represents the judgment work God does in the last days. Although the name of God changes, His substance doesn’t change. Just as Almighty God says: ‘There are those who say that God is immutable. That is correct, but it refers to the immutability of God’s disposition and His essence. Changes in His name and work do not prove that His essence has altered; in other words, God will always be God, and this will never change’” (“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
Afterward, I read many words expressed by Almighty God and they solved the questions that have bedeviled me for years. I finally understood: There is only one God. Just because of God’s different work in different ages, He takes three different names—Jehovah, Jesus, and Almighty God. One name represents one age, one stage of work and part of God’s disposition. This is God’s work principle of being always new and never old. In the Age of Law, Jehovah God did the work of decreeing the laws and commandments and leading man in their lives, and made them know how to worship God to receive God’s blessings and what was sin. In that age, God expressed His disposition of wrath and curse. Later, people fell into sins and weren’t able to keep the laws. They were all at the risk of being condemned to death by the law. Therefore, Jehovah God was incarnated for the first time. Under the name of the Lord Jesus, God ended the Age of Law, did the redemptive work of the Age of Grace, and forgave people of their sins. What the Lord Jesus expressed was the disposition of mercy and love. In the last days, people are corrupted deeply. God becomes flesh again, and under the name of Almighty God, does the work of judging and purifying man. He expresses the disposition of righteousness, majesty and wrath, and shall bring the entire age to an end. No matter how God’s name changes, His substance never changes, neither does the aim of His work of saving man. So, people should pray to and call on God by the corresponding names of different ages. For example, in the Age of Law, when people called on the name of Jehovah, they could feel God’s leadership. In the Age of Grace, people must pray to God in the name of Jesus, confess their sins and repent to the Lord Jesus. Only in this way could they be forgiven of their sins and receive God’s blessings and leadership. If people didn’t follow God’s footsteps and still called on the name of Jehovah, they couldn’t obtain God’s work, and God wouldn’t listen to their prayers. In the Age of Kingdom of the last days, we should directly call on the name of Almighty God. If we still call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we can’t receive the work of the Holy Spirit or the approval of God. Moreover, we will finally be eliminated and forsaken by God. Thank God for enlightening me and making me understand the truth in this regard. Without Almighty God’s words revealing the mystery of God’s name, I would never understand it even if I believe in the Lord Jesus all my life. Thank Almighty God! All the glory be to Almighty God!
Source From: Find the shepherd