In Front | Workbook: Reflection: When Your Savior is YHWH

Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

Have you ever thought about your own existence in time—that there was a time when you did not exist? 

In the Old Testament, God tells Moses that his name is YHWH. This Hebrew word is related to the verb “to be” or “to exist.”

This was the name by which the Hebrews and the Egyptians would come to know the one true God—a God who is existence itself. He simply IS. No other god could claim to exist before and outside all things as ultimate “being.” Scriptures tell us that we have our existence in God. He is the source of every creature’s existence—whether we acknowledge that or not.

What does this have to do with Jesus? Everything! Not only do we find Jesus making “I AM …” statements in the Gospels, we hear him claiming to be one with the Father. We can tend to think about Jesus only as the one who taught, performed miracles and made the atoning sacrifice for our sins as described in the New Testament. But everything we learn about YHWH in the Old Testament should be understood as an education in who Jesus is too. 

4. How does it impact your understanding of Jesus to reflect on the fact that he is not only your personal Savior, but YHWH—the God who created this world and redeemed Israel, the God who is at the center of biblical revelation? How does it impact the way you pray? … the way you read your Bible? … the way you think about your future? … the way you think about your salvation? … the way you live your life? Record some reflections below.