God is often addressed also as “Lord” in the Old Testament. This is not only a title used by a slave to address his master; it is also a title used by a wife to address her husband (1 Pet. 3:6). There are two words for Lord in Hebrew.
This word in singular form is used thirty times. It is first used in Exodus 23:17.
This word in plural form is used two hundred and ninety times. It is first used in Genesis 15:2 and 8. On the one hand, we are His slaves and He is our Master; on the other hand, we are His wife, and He is our Husband. When Lord is used in the Bible, both meanings are included.
Throughout the Old Testament, the name Jehovah is used a total of more than seven thousand times; the name Elohim is used a total of more than two thousand five hundred times. Together the two names are used more than ten thousand times.
In the Old Testament, there are many instances where God appears to man in the form of man; for this reason, God as Christ is also referred to as a man and as the Son of Man (Dan. 7:13; Psa. 80:17). The first reference to God as man is in Genesis 18:1-2, 16-17, and 22. One of the three men who appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre was God as Christ. In Genesis 32:24-30, the man who wrestled with Jacob at the ford of the Jabbok was also God embodied in Christ. In Judges 13:6, 8, 11, and 15-22, the man who appeared to Manoah and his wife was also God in Christ. God appeared as a man even before the New Testament.
In the Old Testament the Spirit of God is a person, and He is referred to as both the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jehovah. The title the Spirit of God is found in Genesis 1:2; 6:3; Exodus 31:3; 35:31; Numbers 24:2; Job 26:13; 33:4; Isaiah 4:4; Joel 2:28-29. The title the Spirit of Jehovah is found in Numbers 11:25; Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14; 2 Samuel 23:2; Psalm 139:7; Isaiah 11:2; 44:3; 48:16; 61:1; 63:10-11, 14; Ezekiel 11:5; 36:27; 37:14.
Theos means “God”; it is equivalent to El, Eloah, and Elohim in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, God usually refers to the Triune God; in the New Testament, God sometimes refers to God the Father (1 Pet. 1:3), sometimes to God the Son (Heb. 1:8), and sometimes to God the Spirit (Acts 5:3-4). In the New Testament, theos is used when referring to either the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we can see that each One of the three is God. God is a triune God.
Pater, translated into English is “Father.” By the name Father in the New Testament, God reveals Himself to us in a particular way. God as the Father denotes God as the source of all things, the origin of all things, the initiation of all things, and the beginning of all things. The name Father implies the source, the beginning. In John 20:17, after His resurrection the Lord said to the disciples, “I ascend to My Father and your Father.” First John 3:1 says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.” The word for Father in these two verses is pater.
In the New Testament an Aramaic (Chaldean) word, abba, is used in reference to the Father. Its transliteration using the English alphabet also is abba. It so happens that in Chinese abba is also a term for father.
There are instances in the New Testament where the Greek word pater and the Aramaic word abba are used together. In English the term is translated “Abba Father.” This can be found in Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, and Mark 14:36; it is a more emphatic title.
In English, despotes is translated “Sovereign Master,” or simply “Master.” However, this is very different from the Old Testament adonai, which is translated “Lord.” Here the word despotes refers to a master with authority. It is used in Luke 2:29, Acts 4:24, and Revelation 6:10 in reference to God. The New Testament also uses this title when referring to the Lord Jesus. Second Peter 2:1 and Jude 4 both refer to the Lord Jesus as the Master of the universe who has authority over everything.
The word Lord in Matthew 1:20 and Mark 12:29 is kurios, referring to the Lord Jesus; the word is equivalent to adon and adonai in the Old Testament. When the New Testament quotes an Old Testament verse, kurios is often used in place of Jehovah. Mark 1:3 is an example. Kurios is a title of the Lord Jesus in His divinity. On the one hand, the Lord Jesus is man, and on the other, He is God. When speaking of His being God, He is kurios, Lord. In John 20:28 when Thomas said, “My Lord and my God,” it is “My kurios and my theos.” Furthermore, Lord in “Jesus is Lord” in 1 Corinthians 12:3 and Lord in “Lord Jesus” in 1 Corinthians 5:4 are kurios. This is a title of the Lord Jesus in His divinity.
The Greek word Jesus and the Hebrew word Joshua are the same word. Je is Jehovah. So the meaning of Joshua, or Jesus, is “Jehovah the Savior,” or “the salvation of Jehovah.” Jesus is Jehovah coming to be our Savior, Jehovah coming to be our salvation. Jesus in particular refers to the Lord being a man. This is a title of the Lord Jesus in His humanity. For this we can refer to Luke 1:31 and Matthew 1:21. Although Jesus is a name that refers to Him as a man, this man is Jehovah coming to be our Savior and becoming our salvation.
In English, cristos is Christ. Cristos is Greek; in Hebrew the word is Messiah. Messiah and Christ both mean “the anointed.” For this we can refer to John 1:41. Messiah is used at least once in the Old Testament, in Daniel 9:25-26.
In the Old Testament times, in order for someone to become a priest, a king, or a prophet, he had to be anointed with oil; all the priests, kings, and prophets were anointed ones. In the New Testament, as Luke 4:18 says, God anointed the Lord Jesus when He came to the earth, so the Lord Jesus was also an anointed One. Christ is a title of the Lord Jesus in His office. See Matthew 1:16, Luke 2:11, and Acts 2:36.
Hagion means “holy” and pneuma means “spirit”; the combination of these two words is Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, hagion pneuma refers to the Spirit as a person. Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14 are examples of this title.
The New Testament refers to the Lord Jesus also as the Son of Man. See Matthew 20:28, Mark 2:28, Luke 19:10, John 1:51, and Acts 7:56.
The New Testament refers to the Lord Jesus also as “the man.” 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is...one Mediator... the man Christ Jesus.”
First Peter 1:2 and Ephesians 1:17 speak of the Father as God; Hebrews 1:8 and John 1:1 speak of the Son as God; Acts 5:3-4 and 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 speak of the Spirit also as God. Matthew 28:19 speaks of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit together. God in the New Testament is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—the Triune God.
There are some passages in the Bible that mention the Father, the Son, and the Spirit together. Second Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” First Corinthians 12:4-6 says, “...but the same Spirit...yet the same Lord...but the same God.” First Peter 1:2 says, “Chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.”