An Introduction To God (The Names Of God) #4 ADONAI

Names of God Overview

In this fourth installment of the series ‘An Introduction To God,’ the pastor explores the Hebrew name Adonai, meaning Owner, Master, and Ruler. The message builds on previous teachings covering Elohim, Yahweh, and El Shaddai, and now turns to the profound relational depth embedded in the name Adonai. Drawing from Exodus 21, Psalm 110, Acts 2, Philippians 2, and several New Testament epistles, the pastor explains that Adonai is not a name of oppression but of loving ownership and total provision. Using the Old Testament picture of the Hebrew bond-servant who willingly surrenders his freedom out of love for his master, the pastor illustrates what it means to make Jesus not only Savior but Lord. The sermon also addresses the distinction between the wrath of man, the wrath of Satan, and the coming wrath of God, grounding believers in the pre-tribulation hope of the Rapture. The teaching challenges every listener to move beyond a surface-level salvation experience into the full lordship of Christ, where liberty, blessing, and friendship with God become the reality of daily life.

Names of God Outline

• 0:00 – Series Recap and the Problem After the Fall: The pastor recaps the Names of God series, revisiting Elohim, Yahweh, and El Shaddai, and explains why God began revealing His names after sin broke fellowship between God and mankind.
• 8:30 – Covenant Versus Contract: A deep look at the meaning of covenant, its blood-based nature, and how God’s covenants are always driven by grace and promise rather than human effort or duty.
• 18:00 – El Shaddai and the Abundance of God: The pastor revisits El Shaddai as the God of overwhelming provision, then transitions to Revelation 19 to show that the same abundance applies equally to God’s wrath against rebellion.
• 27:00 – Saved from Wrath: The Pre-Tribulation Hope: Using Romans 5:9, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, and 1 Thessalonians 5:9, the pastor makes a biblical case that the Church is appointed to salvation, not wrath, and will be removed before the Tribulation.
• 38:00 – Introducing Adonai: Owner, Master, and Ruler: The name Adonai is introduced as the Hebrew word meaning Owner, Master, and Ruler. The pastor explores its plural and possessive nature, confirming the triune Godhead, and its Greek counterpart Kurios in the New Testament.
• 48:00 – The Bond-Servant of Exodus 21: An exposition of Exodus 21:1-6 presents the picture of the willing Hebrew bond-servant as a type of the believer who chooses to make Jesus Lord permanently, not merely Savior.
• 57:00 – Jesus as the Ultimate Bond-Servant: The pastor shows from Luke 22 and Philippians 2 that Jesus himself modeled total submission to the Father’s will in Gethsemane, and was consequently exalted as Lord over all creation.
• 1:04:00 – Gideon and the One God Was Looking For: The account of Gideon in Judges 6 illustrates how God searches for one person willing to acknowledge Him as Adonai, and how that surrender unlocks divine power and deliverance for an entire nation.
• 1:10:00 – Friendship With God Through Full Surrender: Grounding the call in John 15:13-14, the pastor explains that making Jesus Adonai transforms the believer from servant to friend, and closes with an urgent exhortation to surrender the will to God today.

Scripture References

Genesis 1:1, Genesis 12, Galatians 3, Revelation 19:9-16, Romans 5:9, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, Psalm 110:1, Acts 2:34-36, John 1:1-14, 2 Corinthians 3:15-17, Exodus 21:1-6, Luke 22:42-44, Philippians 2:9-11, 1 Corinthians 7:22, John 15:13-14, Romans 1:1, James 1:1, 2 Peter 1:1, Judges 6:10-14

Key Takeaways

• Adonai means Owner, Master, and Ruler, and reveals that God desires not to oppress but to fully provide for, protect, and direct those who belong to Him.
• Making Jesus Savior is only the beginning; every believer must come to the place of making Him Lord and surrendering their will to His complete ownership.
• The Bible is clear that the Church is not appointed to wrath but to salvation, and will be delivered from the coming Tribulation before God pours out His judgment on the earth.
• The Old Testament picture of the willing bond-servant in Exodus 21 is a powerful type of the Christian who, out of love, chooses permanent surrender to Jesus as Lord rather than living for self.
• Jesus himself demonstrated bond-servant surrender in Gethsemane when He prayed not My will but Yours be done, and God responded by highly exalting Him above every name.
• Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, meaning that yielding to Adonai does not produce bondage but the truest and deepest freedom a human being can experience.
• John 15:13-14 reveals that those who obey the Lord’s commands are no longer just servants but are called His friends, the highest relational honor God extends to yielded believers.

Names of God Notes

Adonai: What the Name Actually Means

The Hebrew name Adonai appears over 300 times in the Old Testament and carries the meaning of Owner, Master, and Ruler. Like Elohim, it is a plural form, pointing to the triune nature of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Its Greek counterpart in the New Testament is Kurios, translated Lord, and it signifies supreme authority and control. In the King James Version, when translators encountered Adonai in the text, they rendered it as Lord with a capital L followed by lowercase letters, distinguishing it from Yahweh, which is printed in all capitals. This distinction matters because it signals that God is not merely a covenant keeper at a distance but a present, personal, and active Lord who owns and governs the lives of those who belong to Him.

The Bond-Servant Picture in Exodus 21

One of the most compelling illustrations the pastor develops is drawn from Exodus 21:1-6, where Mosaic law permitted a Hebrew to voluntarily enter servitude with a wealthy household to escape poverty or starvation. After six years the servant could go free, but if the master had given him a wife and children, the servant could choose to stay permanently out of love. His ear would be pierced at the doorpost as a public declaration of willing, lifelong service. This is a direct type of the believer who, after receiving salvation, chooses to go beyond being merely saved and makes Jesus the permanent Lord of every area of life, not out of compulsion but out of deep love and trust.

Surrender Brings Promotion, Not Oppression

A recurring concern people raise is whether submitting fully to God means losing their freedom or identity. The pastor addresses this directly with the personal story of his daughter, who resisted his parental authority as a teenager, believing it was restriction rather than protection. God’s ownership works the same way. Philippians 2:9-11 shows that because Jesus surrendered completely to the Father’s will in Gethsemane, God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name above every name. The principle is consistent throughout Scripture: voluntary surrender to Adonai does not diminish the believer but elevates them. Paul, James, and Peter all identified themselves primarily as bond-servants of Jesus Christ, treating it as their highest title of honor.

The Church Saved From Coming Wrath

The sermon carefully distinguishes between three types of wrath at work in the world: the wrath of man expressed through fear and conflict, the wrath of Satan who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy, and the coming wrath of God that will be poured out during the Tribulation. Using Romans 5:9, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, and 1 Thessalonians 5:9, the pastor builds a cumulative biblical case that believers justified by the blood of Jesus are rescued from and not appointed to God’s wrath. Revelation 19:9 places the Church at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb before the outpouring of judgment, making it logically and biblically impossible to place the Church inside the Tribulation period.

Gideon: One Willing Vessel Changes Everything

The account of Gideon in Judges 6 illustrates powerfully what happens when even one person is willing to acknowledge God as Adonai. Israel had suffered seven years of brutal oppression from the Midianites, hiding food in wine presses and living in caves. The angel of the Lord found Gideon hiding and called him a mighty man of valor. Gideon’s response, using the word Adon meaning my Owner and Master, opened the door for God to move. The pastor uses this to challenge listeners to be that one person who stops waiting for ideal circumstances and simply yields, allowing God to do through them what no human strategy or political effort could ever accomplish.

Friendship With God Is the Goal

The sermon reaches its highest point in Jesus’s own words from John 15:13-14: Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command. The pastor explains that the bond-servant of Exodus 21 who chose to stay and serve became more than a hired worker; he became the master’s trusted companion. In the same way, the believer who yields their will entirely to Jesus transitions from servant to friend of God. This is the deepest invitation embedded in the name Adonai: not mere compliance, but a living, loving, personal friendship with the Creator of the universe who calls you His own.

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