The Church of Almighty God -- Questions and Answers About the Name of God

       Question : It’s written right there in the Bible: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). So the name of the Lord doesn’t change! But you say that the name of Jesus will change in the last days. How do you explain it?

Answer: Brothers and sisters, the Bible says, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). This means that God’s disposition and God’s substance are immutable. It doesn’t mean that God’s name will never change. Look with us at the words of Almighty God.

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 substance. Changes in His name and work do not prove that His substance has altered; in other words, God will always be God, and this will never change. If you say that the work of God always stays the same, then would He be able to finish His six-thousand-year management plan? You merely know that God is forever unchanging, but do you know that God is always new and never old? If the work of God never changed, then could He have brought mankind to today? If God is immutable, then why is it that He has already done the work of two ages? … the words ‘God is always new and never old’ are in reference to His work, and the words ‘God is immutable’ are in regard to what God inherently has and is. Regardless, you cannot define the six-thousand-year work in one point, or portray it with mere static words. Such is the stupidity of man. God is not as simple as man imagines, and His work will not stop in one age. Jehovah, for example, will not always stand for the name of God; God also does His work under the name of Jesus, which is a symbol of how God’s work is always progressing forward.

God will always be God, and will never become Satan; Satan will always be Satan, and will never become God. God’s wisdom, God’s wondrousness, God’s righteousness, and God’s majesty shall never change. His substance and what He has and is shall never change. His work, however, is always progressing forward, always going deeper, for God is always new and never old. In every age God assumes a new name, in every age He does new work, and in every age He allows the creatures to see His new will and His new disposition” (“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

From the words of Almighty God, we can see that God is eternally unchanging. That refers to God’s disposition and His substance, but not God’s name. In the course of God’s work to save mankind, He does different works and takes different names in different ages. But God’s substance never changes. God will always be God. That is to say, no matter what God’s name is, be it “Jehovah” or “Jesus,” God’s substance never changes. There is always the same God working. But at that time, the Jewish Pharisees did not know that the name of God would change as His work changed from one age to the next. They thought that their God was just called Jehovah, and He was their Savior. For generations they clung to the belief that “Only Jehovah is God; and there is no savior but Jehovah.” So when God changed His name, and began His work of redemption in the name of “Jesus,” they did everything they could to condemn and resist Jesus. Finally, they nailed Jesus to the cross. They had committed a heinous crime, and they were punished by God. Similarly, in the last days, if we deny the substance of God or the work being done by one God because God has changed His work and name, then we are absurd and ignorant! Because the name which God takes in each age is meaningful. It is a great salvation for man.

God is always new and never old. He is an all-inclusive God. No single name of God can represent all of God. So as the ages pass, God changes His name. Almighty God says, “The name of Jesus was taken for the work of redemption, so would He still be called by the same name when He returns in the last days? Would He still do the work of redemption? Why is it that Jehovah and Jesus are one, yet They are called by different names in different ages? Is it not because Their work in these ages is different? Could a single name represent God in His entirety? In this way, God must be called by a different name in a different age, must use the name to change the age and represent the age, for no one name can fully represent God Himself. And each name can only represent God’s disposition during a certain age and needs only to represent His work. Therefore, God can choose whatever name befits His disposition to represent the entire age” (“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “Could the name of Jesus, ‘God with us,’ represent God’s disposition in its entirety? Could it fully articulate God? If man says that God can only be called Jesus, and may not have any other name because God cannot change His disposition, then such words are blasphemy! Do you believe that the name Jesus, God with us, can represent God in His entirety? God can be called many names, but among these many names, there is not one which can encapsulate all that God has, there is not one which can fully represent God. And so God has many names, but these many names cannot fully articulate God’s disposition, for God’s disposition is too rich, and extends beyond the knowledge of man. The language of man is incapable of fully encapsulating God. … One particular word or name is powerless to represent God in His entirety. So can God take one fixed name? God is so great and holy, so why do you not permit Him to change His name in each new age? As such, in each age that God personally does His own work, He uses a name that befits the age to encapsulate the work that He does. He uses this particular name, one that possesses the significance of the age, to represent His disposition in that age. God uses the language of man to express His own disposition” (“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God is a wise and almighty Ruler. He’s so great, bountiful and infinite. No single name could possibly represent God in His entirety. And God only does a part of His work in any one age. He only expresses part of His disposition. God has not expressed all that He has and is. So, for each stage of God’s work, He must use a specific name with age significance, which represents the work of that age, and the disposition He expresses. This is the principle of God’s work and the primary reason God changes His name.

from:"The Church of Almighty God"