Archeology suggests that in all cultures throughout history humanity has sought a relationship with the spiritual realm.  However, the supreme, spiritual being has not appeared to all humanity in its entire splendor to establish itself as the eternal deity.

No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.  John 1:18  NASB (New American Standard Bible)

(Underline and/or bold enhancement will be used to emphasize information in scripture and text.)  Consequently, groups and societies have found it desirable and/or necessary to provide tangible representations or images of their unseen deity, and archeology provides numerous examples of these images, which exhibited attributes of the spiritual being and provided a focal point of worship.

Men and women, who claim higher spiritual attainment and/or divine revelation, have represented themselves as spokesperson for the eternal deity.  Such revelation is now part of the written record, for there is the Tanakh for Jews, the Koran for the Muslims, and the Bible for the Christians.  A general tenet of these teachings is that their deity is unique and supreme.  In the effort to establish the importance and supremacy of their deity, societies have used various means including argument, a showdown of competing miracles, and combat.  Still, conclusive proof of the existence or uniqueness or supremacy of an eternal deity is elusive.

Given these circumstances, an individual basically has two choices.  One choice is to ignore or even deny the existence of the spiritual realm and its eternal deity.  However, many deniers betray their denial of “god” when they join “isms” that possess so many aspects of religion.  For example, among some people there is an urgency to “save” the earth, the object of their “worship.”   The other choice is to accept an eternal being by faith.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Hebrews 11:1  NASB

Faith is necessary because the only irrefutable means to a universal knowledge within humanity of the existence of the eternal being – an appearance in all its splendor — has not happened.

The nature of an eternal being that is accepted by faith varies greatly.  Some accept nothing more than an impersonal, abstract idea of an eternal being.  Others believe in an eternal being with whom they may establish a personal relationship.  For me, the supreme, eternal being is the God of Abraham, of Moses, and of Jesus.  A written record of God’s actions in the world began with Moses, and His intentions and plans for humanity are now complied into the Holy Bible. 

The God of the Bible, the supreme eternal being, establishes His uniqueness in His written word.

For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality, nor take bribes.  Deuteronomy 10:17  NASB

Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one.  1Corinthians 8:4  NASB

What is an appropriate name for this unique, mighty, awesome God of gods and Lord of lords?  The Bible provides a sequence of names.

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty [El Shaddai]; Walk before Me, and be blameless.  Genesis 17:1  NASB

God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty [El Shaddai], but by My name, LORD [YHWH], I did not make Myself known to them.  Exodus 6:2-3  NASB

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM [YHWH]”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”  …  “This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.”  Exodus 3:14-15 NASB

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father [Pater] who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name,’ ”  Matthew 6:9  NASB

So, the Supreme Being has identified Himself differently to Abraham, to Moses, and to Jesus.  To Abraham, He was El Shaddai, which is translated as God Almighty.  To Moses, He was YHWH, His memorial-name which is translated in the New American Standard Bible as I AM WHO I AM, but it can also translated as Yahweh or Jehovah.  However, the Jewish tradition of not speaking or writing the name of the deity has created the substitution of the term “LORD” for YHWH.   To Jesus, He was Pater, which is translated from the Greek as Father.

Thus, we have a progression of the name for the eternal deity from God Almighty to YHWH to Father.  Presently, it is common to use the simplest of terms, “God,” for the supreme, eternal being of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.  However, this title is used by other religions to refer to something other than the God of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.  Therefore, I will use the descriptive name “God Almighty” for the supreme, eternal being, the God of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.  We find something similar in the New Testament as well.

And I heard the alter saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments.”  Revelation 16:7  NASB

This original name–God Almighty–suggests an all powerful deity, who is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient.

The earth is the LORD’s, and all it contains,

The world, and those who dwell in it.  Psalms 24:1  NASB

The name Jesus is English derived from Iesous in the original Greek of the New Testament which was a translation from Hebrew of Yeshua.  We are writing in English, so we will use Jesus as the name of our Lord and Savior.

A second consideration is, Does God Almighty have gender?  There really is no choice in this matter.  For the purpose of revealing itself, its nature, and its plan for humanity, God Almighty has identified itself as our Father (Matt 6:9), a male.  So, in order to gain the fullest understanding from recorded teachings, it is necessary to use the identity of male for God Almighty that He assigned to Himself.