Elohim- The God Who Created You Series

Series: Knowing God [#2]

ELOHIM- THE GOD WHO CREATED YOU

Genesis 1:1-2

Introduction:

As we discussed last week, names are important. This is how we identify one another. Now days, most people don’t name their children based upon what the name means. They name them based on family names, originality, or because they heard it on the radio, (but I’m not bitter or anything). Although my name was taken from a caller on a radio station, I looked up the meaning of name anyways. My first name is Shawn, which in the Greek language means “handsome and brilliant”. Just kidding. Shawn means, “God is gracious”.

The 1st of God’s names used in the Bible is the Hebrew name “Elohim” which is translated God.

Genesis 1:1-2 (NIV)

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

The name Elohim tells us…

1. That God is all-powerful.

Elohim is the most commonly used name for God in the Bible, occurring more that 2,000 times in the Old Testament. The name Elohim is derived from 2 Hebrew roots. 1st, El; which means “all powerful”. It also has the idea of having extended control or sustaining power. The ending of the name “Elohim”, him, is plural.

Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV)

“Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Does God referring to Himself with plural pronouns mean there is more than 1 God? No. The fact that Elohim is plural now speaks of the Godhead, the Trinity. God is a tri-unity, 3 persons in 1. This fact is not fully revealed until the New Testament, when we discover that He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This name for God is used more than 30 times in the 1st chapter of Genesis. It is Elohim Who spoke the universe into existence.

The name Elohim tells us…

2. That God is ever-present.

Ever-present means that God has always existed. God is self-sufficient. God has no needs and therefore depends on nothing or no one. We depend on many things for our existence- Such as air, water, food, gravity, etc…; but God needs none of these things because He is completely self-sufficient. He is the mighty, creative, self-existent, and self-sufficient God.

The name Elohim tells us…

3. That God is the Creator of all things.

How does this name of God apply to you and I? We 1st have to understand that it was not need that caused Him to create us. God doesn’t need you or me; we need Him.

Colossians 1:16 (NIV)

“For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”

All things were created for God, including you and me.

You are a unique creation of God. Moreover, when God created you He didn’t do a shoddy job. He never does. God made you to be a certain height. He made your eyes a certain color and your feet a certain size. He made you physically, intellectually, and emotionally the way you are for a reason. God most often uses plain, ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. In order to bring glory to God, the world must see our good works.

Conclusion:

You and I are to live in such a way as to make the world glorify whom? God. We do that by showing the world the character, love and salvation of God. Not to do this is to fail in the purpose for which we are created.