Revive Us As Our Elohim - Revive Us Part 8 Series

Revive Us - Part 8

Revive Us as Our Elohim

Genesis 1:1

This morning I want to wrap of this powerful mini series we started at the beginning of the year entitled "Revive Us."

We have been studying our way through just some of the names of God. Why are we studying the names of God? Well did you know that if you will take the time to study the names of God it will completely transform your life. That’s right - it will make you a completely different person. It will completely change the way you think, speak and act. It will forever alter who you are and what you do. Why is that?

Psalm 9:10 "They that know Your name will put their trust in You."

Proverbs 18:10 "The name of the LORD is a strong tower. The righteous runs in to it and is safe."

Psalm 20:7 "Some boast in chariots, and some in horses; but we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God."

We are studying the names of God because we have learned that your walk with God will rise no higher than your knowledge of God.

it emanates from His person

it embodies a principle

it emphasizes a pattern

it embraces a problem

it empowers a performance

We want to know the names of God better because we want to know God better. We want to know the names of God better because we want to trust God more. There are many in this world who do not really know God - they may talk about Him and even occasionally talk to Him. But we want to go beyond that. We want to be intimately and effectively acquainted with God.

This morning we come to the first name of God that we read about in the entire Bible. You can find it in Genesis 1:1. By the way, you can also find it in Genesis 1:2. And in 1:3, and in 1:4. As a matter of fact, you can find it 30 times in the first 31 verses of the Bible. It is the name by which we meet God in the Bible, and it is the name God wants each and every one of us to know, understand and experience Him by.

Please open your Bibles to the book of Genesis - Genesis chapter 1, and I am going to read just the first verse. Genesis 1:1. The name we are looking at this morning, and that is translated in your Bibles as ‘God’ - is the name ELOHIM. Is the name ELOHIM all that important? What does it mean? Why does God use it 30 times in the first 31 verses? What is so important about that name that God says it again, and again, and again?

Read Genesis 1:1

Not only can you can find this name ELOHIM 30 times in the first chapter of the Bible, 30 times in 31 verses, but you can find it 2606 times in the Old Testament. That makes it the name that is most commonly used of God. You do not need to be a rocket scientist to work out that the Bible is not a book essentially about man, it is essentially about God.

The Bible says, "In the beginning God . . ." That is probably the most profound statement that has ever been penned. "In the beginning God . . .". That is so true that we study those words for many months and still not get close to exhausting them. But the problem with those words is they fly straight in the face of the thinking of modern man. Modern man does not like and thing that starts of with the words, "In the beginning God . . ." As a matter of fact, modern man does not like anything that does not start with the words, "In the beginning man . . ." Oh God can be in there, or his version of God, but it is not about God, it is about him. And the God in his thinking is not the God of the Bible, but the God of his convenience. The Bible says, "In the beginning God. . . ". May I remind you that the implication of these words profoundly challenge the thinking of most people. Why? Because they tell us about the God that is as opposed to the God we want. I meet people all the time who tell me that they do not think God would do this or that - or they do not like this about the God of the Bible or that about the God of the Bible. Well my friend - I would be very suspicious of a God who only did or thought what I thought was right - because too many time my right has turned out wrong.