Compiled by: Herman Abrahams (Pastor), Cornerstone Faith Ministries, P.O. Box 740, Westridge 7802, Rep. of South Africa.
E-Mail: Mentorship2003@yahoo.co.uk
Note to the reader:
If you have been blessed with this sermon compilation, I would be honoured to receive an e-mail from you merely telling me where in the world you are based- I do not need any other information. This is merely so that I can have the pleasure of giving thanks to Almighty God that all over the globe the ministry which he has entrusted to me, is blessing the body of Christ and helping to extend the Kingdom of God.
Thank you.
Herman Abrahams,
Cape Town, South Africa.
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READ: Genesis 1:1-25
THE STRENGTH OF ELOHIM
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. GENESIS 1:1
In Hebrew the name used here for “God” is the name Elohim which reveals the mighty strength of God. El is the Hebrew word for “strength” or “might”.
The Bible is not a scientific textbook, but a book of faith. It does not give detail about how the heavens were made, but does tell us how to get to heaven. It also tells us who makes the heavens to function in an orderly fashion and who upholds and sustains “all things by His powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3)
ILLUSTRATION:
• "The heavens declare the glory of God." (David, King of Israel)
• "This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel and domain of an intelligent and powerful Being." [Sir Isaac Newton - Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, in The Great Books of the Western World, Vol. 34 (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952), 369].
Elohim meets us in Genesis. In the beginning of days and nights, flowers and trees, fish, birds and wild animals, he tells us by his name that He is the creator of all, having the omnipotent power, might and strength to create all that is in the universe and to keep it all spinning safely and at the right speed. The Hebrew word for created is the word "bara" which means to “create out of nothing”. Where there was chaos and disorder (Gen 1:1), Elohim created something orderly.
ILLUSTRATION
"A common sense and satisfying interpretation of our world suggests the designing hand of a superintelligence.… There is, I shall argue, no contradiction between holding a staunch belief in supernatural design and being a creative scientist.… Just as I believe that the Book of Scripture illumines the pathway to God, so I believe that the Book of Nature, with its astonishing details … also suggests a God of purpose and a God of design. And I think my belief makes me no less a scientist."- Dr. Owen Gingerich, professor of astronomy and the History of Science at Harvard University, and senior astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. [Owen Gingerich, “Dare a Scientist Believe in Design?” in Evidence of Purpose, ed. by John Marks Templeton (New York: Continuum, 1994), 25, 28, 32].
What does this mean to me? It gives me tremendous confidence. It tells me that the God who made the world and all that is in it, he can make my world spin around with more order than I’ve managed to create in it. It gives me something – Someone – on whom I can depend. I can depend on Elohim, the one who is faithful to keep the universe working in perfect order day after day. I can trust Elohim who faithfully causes the sun to rise daily at one end of the heavens and to make its circuit to the other (Ps 19:6). The God who created order out of chaos is able to bring order to my world. Elohim is there – the heavens declare his glory! (Ps 19:1). Every day the sun rises in the east and travels across the sky to set in the west at the end of the day; this reminds me that my God lives and that He is faithful! He exists and He cares for me (1 Pet 5:7).
ILLUSTRATION
• The existence of the universe requires me to conclude that God exists.—Robert A. Naumann, Professor of Chemistry and Physics at Princeton University* [Quoted in John Ankerberg and John Weldon’s Darwin’s Leap of Faith (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1998), 267].
How are you doing today? Are you experiencing problems in your finances, your marriage, your job or your family? Abraham trusted God and believed that where there was death and barrenness God was able to bring life (the promised son, Isaac). Abraham was fully persuaded that God was able to give life to the dead and call things that are not as though they were (Rom 4:17,21). In other words Abraham believed that Elohim was able to create for him and Sarah something out of nothing. What is lacking in your world that you are trusting God for? Does it appear that all is dead and barren? Trust Elohim for change in your world today. God’s creative power which was at work in Abraham’s life can work in your life also. Call unto Him and he will answer and show you great and mighty things which you do not know (Jer 33:3).*
