Names of God 6: El Olam- God eternal. WBC 9.10.05am
Genesis 21:32-34, Isaiah 40:25-31
This being a special Sunday the Elders wanted a special speaker. They asked the most talented minister they knew but he said no. They then decided to ask the smartest preacher they knew but he also said no. Then they decided to ask the best look preacher they knew but he also said no. Then they decided they better ask me. What could I say? I’d already said no three times.
From Revd Kim Huffman
I jest! Actually, as I came to this name of God I thought "Who chooses these blinking things!?" (me!- I give myself the difficult ones)
- !A sermon from one name!". El- God, Olam- eternal, everlasting, forever
- but I had this sense that God had something to say.
… and as I searched the contexts in which this name of God was used….. I’m telling you- God spoke to me! So even if you get nothing out of this, thank goodness I’m alright!
The first is
ETERNALLY EXISTENT (PPT)
… quite obvious, I guess
But, you know, I thought that concept of time and eternity was something that came in with Einstein. Certainly time being a variable, and the possibility of being outside it
- but no. It’s there in the Bible. Not because of their concept of time, but their understanding of GOD
He’s there at the start of it "In the beginning, God". Jesus is there in the middle of it "In the beginning was the Word". And He’s there at the end of it. "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Rev. 22:13 )
- but there was this concept that He was there before it all, as well… and He’ll be there after it all
o the concept of eternity, and God being eternal
It’s hard to get your head ’round. I can remember it as a child. Before there was anything… when there was nothing- there was God
- this ’brain strain’ is there in the Bible, too
Eccl 3:11 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
Yes- they understood about time and eternity.
- but what does this acrually mean?
1) God is the source of all things because He is before all things (PPT)
- He IS the creator. Oh yes! There has to have been an ultimate cause- and this is who it is! No way can things have come into being by chance
o Illustr: big debate back on in USA over intelligent design. There are scientists who argue both ways- but truth is you can’t have cauae without effect! Just can’t.
2) God is bigger than all things (PPT)
- some think "well, God is like… nature. Add it all up you’ve got God"
o = "pantheism" ’God is all… all is God"
- but no. That doesn’t make sense. The creator is bigger than the created. You can’t look at Pam’s sculptures and say ’that’s Pam’
o you’d do her a disfavour! Though you can see her in them
" and how much more so in something living
- no: the better fuller understanding is ’God made all… and is IN all.. but is distinct, separate…above it’
o = ’orthodox Panentheism’. God- in- all
3) God is sovereign over all things. "Above all things. Powers" (PPT)
- I asked myself- why does Abraham (it’s first occurrence) call God El Olam, here?
o (in the context of squabbles about wells and treaties)
- Abraham and Abimelech made a deal… but Abraham realises GOD is sovereign over the affairs of men… over temporal agreements.
- He contrasts the temporal plans of man with the eternal purposes of God
Get this: you may have plans but God’s good plans for you are sovereign over all of them. Over all history & eternity
- friend, this morning- you may not even believe there is a God… you certainly don’t think you ’know’ Him.. but He has eternal plans for you!
- listen to the next use of the name by Moses… in the context of His plans for Asher
DT 33:26 "There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, (Asher), who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty.
DT 33:27 The El Olam.. the eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
DT 33:29 Blessed are you, O Israel!
Who is like you,
a people saved by the LORD?
He is your shield and helper
and your glorious sword.
Let’s sing about it: Above all powers
Okay. Next. You’re going to like this
ETERNALLY CONSISTENT (PPT)
But the main place the name Eternal God is used is not so much about God and time- but God and US. How He deals with us and appears to us
- when everything else is changing, failing, falling. When we are weak, changeable…temporal… dust… blown away like dry leaves or grass
o He is the eternal God. Eternally consistent. Utterly unchanging, faithful, reliable, dependable
o His eternal nature is contrasted with our temporal tiredness
Many of you know this name! You quote it!
(ISA 40:25 "To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
ISA 40:26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.)
ISA 40:27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?
ISA 40:28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is El Olam … the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
ISA 40:29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
ISA 40:30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
ISA 40:31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
I found this an incredible help, this week…
- I have done well with the busyness of the last 6 months. Even thrived on it- but Tuesday (after a big car bill!) it got to me and I felt overwhelmed, panicky and anxious
- but here’s the encouragement to me, all of you.
- God revealed His name.. so that we would know His nature… and know that when we are tired and weary… ’’whithered grass’ (as we are described at the start of this chapter) or ’dust’ (in Ps103:14) - HE IS OUR ROCK
ISA 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.
ISA 26:4 Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock Olam. The Rock eternal.
Unchanging. Eternal (locked to the big picture!). "You never change, you never fail, O God"
I read this by a bloke called Bruce Howel - "Bill Irwin, a man who is blind, has a talking computer he uses to study the Bible. He’s had a few chuckles over some of the pronunciations. "For a long time," Bill says, "the computer pronounced Holy Bible as ’holly bibble’ until I figured out how to modify it." But there was one thing Bill couldn’t change. The computer uses the Spanish pronunciation for Jesus Christ--HEYsus Krist. "The programmer is Hispanic," Bill told me with a smile, "and he made sure that HEYsus Krist cannot be altered."
I like that. It reminds me that among the things in life that can be changed to suit my taste, one remains tamper-resistant--I can’t change Jesus.
When life is unsettled, I gain great comfort from the Bible’s affirmation that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8). But the statement is also a stern rebuke to my tendency to try to modify the words and character of Christ when I don’t like what He says. How easy it is to forget that I came to Christ longing for Him to transform me, not the other way around! Praise God that His Word and His love are perfect and unchanging. And praise Him too that in His love He is working to change me
Contributed by: Bruce Howell on www.sersmoncentral.com
Folks- if you don’t know God personally, through Jesus, I just can’t tell you what you are missing! In this world He is the anchor. I have no idea how people cope without Him. They either don’t.. or they do because they HAVE to
Let’s sing; "Everlasting God"
And here’s the final thing this name means
ETERNALLY PRESENT (PPT)
Because He is in all… above all… eternally consistent- He is eternally present, as well
- always there. Next to us, with us
In a changing world God’s presence is eternal.
- no one can be with us all the time. Parents, friends, relatives, spouse- are not with us all the time or forever
o indeed we cannot become dependent on other people… or we will become disappointed when they cannot be with us
But God can be relied on. God has said ’never will I leave you, never will I forsake you"
- and underneath are the everlasting arms of El Olam
Close in prayer
