Hello I Love You Let Me Tell You My Name
Elohim – Genesis 1
Intro: Last week we began a series on the names of God entitled, Hello I Love You… To understand who God is and what He has done for us. To understand His name is to understand His person, purpose, and plan.
Review: We looked at why we need to know God’s name and the significance of it. We need to know His name b/c He commands us to know it, b/c we’re compelled to praise it, and b/c we’re challenged to trust in it.
Verse: O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth. Ps. 8:1
Verses: I will praise you forever for what you have done: in your name I will hope for your name is good. Ps. 52:9
Verse: The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
Note: Incredible verses commanding, compelling, and challenging us to trust in the name and person of our God.
Review: The reason God gave us His name is to REVEAL His person, to RELATE to His creation, and to RELEASE His promises.
Point: God wants us to know Him, to be known by Him, and to make Him known.
Trans: This AM we want to turn our attention to the first name of God found in Scripture. Interestingly enough, it’s found in the first verse of the Bible.
Text: Genesis 1:1-4
Insert: The name used in this text is the name – Elohim – meaning eternal creator.
The most frequently used name for God in the O.T. used more than 2500x in the Bible and 32x in the 1st chapter of Genesis.
Note: Scholars believe Elohim is the plural form of El. The peculiar thing about this name is that it is the only name used for God that is plural. I agree w/ most theologians that the plurality points to the triune nature of God – from the beginning God was 3 in 1 and eternal in nature. Scripture supports:
Verse: In the beginning was the Word, the Word was w/ God and the Word was God. Jn 1:1
Verse: For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. Col. 1:16
Trans: It’s interesting to me that from the start, God wants to declare His name and make it clear that He is the creator and sustainer of life.
I Elohim and ETERNITY In the beginning God…
Note: What is the significance of this statement? Simple! God has always been, and always will be and He is true to His nature and personhood. God IS!
Note: What is He? He is holy, all-powerful, all knowing, all-seeing.
E Eternal
L Loving
O Omni-everything
H Holy
I Immutable
M Majestic
Insert: When getting into a discussion w/ others about creation, I often hear, “Well, where did God come from? The Bible clearly says, “He’s always been.”
Idea: Unlike the evolutionist, who has to come up w/ where the first atom came from, I don’t have to make up a opinion, I simply have to believe what God said – “In the beginning I was already present and accounted for.”
Note: Genesis 1:1 is a simple declaration that Elohim has always existed – He IS!
Story: Several years ago at a PK event, E.V. Hill got to throwing down on this idea. His sermon was based on two words, “God is!” B/c God is… (this) He repeated the phrase over and over – soft and loud – almost daring anyone to deny it. He kept on until 25,000 men were chanting – God is!
Insert: Let me ask – If God IS… What’s the significance? It means everything! If God is, then bad can be made good, sin can be atoned, and chaos can be brought to order. If God is, then there is hope for the hopeless, and help for the helpless. If God is, then everything in life has meaning and purpose. All life is precious and sacred. But if God isn’t, then we’ve got a mess.
Story: Boy who prayed, “Dear God, take care of my daddy and mommy, my sister and brother, my kitty and doggy. Oh, and God, please take care of yourself, b/c if anything happens to you, then we’re all going to be in a big mess.
Note: In Elohim God declares that He is – He’s always been and always will be.
II Elohim and CREATION God created…
Note: What did Elohim claim to do? He claimed to create! That ought to settle it.
Word: Bara – the eternal God created something from nothing. We’re here by design and divine providence, not by chance. Elohim is the sovereign creator who existed prior to creation and who spoke creation into existence.
Story: How vast is the universe? Pretend the earth is a grape. In proportion, the sun is the size of a beach ball 163 yards away. The largest planet would be Jupiter is the size of a grapefruit five blocks away. The nearest star would be 24,000 miles away and the Milky Way would be 55 billion miles wide.
Cont: If we possessed an atlas of our galaxy that devoted 1 page to each star in the Milky Way, the atlas would run more than 10 million volumes of 10k pages each. It’d take a library the size of Harvard’s to house the atlas and to flip through it at a rate of 1 page per second would require over 10k years.
Verse: The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Ps. 19:1
Trans: The Bible explains in the beginning God created something from nothing.
Insert: But hold on pastor – you’re telling us to choose faith over science. No! I’m telling you that any rationally intelligent person – if they look at the facts must conclude that the universe declares there must be a creator. I’m telling you whether you believe in evolution or creation faith is required.
Insert: Watch parts in a pocket – how long until you have a working watch? Never
How: Evolution is not science – it’s a bad theory. It doesn’t abide by the rules of science. Truth is – somebody’s trying to make a monkey out of you. By rule, to be considered science, evolution must abide by the scientific method. It holds to 4 principles – Observation, Hypothesis, Testing, & Repetition. Let me ask. Did anyone see it? No. Did someone come up w/ a theory? Yes. Can they test their theory? No. Thus they can’t repeat it.
Quote: It’s becoming increasingly apparent that evolutionism is not even a good scientific theory. Dr. Willem Ouweneel – Geneticist
It’s not science? It’s theory. It’s a religion requiring great faith and much stupidity. The Bible says, “The fool has said in his heart there is no God.”
Insert: How else can you explain how a person can deny God’s claim as creator in exchange for the belief that something came from nothing – exploded into a living micro-organism that fought for survival eventually turning into a complex single cell creature that over 2 billion years became a vertebrae that began to swim in a pre-mordial soup turning into a tadpole, into a frog, into a fish, into an amphibian, into a reptile, into a mammal, into a monkey, and then bump his head on something that straightened him up into a man.
Insert: Truth is, serious scientists have been dropping this selectionist theory and Darwin like a hot cake in exchange that there had to be a super-intelligence.
Insert: Darwin wasn’t the 1st to intro selectionist theory. It can be traced to 550 BC – Alexander of Miletus taught life began in slimy pools of stagnate water.
Story: His story is both sad and humorous. Alexander was out for a walk when he saw a stagnate pool of stinking water. As he bent down to investigate he noticed little creature swimming in the slime. The next day he walked by and watched until he witnessed the tiny creatures sprouting wings and flying off – Today we call those mosquitoes!
Insert: Since the fall, man has been looking for a way to quench his thirst for freedom, but the evidence for a creator is mounting and the claims of evolution look more and more like a piece of Swiss cheese.
Quote: Ultimately the Darwinian theory of evolution is nothing more nor less than the great cosmogenic myth of the 20th century. Michael Denton, Molecular Biologist
Quote: What I’ve learned in the past 10 years of review of recent scientific knowledge of cellular morphology and physiology, the code of life (DNA), and the lack of supporting evidence for evolution in light of recent scientific evidence is a shocking rebuttal to evolution. Dr. Issac Manly – Harvard
Quote: For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance, he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for years. Robert Jastrow – Scientist at NASA – and prof. of Geophysics Colombia U.
Why: So why is this important? B/c what you believe about God will determine what you believe about creation and so many other things of significance.
Verse: When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? Ps. 11:3
Insert: If God is Elohim – the eternal creator – then we’re here as a result of divine design and providence – and life has meaning, order, and purpose. But if we evolved from slime and nothingness – then it’s survival of the fittest.
Insert: If God exists, and we’re His creation – accountable and under His authority.
But if God doesn’t exist, then we’re accountable to no one.
Insert: I truly believe the reason that our country and world are going to hell in a hand basket is b/c we have allowed our foundation to come under attack and erode the fundamental truth that in the beginning God created.
Quote: The idea of evolution has come to touch every aspect of modern thought and no other theory in recent times has come to mold the way we view ourselves and the world around us. I am convinced that the problem w/ this self-serving society in which we live is due to the fact that for over 40 years our students have been taught that basically they are animals struggling to survive in a world of natural selection and that the only law of the universe is survival of the fittest and therefore they are a driven group that don’t care about other groups.
Point: There’s no room for a God in evolution. If there is no God then there is no difference b/w good and evil and right and wrong – morality is an illusion and truth is relative – completely left up to the discretion of the individual. There are no moral or ethical laws. There are no absolute guiding principles for society – humans are complex machines driven by instinct devoid of reason.
Insert: But there is more. If creation did not occur, and Elohim does not exist, and morality is an illusion, then there is no such thing as sin. And if there is no sin, then man has no need for a Savior. If there is no Elohim, then the cross and the resurrection are but a hoax. No Elohim, then no Immanuel!
Note: To add insult to injury, the Bible is just a good book full of errors and contradiction.
Note: Theistic Evolutionist – what if we just tear out Genesis 1 and the creation story? You could, but what are you going to do about the plethora of passages throughout the Bible in Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Eccl., Isaiah, Acts, Romans, Colossians, and Revelation that mention the creation story?
Verse: Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. Ps. 95:6
Verse: Thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk in it. Is. 42:5
Verse: The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temple built by hands. Acts 17:49
Verse: You’re worthy, our Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have there being. Rev. 4:11
Trans: But if there is an Elohim – then thank God that He revealed sin, conviction and the cross. Thank God that when He introduced Himself in the Bible, He did so in the beginning to clarify who He is and what He has done.
Note: We learn that Elohim is not just the eternal creator, but that He is personal and merciful desiring an intimate relationship w/ His creation. We are special and precious to God – so much so that He sent His only Son to retrieve us from the power, penalty, and pain of sin to bring us into an everlasting relationship w/ Him.
Likewise, we discover that we’nn b v gbfdsxszw sre fearfully and wonderfully made, a little lower than the angels but the crowning achievement of God – made in His image and not from the genetics of an ape. As a result, we have meaning and purpose in life – not one of us is an accident, but a divinely inspired creation.
Insert: WOW! Elohim – the Eternal Creator – What a bodacious statement made by God in the first verse in the Bible – Folks it doesn’t get any clearer. It is as if God has taken our faces into His hands and has said look into my eyes and read my lips – I am God – your God – Elohim the eternal creator and sustainer of life who longs to have a personal relationship w/ you.
Story: Paul Gentuso was a budding evolutionist until he studied the human hand in medical school. He said, In anatomy class we dissected the human hand. In investigating it, I first removed the skin, then isolated the individual tendons and muscles and worked my way to the bone. The tendons of the hand are aligned in tendon sheaths, like self-lubricating pulleys, allowing the hands to work tireless, noiseless, and in an effortless fashion. It was perfectly designed to carry out all of the work it was called to do – everything from lifting a small object to lugging a tree trunk.
The experience so deeply affected Gentuso that he completely changed his mind about the existence of God. He wrote, “In seeing how each tendon was perfectly aligned along the axis of each finger and how each finger moved in coordinated fashion when tugged by individual tendons, it became obvious to me that there was a Creator who intelligently designed and created man. This was the first time in my adult life that I could say w/ assurance that a Creator existed. It was a spiritual experience for me. I went from doubt to certainty based upon seeing God’s creation.”
Gentuso later became a missionary physician and a resident doctor in Nashville.
