God Has a Name: ELOHIM
God Has a Name • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Key Points
Key Points
The Hebrew word Elohim is translated in our English Bibles as God.
The Hebrew word Elohim is translated in our English Bibles as God.
-Elohim can refer to a Spiritual being (category) but the Bible often uses it to refer to God. He is the Elohim of elohim.
-Elohim is a category title. Like the words mom and dad. Could be general, could be specific.
-The bible points out the various ways in which Elohim (God) can be known.
The first is...
1. God the Creator
1. God the Creator
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
For this is what the Lord says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.
-This forces us to think about God from the perspective of Creator/Created perspective.
-Think about the first 2 commandments in light of this information
Exodus 20:3–6 (NIV)
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Naturally because God is the creator...
God the Sovereign One
God the Sovereign One
-Sovereignty of God is defined as the absolute and unrivaled rule God has over all his creation, creatures and their circumstances.
To affirm that God is sovereign is to affirm that God reigns, universally and invincibly. God’s sovereignty implies his absolute ownership , authority, and control over all things.
Nature:
I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth.
He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them. At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them.
Mankind
The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
and said: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
-When we read words like king and ruler as they pertain to God it is a reference to his sovereignty.
-Our response to God’s sovereignty should be one of joy and gladness, joyful worship and submission
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
This next concept if we are honest is one that we either try to ignore completely or maybe we get a little to excited about...
God the Judge
God the Judge
-Why do we avoid this idea? What’s wrong with getting to excited about it?
Look what Isaiah says
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
-God is good and fair judge but his judgments are also thorough and absolute.
Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.
The bible balances this idea of judgment (which can be heavy)with the truth that God is also one who saves.
God as Savior
God as Savior
-The title Savior is associated with victory.
Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
-The account of David bring the Ark back into Jerusalem found in the middle of 1 Chronicles has a wonderful psalm written by the king. One verse in particular reminds us
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise.” Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”
Ultimately we know that it is God who saves us from sin and death.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
God of History
God of History
-There is no part of history that God has not been a part of.
He is eternal and the OT in many ways demonstrates to us how God has worked from the past through the Jews to reveal himself to the world he created. The NT continues with the coming of God in the flesh, the establishment of the church and concludes with history that has yet to happen.
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord.
-Finally and maybe the thing we need to remember the most is that God is...
God of Relationships/Covenants
God of Relationships/Covenants
Psalm 139 reminds that God has intimate knowledge
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
-However this knowledge is not just so he can pick out our our flaws it’s because his desire in relationship.
-Jeremiah reminds us that he is a God who is near at hand. So he is not interested in keeping himself sequestered from his creation.
Could it be any clearer than Genesis 17:7
I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
-God uses language like, “my people” “my children” “my bride” to describe the relationship between He and us.
-This is also why we have verse like Deut 4:24
For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
-Jealous as a husband would be for bride.
-Go with me back once again to the 10 commandments. The 3rd which says “do not shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” or “use the Lord’s name in vain”.
-We commonly understand that as saying we should not use God’s name in a swear word. Although I would agree with that sentiment that’s not what God is getting at here. The 10 commandments should really be understood as a covenant agreement between to parties. The 3rd commandment is better understood as you have my name don’t disappoint me in front of the rest of the world. Do not take my name “I belong to God, I am his child” and then go out and make a mockery of it.
God takes’s his relationships very seriously and he wants us to reciprocate.
Conclusion:
I hope that this has helped you think about what is meant when we say “God”. And believe me there is plenty more that could be said. Next week we will look at his personal name, his covenant name YAHWEH. And in the weeks to come a handful of the other names by which God is known because these names reveal his character to us.