Mar. 24, 2021

“THE POWERFUL NAMES OF GOD”

“ELOHIM: THE STRONG CREATOR GOD”

GENESIS 1:1

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

God’s names matter. Attached to each one is a set of character qualities, promises, and meanings. Unless you fully know and understand these things, you run the risk of not accessing or utilizing them in the way God has designed.

So, the very first name God reveals in Scripture to us is “ELOHIM”

This name is found in Genesis, the book of the beginning, and we discover it is the very first verse:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

“God”- “Elohim”

Why did God choose to introduce Himself to us as Elohim, the strong Creator God?

Elohim is Here, There, and Everywhere:

The prophet Jeremiah offers us a glimpse into this delicate balance of God’s presence:

Jeremiah 23:23-24 ““Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord,

“And not a God afar off? 24Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” says the Lord;“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.”

This passage in Jeremiah reveals that God is both transcendent and immanent. He is here, there, and everywhere. The theological word used to describe this is “omnipresent.” God is everywhere present at the same time.

Elohim Is Personal:

Genesis 1:3-5 “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.”

God said, God saw, God separated, and God called.

Genesis 3:8-9 “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

As Elohim, God personally interacts with His creation.

Elohim Is Plural:

The word Elohim is actually the plural version of the word “El,” or “Eloah.” The interesting aspect of this plural word is that it uniquely refers to a singular Godhead.

Genesis 1:26-27 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

Elohim is a plural word by construct but often a singular word by usage, revealing the inimitable makeup of the Trinity. God is a plural being, although He exists as one God.

Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Elohim Is The Creator:

God identifies Himself as Elohim 35 times at the start of Scripture. In fact, Elohim is the only name used for God from Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3.

The literal translation of the name Elohim is “strong one.”

Hebrew 11:3 “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”

“Is anything too difficult for the Lord?” Genesis 18:14

Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing will be impossible.”

So before God shows us His gentleness, His fatherhood, or His grace, God introduces Himself to us as Elohim, the great and powerful. He wants to establish right from the start that He is the all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present one. 

Elohim Is The Restorer:

Genesis 1:2 “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

The Hebrew phrase translated “without form, and void” is the “Tohu wabohu.” This phrase basically means “a waste, or garbage dump.”

The earth was a wasteland at this time— but we read in Isaiah that God did not create a wasteland.

Isaiah 45:18 “For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens,

Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.”

Thus we have emptiness and garbage on the earth because garbage has been thrown there. Satan and his demons were cast down making the planet uninhabitable and destructive.

Isaiah 14:12-17

Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 

Genesis 2:1-3 “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

Colossians 2:16-17 “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”

Typically, we experience a day of rest on Sunday during the church age because that’s the day that Christ was resurrected from the grave.

When God finished everything He needed to do to create the worlds and all they contain, He was able to rest. The reason He could rest was that He infused His creation with the ability to reproduce.

When Elohim created the worlds, He built into creation the capacity for reproduction for generations to come.

And now God has a rest prepared for you.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Whatever God is going to do for you, He is already done. Whatever God has planned for you to do, He has already planned. Whatever God has purposed for your life, He has already purposed.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

I love the passage of Scripture that tells us God will take care of everything when we’re surrendered and obedient to Him.

Psalm 127:2 “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat  the bread of sorrows, for so He gives His beloved sleep.”

Elohim can make something out of nothing. He can empower it to grow into something grand even when nothing appears to be happening at all. He can bring order out of chaos. He is a great name because He is Elohim, the great and powerful.