ELOHIM Part 3

The next facet of God’s name Elohim, is the God Who makes covenants.  A covenant is stronger than a promise as we know it. A covenant is a binding agreement between two parties, a life long commitment, and a guarantee. God’s covenant, or promises, are between Himself and His people.

The name Elohim, first appears in Genesis 9:11-13.  God declared to Noah that He would never destroy the earth by a flood again. He gave us a rainbow as a reminder of that covenant. God also used the name Elohim when He promised Abraham that Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars in heaven. (Genesis 15:2-6)  Abraham believed in that promise even though he and his wife were childless and well beyond child bearing years.

The greatest covenant God has given to mankind is salvation. Romans 10:9 “ If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Once we make the decision to allow Jesus to be Lord of our life, we are joined into a covenant relationship with God which gives us access to all of His promises.

When God makes a covenant with man, it is an agreement that He will not break. God differs from man in that He does does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever; and He cannot lie.

Numbers 23:19 says,  “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent (change His thinking). Has He said, and will He not do it?  Or has He spoken and will He not make it good and fulfill it?”

  

Hebrews 6:16-18 states, “Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. 17 God also bound Himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that He would never change His mind. 18 So God has given both His promise and His oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie.”

Think for a moment of the importance of these two truths...God can’t lie and He is faithful to His Word. God and His Word can be trusted in and through every circumstance. That statement gives me such a sense of security, knowing I can trust God completely and believe what He says is Truth.

Our faith grows as we begin to believe God’s Truth, His Word. We can depend on His promises and know that for every situation we face in life, God has an anecdote.

There is no situation that we can go through that God does not have an answer. God’s desire is always to be reconciled with His people and to bless us. Even when we feel we are alone God is saying: “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]. Hebrews 13:5

What an awesome promise. Just knowing God is always with me brings enormous peace and comfort.

I encourage you to stretch your faith, believe His Word and allow God to change your life.

Elohim Part 2

Let’s continue with God’s name, Elohim. We know that God created the universe and all that is in it. The most intricate, beautiful, and loved creation of God is you.  We were not only created by God, we were created in the image of God ( Genesis 1:26-27). We have the characteristics of God such as: intellect, reasoning, ability to hear, see, and speak and a personality. God created man to have dominion (rule) over the earth, to be His representative on earth, and to bring God glory ( acknowledge His greatness, give Him honor, and worship Him ).  Psalm 19:1 states “the heavens declare the glory of God.” If the rest of creation is glorifying (honoring, acknowledging, and worshiping) God, how much more should we, who are made in His image, glorify Him!

We are not here by accident. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you [and approved of you as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I consecrated you [to Myself as My own].”  The psalmist, David, spoke of this in Psalm 139: 13,15. “For You formed my innermost parts; You knit me ( together) in my mother’s womb, 15 my frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret, and intricately and skillfully formed.”  

We are created by God.

God, Elohim, the Creator of the universe not only created you, He desires to have a relationship with you. Scripture after scripture in God’s Word that expresses His love for us.

Jeremiah 31:3 “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.”

Isaiah 30:18 “Therefore the Lord waits [expectantly] and longs to be gracious to you, and He waits on high to have compassion on you. The New Living Translation says “So the Lord must wait for you to come to him  so he can show you his love and compassion.”

Stop and think about that statement for a moment.

God, the Creator of the universe, desires and longs to have a relationship with you. He loves us before we are born and He loves us when we are at our worst.

Ephesians 2:4-5 says, “But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much,5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.”

The fact that the Creator of the universe loves and desires a relationship with each of us is overwhelming to me.  I am in awe of the magnitude of God’s love for us.

I encourage you to pray Ephesians 3:19 over yourself.  By that I mean substitute your name (or “I”) in the blanks “ [that ____ may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that ____ may be filled up [throughout my being] to all the fullness of God [so that ____ may have the richest experience of God’s presence in my life, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].”

 

ELOHIM

Today we’re going to proceed with another name of God, Elohim.  This is the first name of God in the bible. The first part of the name, El, describes God’s greatness, glory, power, might and sovereignty. Elohim brings us a new dimension to the power of God. He becomes the God Who creates. Total power and complete creativity make up the name Elohim.   Genesis 1:1-3 states, “in the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned, and created) the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.”

What a picture this scripture paints for us! God took nothing and created everything by speaking a word. I cannot fathom the power that came forth from God. Not only are we in awe of the greatness of His power, but His creativity is really beyond our comprehension. Every living creature and every plant has been uniquely created. Each one is distinct in appearance, function, and purpose. All are intricately entwined together in perfect balance.

It’s impossible to look at nature and not see the beauty of God’s creation.Try closing your eyes for a moment and think of the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. Maybe it’s a sunrise or a sunset, a beautiful ocean, a flower or a mountain. Whatever you have thought of, we, as man, can only attempt to duplicate the beauty of this scene, but God actually created it from nothing.  I’ve asked myself,  “How can this be?” The only answer is because God is our mighty, all powerful Creator.  Hebrews 11:3 tells us, “By faith—by believing God—we know that the world and the stars—in fact, all things—were made at God’s command; and that they were all made from things that can’t be seen.”

Another distinction about the name Elohim is that it is plural. Elohim describes the divine Trinity of the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All three were involved in the creation process. I read this analogy once: God is the Architect, Jesus is the Builder, and Holy Spirit is He Who breathes the life of God into the structure.  Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 1:2-3, John 1:1-3, Colossians 1:16.

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish”. The Living bible says “where there is ignorance of God...” Learning God’s name and His character will bring us to a place of life and intimacy with God.

I pray that we will have revelation and be in awe of Elohim, the mighty Creator.

Revelation 4:11  “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and dominion, for You created all things; by Your will they were [brought into being] and were created.”