Week One - Elohim:Creator
SHARE THIS BLOG
The Series: Studying the Names of God
Week One: Elohim: Creator
Long, long ago when my parents named me, they did so because they liked the name Melissa. They didn’t know the meaning of the name. But you know who did? God. And wow, my name couldn’t have been more fitting for me. Melissa means honeybee; industrious and creative. That’s exactly who I am. I enjoy building things with my hands and being artistic. God knew who I was going to be before I was knit together in my mother’s womb. What’s behind the name matters. Names are important to God. Let’s look and see what God’s name says about Him and why it’s so valuable for us to know.
When we meet someone for the first time, they introduce themselves. God is no different. In Genesis 1:1 God introduces us to himself, and he uses the name Elohim. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created…” The Hebrew word used here for God is Elohim. God reveals his different names for us to learn more about his character. His names are his spiritual hallmarks. Attached to each name is a set of qualities and characteristics.
What does the name Elohim teach us about God? Elohim means strong one, sovereignty. The first book of the Bible is Genesis, which means beginning. So, in the book of beginnings, God shows himself as the supreme creator. He existed before any created thing, including time and space. He was before the beginning. He started the beginning. First impressions matter and they are what people remember most and that is quite the first impression. Elohim is letting us know He is distinct from His creation or transcendent. He is above or outside of creation. Wow! If that doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what will, but I am going to try, buckle up! Let’s take a closer look at what Elohim created.
Here's some mind-boggling things to think about. Earth’s beaches contain roughly 5,000 billion grains of sand. Yet, God’s thoughts about you outnumber the sands. (Psalm 139:17-18). Let’s talk about the stars in the sky. Psalm 147:4 NLT says, “He counts the stars and calls them all by name.” Answersingenesis.org says, “The total number of stars in the observable universe is estimated to be 10 to the 25th (1 followed by 25 zeros). Nobody knows the actual number. “Let us now try to visualize the above-mentioned number of stars (i.e., 10 to the 25). No human being lives long enough to count such a large number, so we will use a computer, one of the fastest ones available. It can do 10,000 million calculations in one second, which is extremely fast! Even at this great speed it would require 30 million years of non-stop counting to count the stars, but no computer could last if that. God has foretold the result of such an endeavor through His prophet Jeremiah; the stars are, to all intents and purposes, countless, says the Bible, just like the sand grains on the seashore.”
Psalm 8:3-6 reads, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?” How awesome is Elohim? Not only can He count the stars and name them. He created them out of nothing! And did you catch that? Elohim cares for you!
If we want to know who we are we need to know our creator, Elohim. Genesis 1:26a says, “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness”. There are a couple things to note here. First, Elohim said, “Let us”. Who is He talking to? The name Elohim gives us a clue as it is plural. This is a prelude to the trinity. There is only one God, but He has three distinct personalities. Tony Evans described the trinity this way. Imagine a twisted pretzel. It has three distinct holes in it, but it is tied together by the same dough. In the same way the Trinity has three distinct personalities but is tied together with the same divine nature.
Genesis 1:2 speaks of the spirit of God as He hovers over the waters. The Hebrew word for spirit is translated wind or breath. This word is used in Psalm 33:6, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” This is showing the Holy Spirit present and at work during creation. John 1:1 takes us back to the beginning and says the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word is Jesus. Here we have all persons of the trinity accounted for in the beginning, Elohim.
Elohim is a personal God. He speaks, He observes, He calls, He walks in the garden. He personally interacts with his creation. He wanted to make mankind in His image. Only man was made with the capacity to mirror God. Elohim made us this way so He could draw others to himself through us. His fingerprints are on all of creation. Nothing in existence was created without him, that includes you and me. Psalm 139:14 states, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” That means you are a wonderful creation, a masterpiece. Elohim made breath taking oceans, forests, countless animals, and galaxies. After all those amazing creations something was still missing. Elohim’s creation was not complete until He made man. YOU are His crowning glory.
Elohim is a purposeful God. He made the earth and everything in it for His children. He made his children for a purpose as well. Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.” Jeremiah 29:11 tells of God’s plans for our lives, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Elohim created a plan for your life before the foundations of the earth were made!
We serve a big God. He is everywhere, all knowing, transcends time and space. Yet, He loves you. He adores you. He longs for an intimate relationship with you. Therefore, Elohim created you. Isaiah 43:7 NLT says, “Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them.” He made you so through you He would be glorified. Matthew 5:16 clearly says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” We may not understand why Elohim has created us and called us into his story. Isaiah 55:8-9 says why we won’t always understand. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your way, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Do you know what Elohim’s plan is for your life? Do you have a direction? If not, ask him to reveal it to you. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8.
Spend some time in Elohim’s creation. Take in all the wonder wherever you are. Maybe you are on a beach and can scoop some sand into your hand. Can you count the grains? Go outside during the night and gaze at the stars. How vast is the night sky? How awesome is Elohim? Let Him know. We will never be able to fully understand Elohim. Who would want to serve a God
that we could understand? What would be the point? There would be no awe, there would be no purpose. Friends, we serve a God who demands awe and wonder, just look around.
As amazing as all of creation is remember you are Elohim’s showpiece. We bear his image. What a privilege. He knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). He knows your name and He calls you daughter. Psalms 139:16 says, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
What name were you given? What name have you made for yourself? When people talk of you, who do they say you are? Who would you like people to say you are? Do you need a new name? God provided a new name for many in the Bible. He did this so they would know who they are.
Names are important and as we have seen they are important to God. Ask Elohim to bring to fruition who He you to be. Here are some names God calls you already.
He says you are:
Chosen: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Jeremiah 1:4-5
Accepted: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Romans 15:7
Loved: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Righteous: “God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
His Child: “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--” John1:12
Forgiven: “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13
Whatever you are facing in life, whether big or small. Elohim the creator cares for every detail. Is anything too hard for the Lord? (Gen. 18:14). He can create solutions out of nothing. He doesn’t need raw materials or ideas that have already been thought of. His name says it all. He is Elohim, the strong creator.