Elohim

Dear Brethren,

This planet earth on which we live is almost totally unaware of the great God who created it.  Even the few nations which claim to be “Christian” have mostly relegated God to a status of myth or archaic illusion. The Church of God recognizes that God is revealed in the very first verse of the Bible.

“In the beginning God [‘Elohim’] created the heaven and the earth.”  (Genesis 1:1)

God reveals the first of his many names as “Elohim,” which means “Strong One,” “Mighty One” or “Powerful One.” Sadly, God’s name is held in derision by the intelligentsia, the courts of law and the American educational elite.  We are most privileged, brethren, to not only know of the True God, but to have a relationship with Him.

“O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!  Who has set thy glory above the heavens!”  (Psalm 8:1)

God reveals Himself to us through the Biblical names and titles He has chosen to help us relate to Him.  God's names represent His attributes, His character, His personality, His reputation, and His nature.  There is no more important goal for a Christian than to know God and become like God.

“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”  (John 17:3)

Even now, we are set aside and protected by the Name of God when we hold it in reverence and obedience.  Jesus prayed:

“And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one, as we are.”  (John 17:11)

Our attaining eternal life is dependent on our knowing God and becoming like Him.  The very purpose of our having been created is it to be in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27).

Sometimes people in the church will say, “God looks just like us.”  There is so much more to the equation than that.  Ask yourself if you possess eternal life.  God does.  What of the strength, power, wisdom, mercy and love of God?  What about His Divinity and Holiness?  Does any man have the Glory of God?  We must conclude that we have a good way to go before we fully resemble the Image of God.

Jesus is the accurate image of His Father, and we are to become perfect – putting on the perfection of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:3).  Of course, in the flesh, we will not complete the task set before us of becoming fully perfect, non-the-less, the perfection of Jesus Christ is our goal to which we must constantly strive to attain.

“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”  (Ephesians 4:13)

In the Book of Revelation God speaks of His Church as having held fast His name and having not denied His name.  (Revelation 2:13, 3:8)  Jesus tells the faithful church brethren who overcome that He will write upon him the name of God (Revelation 3:12).  Understanding what the Bible means by God’s Name is very important for us.

In the Bible, God goes by many Divine names, titles and descriptions.  God’s names reveal Who and What He is.  The first thing that Jesus taught His disciples was God’s Name is Holy (Matthew 6:9).  We, the people of God – want to know all there is to know about God as He is revealed in the Scriptures.  We study about God, and we live His way.

“The fear [respect, honor and reverence] of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that [keep] His commandments.”  (Psalm 111:10)

“These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD [Yahweh] God [Elohim] made the earth and the heavens.”  (Genesis 2:4)

“Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.”  (Jeremiah 10:6)

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Sermon:

"Elohim"