God Loves Me - Names of God - Elohim

When you know that the Bible is a progressive revelation of God and His work with man, you can began to have a better understanding of God. You must look at God from the whole Word of God to better know Him and understand His ways.

Below are three things that we need to know about God:

The first thing that one needs to consider is “God is love.” If I start with the truth “God is love” – I John 4:8 & 16-and believe that God loves me unconditionally and wants the absolute best for me, I interpret the Bible with faith growing. If I start with anything less than that, such as, “God loves me, but.. “, doubt and unbelief are always present.

Recently, I was thinking about “God loves me’ and the words, truth and trust, came into my mind. After further study and meditation, I found that trust is defined as to flee for protection, to take refuge, to confide in, and to put confidence in. I realized that unless I know the truth about God and His ways I have a hard time trusting Him. Truth and trust are foundational to faith and healing because you must know the truth about God before you can have real faith in Him.

If a person does not know the truth about God and Jesus Christ, trust which is the basis for faith, will not be present. Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Heb 11:6) When you find truth in God and His Word, the truth sets you free.

The second thing is concerning the sovereignty of God and His spoken Word. Yes, God is sovereign in the fact that God created the world, created a man in His own image, told the man to multiply and fill the earth, and have dominion over everything He had created except other men. God even gave man a choice – the tree of life which would produce life or the tree of good and evil which would produce death. However, God has already spoken every thing that we need for life. Obedience produces life and disobedience produces death. God's Word has already established His sovereignty and man's responsibility.

God’s word is His will. John 1:1-5 tells us that Jesus is the Word of God. All things are made through Jesus. When you think about the Old and New Testament, you realized that through Jesus all things were created. In Genesis 1:29 – 30 God says that He has given man every kind of seed that they need for food. Each seed is able to reproduce itself. In Luke 8:11 it says that the seed is the Word of God. God has given every word we need for life.

The third thing that will help us know more about God comes from some of His names in Genesis. In the Bible a name said a great deal about a person or thing; in other words, a name denotes the character or nature of the person or thing. In Genesis there are four major names that let us know a great deal about the person and character of God. These names tell us exactly what God wants us to know about Himself. In Psalms 91:1-2 we find these four names are used.

Ps 91:1-2
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.
Thank you to Andrew Jukes, Types in Genesis, for insight into the names of God.

1. God = Elohim – Genesis 1:1
a. One is in covenant-relationship
b. Love
c. Creator
d. Planner

In Genesis 1:1-2:4 God reveals for us His first name, Elohim, one who is in covenant-relationship. Elohim tells that God is love. God’s very Being is love. As one can see, Elohim is the only name used for God in Genesis 1; therefore, it must be very important. Elohim also mean One who is in covenant-relations. As you read through the Bible, God is often developing a covenant with a person or groups of people i.e. Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Israel, and Gentiles. Elohim is a plural noun used for the only true God. This plural noun always has with it singular verbs and adjectives to describe the One true God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This name contains the mystery of the Trinity. Elohim is formed from the Hebrew word, “Alah” “to swear” and describes One who stands in a covenant-relationship, which is ratified by an oath. (Heb 6:13-20) God does not lie. (Num 23:19) This covenant-relationship, which the name “Elohim” expresses, is first a relationship within God. He is one, but in Him also, as His name declares, there is plurality; and in this plurality He has certain relationships, both in and with Himself, which because He is God, can never be dissolved or broken. From the beginning God is “Elohim”, in covenant-union with Himself forever more. The covenant-relationship starts within God. The covenant-relationship flows from within God to His creation. Because He is Elohim, though His creatures fail Him and fall, He will never leave us, nor forsake us. The whole first chapter of Genesis shows us One, who because He is “Elohim”, in virtue of His own nature and covenant-relationship to His creation, can never leave it, fallen as it is, till all again is very good. God sees a dark world and through His Word restores it. God cannot rest until His creature is restored and recreated. The fact that God is “Elohim”, that is the One who keeps covenant, (I Kings 8:23), is the foundation of His creature’s hope in every extremity. He is my God and refuge and strength. (Ps 46:1) He will never leave us or forsake us. (Gen 28:13 & 15) (Heb 13:5) Our hope in God is and shall be God forever. (Rev 21: 3 & 4)

(Covenant is an agreement between two parties. In the Bible there is the Old Covenant, based on law, and New Covenant, based on grace. God made many covenants with different men/people in the Bible. The following tells about the New Covenant (our covenant): Jeremiah 31:31- 34; Heb 8:8-13; Heb 10:12-25)