Elohim

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

            When I was a little boy, my father would take me out at night to look at the stars. He introduced me to the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, now to find the North Star, Polaris. We also would find Cassiopeia, the “W” in the sky and the hunter, Orion and his belt of stars in a row. Then I got a planetarium which would light the ceiling of my room with the various constellations. To this day I enjoy going up North and stand on a dock away from city lights. Oh how awesome is the Milk Way, the shooting stars and then occasionally the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights dancing across the sky.  

            These are the same stars and consolations that Adam and Eve got to see, Abraham when he was told to count the stars and the shepherds on the hillside of Bethlehem, and the Wisemen from the East.   What is interesting is how in the book of Job the Lord would speak of the constellations. (Job 9:9 NIV) He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. (Job 38:31 NIV) "Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? 

            The Psalmist says: (Psa 147:4 NIV) He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. I don’t know what God called the one star, but it is the bright red star in the right shoulder of Orion.   My father called it “Betelgeuse” (Beetle Juice) but I understand the preferred pronunciation is “bet el gooz.”   What is amazing about that star is how big it really is! If you took the sun out of its place in the sky and replaced it with Betelgeuse, you would find that our sun, the planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and their orbits would all fit inside the star! Isn’t it hard to grasp! This is just a little part of what our God did as the creator God. There are stars even bigger that Betelgeuse would fit inside.  

            God had a purpose in all he made.   The Bible makes it clear: (Psa 19:1 NIV) The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. He would use the sun, moon and stars (Gen 1:14-15 NIV) And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, {15} and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so.

            I love the simple phrase, “Let there be light,” God spoke and it was done. Light itself is so amazing. You send visible light through a spectrum and you get the wonders of the rainbow.   But there is so much more. I tell my classes, when I hear God saying, let there be light, I think of pop corn. Now they are wondering how do get there in my thought. But when you look at the bigger picture…beyond the violet is ultraviolet, x-rays and gamma rays. But go the other direction, beyond the red and you find, infra-red and microwaves. And I love micro-wave popcorn. Our God is awesome, may we not make him too small.

            But I also was given a microscope, to look at the little things God has made. I find it wondrous what is found in the wonders of the baby, the little cells, but even more amazing the DNA.   The wonders of how that keeps the story of each one of us. But the truth is, (Psa 139:14 NIV) I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

            As we live in this world, we need to recognize we do have a creator. From looking at his creation we do know that he is powerful and not human, but wisdom beyond what man can develop. Rom 1:20 NIV) For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. What the Creator has found is a rejection of his wondrous workings and his very existence.    In fact people take more pleasure in the creation than in the creator. (Rom 1:25 NIV) They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator. Just think if people spent as much time with God as with his creation.   Do you spend two hours in fishing boat and complain about a one hour church service? Do you spend a day deer hunting and won’t serve the creator that much? Do you spend more time hitting a golf ball that you spend in a pew during a week?   Do we need to recognize what message we are sending to our creator?   (Isa 1:3 NIV) The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand." Your dog knows if you are his master.   But do you recognize him as your creator. The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes says: (Eccl 12:1 NIV) Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them"—

            When I buy electronics, I get a book how to use the product. We just put up ceiling fans in our house. The manual with it came with these warnings: Warning: Do not insert foreign objects between the rotating fan. Warning: Failure to disconnect power supply prior to installation may result in serious injury or death. Warning: Failure to align slot in ball with tab may result in serious injury or death. We came with a manual also.  It is called the Bible.   It is our manufactures advice how to live in his creation. It comes with warnings: Do not curse. Do not murder. Do Not Commit Adultery. The warning: “The Wages of sin is death.”   (Gal 3:10 NIV) "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."

            What is amazing is what God did, before he created the world, before he made the heavens and the earth, before he said, let there be light. When speaking about how our God would fix his people who had not followed his manual, we hear his plan: 1 Peter 1:18   For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Who can know the mind of the Lord? Who can understand how in his love not only made this awesome world for us to experience, but also in his planning, before the creation, planned his Son to redeem the sinners in his creation, with the blood of his Son!   With such a wisdom, with such planning, there special promise for his people: (Eph 1:4 NIV)  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  We shouldn’t be surprised that our God who made each one of us, gave us breath and life, knew his plans, before the first day of creation. 

            Is God done with his creation? Yes and no. The world was completed as he planned. But there is still some work of creation still going on. That is what goes on in the heart of the sinner. Remember, do not kill, do not commit adultery. King David through away God’s operating manual. He lived life the way he wanted. He made choices without thinking about the consequences. He was thinking only about himself. So it is with so many sins. 

            When God called David to repentance through the prophet Nathan, King David had a special prayer. What is unique, he takes the name for God Elohim and the word for create bara from Genesis 1:1. His prayer is:   (Psa 51:10-12 NIV) Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. {11} Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. {12} Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. What a prayer for each of us. Then there is this powerful picture of what has happened in us, through faith in Jesus Christ: (2 Cor 5:17 NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

            Our God is an awesome God,. Amen.