GOD IS ELOHIM – The God With No Equal - Pastor Tyronne Gross | Midtown Church Elk Grove

Good morning, Midtown.

How you guys doing this morning?

Blessed?

To our first time guests.

My name is Tyrone.

I'm one of the pastors here.

And I'm truly glad that you are here with us today.

I don't believe it's by accident.

I believe God has you here for a reason, and I pray that you've been blessed so far and you can feel his presence with us.

Amen.

I'm gonna be continuing in our new sermon series.

It's titled God Is, a series about the character and nature of God.

If you were here last Sunday, um Pastor Krista, she gave an on-time, an amazing word, and she spoke on the title, God is the Great I Am.

But before I jump into this message, excuse me, just give me a second.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

I want to ask you a question.

I want to ask you a question.

And the question is when you hear the word God, what comes to mind?

When you hear with the word God, what comes to mind?

Because for some people, when they hear God, they think of judge, they think of rule maker, they think of God is so distant.

They some people think anger.

But for others, when they hear the word God, they think father, they think comforter, they think hope, they think refuge.

Amen.

The truth is, what we believe God is, it shapes how we live our lives.

It shapes everything about our lives, what we believe about God.

It shapes how we pray.

It shapes how we worship, it shapes how we handle suffering, it shapes how we see ourselves, it shapes how we respond when things don't go as planned.

Amen.

But most people, they don't have a problem with believing in God.

That's not the the question is, it's not, the question isn't do you believe in God?

The question is which God are you believing in?

Amen.

Because if we're not careful, if we, all of us, if we're not careful, we all have a tendency to create our own version of God that we're comfortable with.

We we have the God of culture, the the God of our politics, the God of our social media, the God that we created in our own image, or the God who has revealed himself through scripture.

Because throughout the Bible, God reveals himself through his names, and names matter.

Amen.

In fact, I learned this lesson um years ago um through my little sister.

Now, uh I I think you know, it's been some years, I might have shared this with you, but you know, I I don't know what what my parents were thinking when um they were getting ready to have my little sister.

Um, because apparently when my mom was pregnant, they went to um four-year-old Tyrone and said, What should we name her?

You know, just like any um intelligent, mature, thoughtful four-year-old, I said, name her Tyrone.

And so they named her Tyranika.

Like the Nika made it any better, like Tyrone.

But that's what we called her, that was her name.

And I didn't realize my sister, she lives in Southern California, and I remember I went to go visit her, and we were hanging out with her friends, and you know, throughout the day they were like Ty, and I'm looking like y'all don't know me.

Why are you calling me Ty?

My name's Tyrone, but then I noticed she was responding, and I was like, Oh, you go by Ty, because we've never called her that.

But, you know, I it makes sense.

Tyranica, that's rough.

I love that's that's rough.

That's that's my baby, but you know, names carry meanings.

But in the Bible, names matter, they matter, names reveal identity, names tell us who someone is, and when it comes to God, his name reveals his character, his power, his nature, and his relationship with his people.

Amen.

The title of the message this morning is God is Elohim, the God with no equal.

The God with no equal.

See, Elohim is one of the foundational names of God.

Maybe you've heard it before, maybe this is the first time you you're hearing the name Elohim, but either way, the question is the same.

What does Elohim tell us about who God is?

What does it tell us about who God is?

Because Genesis isn't just telling us how the world began, Genesis is revealing who God is.

The one true God, the God with no equal, the God whose power is so great that he created everything that exists.

Before God reveals himself as provider, before he reveals himself as healer, and before he reveals himself as shepherd, scripture first reveals him as Elohim, the one true God whose power and authority is above everything else.

Before Genesis tells us about people, before Genesis tells us about sin, before Genesis tells us about the Israelites, Genesis tells us about God.

Because if we don't know who God is, we'll never fully understand who we are.

So here's the big idea that I want us to see today.

Elohim is the one true God who speaks into chaos, defines our identity, and pursues his people.

If you have your Bibles, I want us to turn to Genesis chapter one, or you can follow along on the screen or your U verse.

I'm going to start reading at verse number one.

It says, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.

God saw the light, was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

God called the light day and he called the darkness, he called the darkness night.

And there was evening and there was morning the first day.

Let us pray.

Father God, I thank you for this day.

I thank you for this opportunity to stand before your people, Lord.

Use me, speak through me.

Allow this message to grab hold of everyone who's here and allow everyone to get what they need from your word today, Lord.

We ask all these things in your mighty name we pray.

Amen.

So, some biblical background before I go any further.

Genesis is the first book of the Bible.

Moses is writing to a people who had just been delivered from slavery, and now they're learning about who God is.

See, Israel, um, they just came out of Egypt, and Egypt was filled with um many gods.

Like they had a they had a God for everything, the God for the Son, uh the God for the now, the God of fraternity God, a um lifestock God, the power, a God for this, a God for that.

They everything was a God for them.

So when when Moses opens up Genesis with in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

He was making a declaration, letting the Israelites know the God who delivered you from Egypt is not a God among many.

He is Elohim, the one true God, no one greater, no one stronger, no one above him, no rival, no competitor, no equal.

Amen.

The name Elohim appears more than 30 times in the opening chapters of Genesis and 2,500 times throughout scripture.

The name emphasizes God's power and ultimate authority over all things.

Creation itself was a demonstration of his unmatched power.

Genesis 1 isn't telling us that God created everything, it is reminding us that everything else is creation and he is creator.

See, they had a world filled with so many false gods and competing voices.

So Moses was making this one declaration that there may be many things that you guys were worshiping, there may be many things people trust, there may be many things that people are calling God, but there is only one Elohim, and guess what?

That's still true today.

See, we may not have uh we may not bow down the statues, but we are still building our lives on things that were never meant to sit on the thrones of our hearts, like success, money, approval, self.

See, the the names have changed, but the idols haven't.

But here's the question: if Elohim is really the one true God, if there is no one greater, stronger, or higher than him, then what difference does that make on Monday morning?

What difference does that make when life gets hard?

What difference does it make when you're facing something that you can't control?

Let's be honest.

Most people don't struggle believing God created the world.

The struggle is, can God handle my world?

Can God handle my marriage?

Can he handle uh my family?

Can he handle this diagnosis that we just received?

Can he handle my finances?

Can he handle my future?

Can God handle the things that keep me up at night?

What does Elohim have to do with the realities that we are facing right now?

Genesis answers that question.

Because Genesis reveals three things about Elohim.

He speaks into chaos, he defines our identity, and he pursues his people.

Amen?

There's only one true God.

He alone has the power to rule over chaos, the authority to define who we are, and the love to pursue us when we wander away.

Here's point number one if you're following along or if you're taking notes.

Elohim speaks into chaos.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface in the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.

Have you ever walked into a kid's room and immediately asked, What happened here?

What happened here?

Like, you know, in the morning it was all clean, but now there's toys everywhere, there's clothes everywhere, there is there's something sticking on the wall.

Like, what is that?

Some of y'all know what I'm talking about.

It's like you you walk into uh uh the room and it's Genesis verse 2.

The earth was formless and empty, and darkness is over the surface of the deep.

Formless, empty, chaos everywhere.

But the amazing thing about Genesis is God isn't intimidated with the mess.

See, point verse 2, it points out, it paint, it paints this picture of disorder.

Emptiness, darkness, and chaos.

The Hebrew phrase for formless and empty is describes something that is functioning the way it wasn't intended to function.

But I want us to notice that Moses doesn't tell us that that um God was worried, he doesn't tell us that God was nervous, he doesn't tell us that God was trying to figure it out because before there was light, guess what?

God was there.

Before there was order, God was there.

Before there was hope, God was there, and before there was a solution, God was there.

See, the Spirit of God was already hovering over the waters before God ever spoke.

His presence was already there.

God wasn't reacting, God was preparing.

He was preparing.

And as I was preparing this message, I I I I couldn't help but think back on our Elk Grove story.

Because this principle is so clear.

Because some of you guys know it, some of you know it.

When we started off, we had this playbook.

You do this, you do that, and then this is gonna happen, and then you do that, and then this will happen.

But but we didn't have all the answers.

There that we didn't know COVID was gonna happen.

We we didn't know that we were gonna have to switch locations, you know, two or three times within a year and a half.

We didn't know that we were gonna face certain challenges.

At times it was easier to say, Lord, I give up, I quit.

There were moments when things didn't make sense, but looking back now, I realized that God wasn't reacting, God was preparing.

Amen.

See, sometimes what feels like chaos is actually preparation.

I'm gonna say it for y'all on the back.

Sometimes what feels like chaos is actually preparation because Elohim isn't competing with chaos, he rules over it.

He rules over it.

Some of us, we walked into the gym this morning, what um verse 2, a struggle in marriage, a diagnosis that we just received, or a financial burden, we're a broken relationship, we're stuck in a season uh grief right now.

We can't figure things out, don't know but my future look out.

But for some of us, we walk around like everything is good on the outside.

Oh, I'm blessed and what?

Highly favored.

But inside, it feels formless, empty, and chaotic.

The good news of Genesis isn't that chaos doesn't exist.

The good news is that chaos doesn't have the final say, amen.

Because God has all God will always have the final word, the final say, because he is in control.

See, some of us keep asking God to remove the chaos, but sometimes God uses chaos to reveal himself, he uses it to reveal itself because you know you will never know that God is a provider until you there's a need, right?

You will never know that God is a healer until something is broken.

You will never know that God is a deliverer until you're trapped in something.

Come on, somebody.

See, you will never understand who Elohim is until you get in a situation that's bigger than you and you know it's not bigger than him.

See, sometimes God uses chaos to reveal himself.

Then the moment we've been waiting for arrives in the text.

It says, Let there be light.

Let there be light.

Notice God didn't fight the darkness, God didn't negotiate with darkness, God simply spoke.

Notice God didn't need more resources, God didn't need more time, He didn't, He didn't need any help, He simply spoke.

Because when Elohim speaks, chaos must respond.

Darkness didn't have a choice.

Disorder has no authority, chaos does not have the final say.

When Elohim speaks, things change.

Can you say things change?

Because Elohim doesn't run from chaos, he rules over it.

He rules over it.

And once God establishes order, he begins to establish identity.

Genesis doesn't just tell us about where we came from, it tells us who we are.

And in a world with what that wants to tell us who we are, Elohim reminds us that only he, the one true God, gets to define his people.

Here's point number two Elohim defines our identity.

Verse 26 says, Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea, and the birds in the sky, over the livestock, and in all the wild animals, and over the creatures that are moved along the ground.

So God created mankind in his image, and in the image of God he created them, male and female, he created them.

The moment God brings order to creation, the focus of the story begins to shift.

See, Genesis is no longer answering the question, who created the world?

Now Genesis is beginning to answer, who are we?

Who are we?

Because once Elohim brings order, he begins revealing who we truly are.

I want us to notice something.

For the first five days, God creates what?

Light, sky, land, sun, moon, stars, plants, animals.

And after every day, God declares what?

It's good.

Can you say it's good?

But when we arrive to day six, something changes.

The language slows down, the the tone changes, the conversation changes.

And for the first time we hear God say, Let us make mankind in our image.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit, all working together, the Trinity.

Amen.

Not because God needed help, but because God wanted us to see something.

Humanity receives special attention.

Sounds special.

I'm different.

Yes, I was just like.

We receive special attention because humanity wasn't created to be God, humanity was created to reflect God.

See, that makes us unique.

I don't know who needs to hear this, but you're not an accident, you're not a mistake, and you're not random, amen.

You were intentionally created by Elohim.

See, before anyone else has an opinion about you, God had already spoken over your life.

Before culture can give you a label, God has already given you an identity because he is Elohim, and he alone has authority to define his people.

See, the problem is a lot of people spend their lives believing labels that God never gave them.

I've seen this firsthand.

Some of you guys know we have our organization, TCF, and over the years we've worked with thousands of students.

Currently, we work with about 8,000 students a day.

And I've lost count of how many kids have gone through our program carrying labels.

But about 20 years ago, right here in Elkgrove, we started noticing something.

There was too many young people that were being defined by the labels instead of their potential.

You know, troublemaker, um, at risk, behind, um, problem child, not good enough, not smart enough, not talented enough, not um likely to succeed.

But I thank God for uh my bro, Mr.

Amy, that's Pastor Otis' older brother.

At this 20 years ago, he was a teacher at Edward Harris Middle School.

And now he's in the district office.

And his title in a district office is an unofficial, he's the principal of principals.

He's a blessing to so many families here in this community.

Amen.

But 20 years ago, he he saw something bigger.

He saw these young people who didn't need another label.

So what he did was he said, you know what, don't send them to the office.

I need you to just send them over to me.

Just send them to me.

And so then he invited me, a young NFL player and the 49er Pastor O and others, to come speak life into these students.

And what started as a few conversations began the beginning of our AIM mentoring program.

And eventually God used that to help shape part of our organization.

I tell you this because before society labeled them, God had already spoken over them, created, loved, known, valued, called.

Because guess what?

Labels are temporary.

It's temporary.

See, the identity given by Elohim is eternal.

Culture will change, opinions will change, trends will change, labels will change, but the word of Elohim never changes.

I want us to imagine a mirror.

Um and I want you to think about what makes a mirror valuable.

What makes it valuable?

It's not the glass.

It's not the frame that it may be in.

It's what it reflects.

It's what it reflects.

Because if a mirror only reflected itself, it would be useless.

The mirror isn't the point.

What it reflects is the point.

And if you were looking in the mirror, it's us, it's you.

Amen.

We were created to reflect God's character, not physically, but spiritually.

So what does that mean to bear God's image?

See, that means we are created to reflect his love, his mercy, compassion, his justice, his holiness, his grace.

I'm gonna say it again: his love, his mercy, compassion, justice, holiness, and grace.

God intended his character to be seen through his people.

That's why we're not supposed to blend in.

We're supposed to reflect him.

The culture says, find yourself, define yourself.

It'll tell you create your own truth.

Because you know, be who you want to be, who be who you are, what are all those other things.

We hear it all the time.

But Genesis says something very different.

You don't create identity, you receive it from the one who created you.

You were created by God.

You were created by God, you were created for God, you were created to represent God, amen.

Which means your life had meaning before you ever accomplished anything.

See, identity isn't something you invent, identity is something that you receive.

Some of you are struggling.

You know, the struggle isn't the chaos.

That's not the struggle.

The struggle uh is the direction.

You're asking, um, you know, what am I supposed to do with my life?

What's next?

Where, you know, where am I right now?

In Genesis, it reminds us that purpose begins with knowing whose you are before discovering what you're called to do.

Amen.

Because when you know who created you, you can understand why you were created.

Let me say that to you like let me let me paint you a picture.

Have you ever bought furniture from IKEA?

Right?

Yeah, you you guys know what I'm talking about.

You you get the box, you open it up, and there's hundreds of pieces, it seems like thousands of pieces.

You have boards, you have screws, you have parts everywhere.

And at first, it looks like chaos.

It looks like I don't, I don't know what this is, but then you find the instructions, and suddenly every piece makes sense.

See?

The problem isn't the pieces, the problem was trying to understand the pieces without the designer's plan.

See, uh, a lot of people spend their lives trying to figure themselves out apart from God, and you're wondering why you're trying to figure yourself out.

Y'all quiet right there.

The creator determines your purpose.

If Elohim created you, then Elohim defines your purpose.

Have you ever noticed how hard people work to try to prove themselves, prove that they matter?

Oh, if I just get a little bit more money, a little more success, if I could gain some more followers, if I could just accomplish a few more things.

See, some of us we check social media, but we're not checking social media for information, we're checking social media for affirmation.

We post something, we we um we we're checking for the likes, we're checking for the comments, we're checking for who viewed the stories, why.

Because deep down, we are all asking a question.

Do I matter?

Do I matter?

Genesis answers that question before you ever post a picture.

Before anyone liked you, Elohim loved you.

Before anyone affirmed you, Elohim created you in his image.

Genesis says something radical.

You matter before you achieved anything.

You matter before you achieve anything.

The world says your value comes from what you do, but our value comes from the image that we bear.

Not because we earned approval.

We can't earn it.

It's a gift that we receive, amen.

Elohim says your value comes from whose image you bear.

But here's the problem: sin damaged the reflection.

We were created to reflect God perfectly, but sin distorted the image.

The mirror was still there, but it no longer reflected what it was intended to reflect.

Which raises a question.

If sin distorts the image, if you humanity rejected God's the image that we bear, would Elohim abandon his people?

And that question we find answered in John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

Point number three is Elohim pursues his people.

Verse 1 says, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

He was God in the beginning, through him all things were made.

Without him nothing was made that has been made.

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

That light shines in darkness, and that darkness has not overcome it.

The question I just asked was if sin distorted the image, if humanity rejected the God whose image we bear, would Elohim abandon his people?

And John answers that question, and the answer is no.

The one true God will always pursue us.

Thousands of years after Genesis was written, John opens up the gospel with these words.

In the beginning, in the beginning, that wasn't accidental.

John wants to connect Genesis 1 with Jesus.

So it says, and Genesis begins with in the beginning was God.

John begins with in the beginning was the word.

John is telling us the God who spoke in Genesis is the God who showed up in the gospels.

Amen?

The God who said, Let there be light, is the same God who walked the earth.

The God who spoke creation into existence, stepped into his creation, and that's Jesus.

John says, Through him all things were made.

That means Jesus wasn't a backup plan.

Jesus wasn't plan B.

That means Jesus wasn't an emergency response to sin.

Jesus was there from the beginning.

Before creation, Jesus was there.

Amen.

Before humanity fell, Jesus was there.

Before sin entered into the world, Jesus was there.

Before you were born, guess what?

Jesus was there.

Before your greatest mistakes, guess what?

Jesus was there.

Before you were stuck in that dark season, Jesus was there.

Before you knew you needed a savior, God already had a plan for it.

Because Jesus was there.

Amen.

That's what I love about this.

God wasn't reacting, God was preparing.

Sounds familiar.

We saw it in creation.

We saw it in chaos.

And now we see it in redemption.

God wasn't surprised with humanity's failure.

God had already had a rescue plan.

Before humanity needed a savior, God had already made provisions for one.

Let me ask you this.

How many of you grew up with this saying right here?

I brought you into this world.

As soon as I said that, some of you start getting flashbacks, like, ooh, ah, like.

Yeah.

Y'all got nervous, like, is my my parents here?

But let me tell you something.

When I look at my boys, that's not the first thing that comes to mind.

I don't look at Tyrone and Tyrese and think that, and that's nothing against my parents.

That's that's no shade on anyone.

But I don't think, you know, I brought you into this world.

I'm gonna take you out, I brought you into this world, and you know, good luck.

That's not what I think when I look at my boys.

When I look at them, I know I stay.

I know I guide.

I know that that I protect, I know that I correct.

I know that even when I'm not sure how I keep showing up.

Why?

Because that's what fathers do.

And if an imperfect father like myself can keep showing up, how much more does our heavenly father?

That's the gospel.

That's the gospel.

Elohim did not abandon his people.

He pursued, he stayed, and he redeemed.

Adam and Eve, they sinned.

God came looking.

After humanity, humanity rebelled, God kept pursuing.

Generation after generation, God stayed faithful.

And ultimately, the creator stepped into his creation.

The God who formed humanity came to save humanity.

The God who spoke light into darkness, he stepped into our darkness himself.

The God who created life laid his life for us.

That's Jesus.

Paul says in Colossians 1, 15 and 17, it says, The Son is the image of the invisible God.

The Son is the image of the invisible God.

The same Elohim revealed in Genesis is fully revealed in Jesus.

The God would no equal step into human history.

I want us to notice the connection.

In Genesis, we were created in God's image, and in Colossians, Jesus is the image of God.

The image we failed to reflect perfectly, Jesus reflected perfectly.

The life we couldn't live, Jesus lived.

The debt that we couldn't pay, Jesus paid.

The death that you and I deserve, Jesus died.

And the victory that we couldn't earn, Jesus secured.

Some people know God as creator.

Some know God as a higher power.

Some know God as distant, some know God as a force.

But maybe that's where someone is today.

But God didn't come so you would simply know about Him.

He came so that you could know Him, not just as creator, but as Father, not just as Maker, but Savior, not just as Elohim, but Redeemer.

The God who created us refused to leave us.

That is really the gospel, family.

That's the gospel.

He loves you right where you are right now.

He loves you right now.

The same God who spoke light into darkness is still speaking today.

The same God who brought order into chaos is still bringing order today.

The same God who defines our identity is still defining his people today.

Amen.

And that God refuses to abandon his people.

So as I get ready to close, here's my final thought before we take communion.

We started today with, and I asked, Who is Elohim?

And Genesis gave us the answer.

Elohim is the God who speaks into chaos.

He's the God who defines our identity, and he's the God who pursues his people.

But here's what I don't want us to miss.

Every one of those truths, it points to Jesus.

It points to Jesus.

Jesus is the one who restores our identity.

Jesus is the one who pursues us, and he pursued us all the way to the cross.

And that's why communion matters.

Make your family.

When you step back and you look at this entire story, here's what's amazing.

The God who spoke into chaos is the same God who created us in his image and is the same God who pursued us when his image was broken when it was broken.

Amen.

Elohim didn't just create the world, he created you, he pursued you, and he stayed.

So here's the question I want you to carry with you this week.

Where do you need Elohim most right now?

Who do you need him most right now?

Do you need him to speak into your chaos?

Do you need him to remind you who you are?

Or do you need to stop running and let him pursue your heart?

Because the God with no equal is still doing all three.