God (Theos) Strongs #2316. This word was taken from Greek culture. Remember the Greek culture were nature worshippers! Idol worshippers! They worshipped creation! The gods of the sun, moon and stars! Their divine worship also included other deities! Much like the Aztecs and Hindu’s do! At Mecca the Muslim’s had 360 Idol’s! One for each day! They took what they thought was their best idol and named him Allah! The Greek word used here for “God”, is singular and masculine! That is correct God has a gender! The word Theos means the true God as opposed to false gods! False gods are man made gods! The famous Greek poet and musician Orpheus called the ancient Greek gods demons! How do you become a demon? It is a choice! Like Lucifer (The Fallen Angel), if you make yourself god and reject the true God you have as a created being worship yourself a created being and you become a demon! Atheism is self worship! You make yourself God by declaring there is no God! Charles Darwin was an atheist and based Evolution on the belief there is no God! The angels (Lucifer, Michael and Gabriel), are created beings so we must not worship them! Lucifer who became Satan in his rebellion was cast out of heaven! Elohim is a Hebrew word for God. It is also singular and masculine! It translates the God of gods! The God of Israel! God is set apart from creation though actively involved in creation! He is the cause for everything and the Trinity pre-existed creation and always was, is and forever will be! So in the Trinity do we have three gods? No! One God with three distinct purposes and functions! Hopefully this word study will help us as we examine each translated word in the context of John 3:16 James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com