One God
There is only one God who is the creator and sustainer of the universe who has
provided humankind with a revelation of Himself through the natural world (Romans 1:
20) “for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead;
so that they are without excuse”: and through His Son Jesus Christ (John 1:18) “no
man has seen God at any time, the only begotten, Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, He has declared Him”. The Bible does not seek to prove the existence of
God, it simply affirms His existence by declaring “in the beginning God” (Genesis 1:1).
Many people say that there is only one God and some people call Him by different
names, yet they say it doesn’t matter what one calls Him. But you have to wonder, if
this is true, how come many people get so upset when people pray in the name of
Jesus Christ. They don’t mind you praying to God, but they will persecute anyone
who calls on Jesus.
God confirms that there are many gods, in the Ten Commandments, He tells us that
He is a jealous God (Exodus 20:1-7), which says “and God spoke all these words
saying, I am the Lord Yahweh your God, which have brought you out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You
shall not make to you any graven image or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You
shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them; for the Lord Yahweh your God
am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and
fourth generation of them that hate Me”.
LORD when written in the Bible in all capital letters is referring to
Yahweh/Yehovah/Jehovah. One of the most important names of God in the Old
Testament is Yahweh, or Jehovah, from the verse “to be”. Meaning simply but
profoundly, “He is”. His full name is found in Exodus 3:14 and means “I am who I am”
or I will be who I will be”. The four letter Hebrew word YHWH was the name by which
God revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush. This bush was a vivid symbol of
the inexhaustible dynamism of God who burns like a fire with love and righteousness,
yet remains the same and never diminishes.
There are many pagan or foreign gods mentioned in the Bible. Many times the Lord
Yahweh spoke to Israel to put away their foreign gods. Jacob said to his household,
and to all that were with him, put away the strange gods that are among you, and be
clean, and change your garments. And they gave to Jacob all the strange gods
which were in their hand” (Genesis 35:2,4).
In Deuteronomy 32:15-18 the Bible says “but Jeshurun waxen fat, and kicked you
and waxen fat, you are grown thick, you are covered with fatness; then he forsook
God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked
Him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they Him to anger.
They sacrificed to devils, not to
God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your
fathers feared (reverence) not. Of the Rock that fathered you, you are unmindful,
and have forgotten God that formed you”.
Joshua makes a profound statement in Joshua 24:14-15, he made a commitment, he
said “now therefore fear the Lord Yahweh, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth;
and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and
in Egypt, and serve you the Lord Yahweh. And if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord
Yahweh, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your
fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in
whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord Yahweh”.
Just like Joshua, we have to make a commitment who we will serve, whether the god
of this world (the devil) or the true and living God (I John 3:7-8,10, 14-18) “little
children, let no man deceive you; he that does righteousness is righteous, even as
He is righteous. He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the
beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy
the works of the devil. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of
the devil; whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not
his brother. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the
brethren. He that loves not his brother abides in death. Whosoever hates his
brother, is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in
him. hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us; and
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso has this worlds good, and
see his brother have need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how
dwells the love of God in him. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in
tongue; but in deed and in truth”.
There is only one true and living God, but there are many false gods. The devil
proclaimed that he would be god (Isaiah 14:12-15) “how are you fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning? How are you cut down to the ground, which did
weaken the nations? For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will
exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High. Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the
pit”.
Israel was warned to beware of false gods, even before they went into the promise
land (Deuteronomy 12:29-31) “when the Lord Yahweh your God shall cut off the
nations from before you, where you go to posses them, and you succeed them, and
dwell in their land. Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them,
after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you enquire not after their
gods, saying, how did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. You
shall not do so to the Lord Yahweh your God; for every abomination to the Lord
Yahweh, which He hates have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their
daughters, they have burned in the fire to their gods”.
In the Hindu religion, some say that they worship over a million different gods.
Mankind was made in the image and likeness of God and was given dominion over
the works of God’s own hands, but Adam rebelled and forfeited his dominion over to
the devil and the devil became the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:1-4) “therefore
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not. But have
renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling
the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves
to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to
them that are lost. In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which
believe not, less the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine to them”.
Just like the devil defeated Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, he is still trying to
trick people into thinking that God doesn’t care for them, trying to get them to turn
away from God, or believe that any god will get them to heaven. Don’t be fooled.
The Bible shows us the character of God Almighty, and we need to examine which
god we are talking about.
God is Spirit; God is invisible, He became visible in human form in the person of
Jesus Christ.
God is changeless; God Himself remains unchanged (Hebrew 1:11-12) “they shall
perish; but You remain and they all shall wax old as does a garment. And as a
vesture shall You fold them up, and they shall be changed, but You are the same,
and Your years shall not fail”. And in Hebrews 13:8 it says “Jesus Christ the same
yesterday, and today, and forever”.
God is all powerful; God’s power is unlimited. Jesus said “all things are possible with
God”. God creates and sustains all things, yet He never grown weary (Isaiah 40:27-
31).
God is all knowing; God possesses all knowledge (Romans 11:33,36) “O the depth of
the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His
judgments, and His ways past finding out. For of Him, and through Him, and to Him,
are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen”.
God is eternal. Eternity refers to God’s relationship to time. Past, present, and
future are known equally to Him (II Peter 3:8, Revelation 1:8).
God is holiness. Holiness refers to God’s moral excellence. Being holy, God
demands holiness in His own children. And what He demands He supplies. Holiness
is God’s gift that we receive by faith through His Son Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:24).
God is righteousness. The righteousness of God refers to His moral laws laid down
to guide the conduct of humankind, as in the Ten Commandments. Righteousness
also refers to God’s administration of justice.
God is love. Love is the essential, self-giving nature of God. God loved and gave
(John 3:16). God loved and suffered, proving His love by giving His all on the cross
for the redemption of humanity. God in His love, wills good for all His creatures. God
Almighty is love, yet other gods practice hatred.
God is truth. Truth is magnified in an absolute way through God’s revelation. God is
truth, yet other gods say you can lie if it is for your own good.
There are pagan gods. The false gods and idols worshipped by people during Bible
times, especially the false gods of Egypt, Mesopotania, Assyria and Babylon,
Canaan, Greece, and Rome. The pagan civilizations of Bible times worshiped many
gods. They had male, and female deities, high and low gods, assemblies of gods,
priests and priestesses. Most of the people of the ancient world were polytheistic;
they worshiped more than one god. The people worshiped these gods in the form of
idols. This practice is called idolatry. The nation of Israel, however, was forbidden to
make graven images of the one true and living God, whom they worshiped.
In Athens people erected a monument some time before the apostle Paul’s visit to the
city. After arriving in Athens, Paul argued daily in the synagogue and marketplace on
behalf of Jesus and the resurrection. When he was taken to the Areopagus for
further questioning, by the curious Athenians, Paul saw that in addition to the
monuments erected in honor of named gods, there was an altar dedicated “to the
unknown god” (Acts 17:23-28) “for as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found
an altar with this inscription. To the unknown god, whom therefore you ignorantly
worship, Him declare I to you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing
that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temple made with hands. Neither is
worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed any thing, seeing He gives to all
life, and breath, and all things. And has made of one blood all nations of men for to
dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed,
and the bounds of their habitation. That they should seek the Lord, if haply they
might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us. For in
Him we live, and move, and have our being as certain also of your poets have said,
for we are also His offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we
ought not to think that the Godhead is like to gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art
and man’s device”.
The Athenians apparently wanted to make sure they missed no gods in their
worship. Paul seized this opportunity to tell them about the God who make Himself
known in Jesus Christ.
We too have to take every opportunity to tell others about the true and living God.
After all, we are ambassadors for Christ. Remember that “God does not want any to
perish, but that all would come to the knowledge of the truth” (II Peter 3:9).
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: April 13, 2010
There is only one God who is the creator and sustainer of the universe who has
provided humankind with a revelation of Himself through the natural world (Romans 1:
20) “for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead;
so that they are without excuse”: and through His Son Jesus Christ (John 1:18) “no
man has seen God at any time, the only begotten, Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, He has declared Him”. The Bible does not seek to prove the existence of
God, it simply affirms His existence by declaring “in the beginning God” (Genesis 1:1).
Many people say that there is only one God and some people call Him by different
names, yet they say it doesn’t matter what one calls Him. But you have to wonder, if
this is true, how come many people get so upset when people pray in the name of
Jesus Christ. They don’t mind you praying to God, but they will persecute anyone
who calls on Jesus.
God confirms that there are many gods, in the Ten Commandments, He tells us that
He is a jealous God (Exodus 20:1-7), which says “and God spoke all these words
saying, I am the Lord Yahweh your God, which have brought you out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You
shall not make to you any graven image or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You
shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them; for the Lord Yahweh your God
am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and
fourth generation of them that hate Me”.
LORD when written in the Bible in all capital letters is referring to
Yahweh/Yehovah/Jehovah. One of the most important names of God in the Old
Testament is Yahweh, or Jehovah, from the verse “to be”. Meaning simply but
profoundly, “He is”. His full name is found in Exodus 3:14 and means “I am who I am”
or I will be who I will be”. The four letter Hebrew word YHWH was the name by which
God revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush. This bush was a vivid symbol of
the inexhaustible dynamism of God who burns like a fire with love and righteousness,
yet remains the same and never diminishes.
There are many pagan or foreign gods mentioned in the Bible. Many times the Lord
Yahweh spoke to Israel to put away their foreign gods. Jacob said to his household,
and to all that were with him, put away the strange gods that are among you, and be
clean, and change your garments. And they gave to Jacob all the strange gods
which were in their hand” (Genesis 35:2,4).
In Deuteronomy 32:15-18 the Bible says “but Jeshurun waxen fat, and kicked you
and waxen fat, you are grown thick, you are covered with fatness; then he forsook
God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked
Him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they Him to anger.
They sacrificed to devils, not to
God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your
fathers feared (reverence) not. Of the Rock that fathered you, you are unmindful,
and have forgotten God that formed you”.
Joshua makes a profound statement in Joshua 24:14-15, he made a commitment, he
said “now therefore fear the Lord Yahweh, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth;
and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and
in Egypt, and serve you the Lord Yahweh. And if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord
Yahweh, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your
fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in
whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord Yahweh”.
Just like Joshua, we have to make a commitment who we will serve, whether the god
of this world (the devil) or the true and living God (I John 3:7-8,10, 14-18) “little
children, let no man deceive you; he that does righteousness is righteous, even as
He is righteous. He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the
beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy
the works of the devil. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of
the devil; whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not
his brother. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the
brethren. He that loves not his brother abides in death. Whosoever hates his
brother, is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in
him. hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us; and
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso has this worlds good, and
see his brother have need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how
dwells the love of God in him. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in
tongue; but in deed and in truth”.
There is only one true and living God, but there are many false gods. The devil
proclaimed that he would be god (Isaiah 14:12-15) “how are you fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning? How are you cut down to the ground, which did
weaken the nations? For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will
exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High. Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the
pit”.
Israel was warned to beware of false gods, even before they went into the promise
land (Deuteronomy 12:29-31) “when the Lord Yahweh your God shall cut off the
nations from before you, where you go to posses them, and you succeed them, and
dwell in their land. Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them,
after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you enquire not after their
gods, saying, how did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. You
shall not do so to the Lord Yahweh your God; for every abomination to the Lord
Yahweh, which He hates have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their
daughters, they have burned in the fire to their gods”.
In the Hindu religion, some say that they worship over a million different gods.
Mankind was made in the image and likeness of God and was given dominion over
the works of God’s own hands, but Adam rebelled and forfeited his dominion over to
the devil and the devil became the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:1-4) “therefore
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not. But have
renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling
the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves
to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to
them that are lost. In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which
believe not, less the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine to them”.
Just like the devil defeated Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, he is still trying to
trick people into thinking that God doesn’t care for them, trying to get them to turn
away from God, or believe that any god will get them to heaven. Don’t be fooled.
The Bible shows us the character of God Almighty, and we need to examine which
god we are talking about.
God is Spirit; God is invisible, He became visible in human form in the person of
Jesus Christ.
God is changeless; God Himself remains unchanged (Hebrew 1:11-12) “they shall
perish; but You remain and they all shall wax old as does a garment. And as a
vesture shall You fold them up, and they shall be changed, but You are the same,
and Your years shall not fail”. And in Hebrews 13:8 it says “Jesus Christ the same
yesterday, and today, and forever”.
God is all powerful; God’s power is unlimited. Jesus said “all things are possible with
God”. God creates and sustains all things, yet He never grown weary (Isaiah 40:27-
31).
God is all knowing; God possesses all knowledge (Romans 11:33,36) “O the depth of
the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His
judgments, and His ways past finding out. For of Him, and through Him, and to Him,
are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen”.
God is eternal. Eternity refers to God’s relationship to time. Past, present, and
future are known equally to Him (II Peter 3:8, Revelation 1:8).
God is holiness. Holiness refers to God’s moral excellence. Being holy, God
demands holiness in His own children. And what He demands He supplies. Holiness
is God’s gift that we receive by faith through His Son Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:24).
God is righteousness. The righteousness of God refers to His moral laws laid down
to guide the conduct of humankind, as in the Ten Commandments. Righteousness
also refers to God’s administration of justice.
God is love. Love is the essential, self-giving nature of God. God loved and gave
(John 3:16). God loved and suffered, proving His love by giving His all on the cross
for the redemption of humanity. God in His love, wills good for all His creatures. God
Almighty is love, yet other gods practice hatred.
God is truth. Truth is magnified in an absolute way through God’s revelation. God is
truth, yet other gods say you can lie if it is for your own good.
There are pagan gods. The false gods and idols worshipped by people during Bible
times, especially the false gods of Egypt, Mesopotania, Assyria and Babylon,
Canaan, Greece, and Rome. The pagan civilizations of Bible times worshiped many
gods. They had male, and female deities, high and low gods, assemblies of gods,
priests and priestesses. Most of the people of the ancient world were polytheistic;
they worshiped more than one god. The people worshiped these gods in the form of
idols. This practice is called idolatry. The nation of Israel, however, was forbidden to
make graven images of the one true and living God, whom they worshiped.
In Athens people erected a monument some time before the apostle Paul’s visit to the
city. After arriving in Athens, Paul argued daily in the synagogue and marketplace on
behalf of Jesus and the resurrection. When he was taken to the Areopagus for
further questioning, by the curious Athenians, Paul saw that in addition to the
monuments erected in honor of named gods, there was an altar dedicated “to the
unknown god” (Acts 17:23-28) “for as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found
an altar with this inscription. To the unknown god, whom therefore you ignorantly
worship, Him declare I to you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing
that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temple made with hands. Neither is
worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed any thing, seeing He gives to all
life, and breath, and all things. And has made of one blood all nations of men for to
dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed,
and the bounds of their habitation. That they should seek the Lord, if haply they
might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us. For in
Him we live, and move, and have our being as certain also of your poets have said,
for we are also His offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we
ought not to think that the Godhead is like to gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art
and man’s device”.
The Athenians apparently wanted to make sure they missed no gods in their
worship. Paul seized this opportunity to tell them about the God who make Himself
known in Jesus Christ.
We too have to take every opportunity to tell others about the true and living God.
After all, we are ambassadors for Christ. Remember that “God does not want any to
perish, but that all would come to the knowledge of the truth” (II Peter 3:9).
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: April 13, 2010
