Christians Beliefs

 

The Bible explicitly declares the existence of God in its very first sentence without any explanation or introduction. It is taken for granted that the audience well understands and accepts the being of God. The Author does not expect the reader to be numbered among the fools (Psalms 14: 1).

 

Who do men call God?

The appellation “God” is found in practically every part of the world among all people groups. It is used to describe what is “deity” and what is not. Because it is so universal, there is no doubt that the meaning and attributes of such a being would differ from locality to locality. Nonetheless, there is common ground which is the essential definition of who men call God: and that is: 

Any being believed to be (and/or regarded as) 1. supernatural AND 2. worthy of their worship.

 

Every language has a word for such beings because every nation group has beings who satisfy these two requirements. The differences among them come via (a) how many such beings are recognized, (b) the specific identity of the being(s), (c) what other attributes and works are ascribed to the beings. Thus, in the verse above we have the Hebrew word Elohim, which is Theos in Greek, Olorun in Yoruba, Chukwu in Igbo, Ubangiji in Hausa, Ogene in Urhobo, Osa in Bini, Abasi in Calabar, Oritsa in Itsekiri, Ilah in Arabic, etc.

 

Among all these people groups, the names indicated are reserved for deity. However, we should not rush to conclude that these names are always only borne by beings that possess the two qualities mentioned. Sometimes, the names are used for beings who are merely supernatural, or spiritual, or just exalted. The point is that once the exaltation or reverence does not lead to worship, it does not fall within the scope of the “God” we are considering. For example, a person who acknowledges the fact of the supernatural attributes of a being such as an angel or the village river goddess, but does not accept that such a being is worthy of worship, has not taken the being as God even if the name used for the being means “God” in the local language.

 

We should also note that when a group of people worships a deity, it does not mean that every member of that group has experienced that “God” personally. Indeed, most people all over the world who claim to believe in a particular “God” do so solely on the strength of societal/family authority and not based on any personal experience.

 

Why do we worship?

So, why do people worship? The basic reason is to yield to the worship instinct with which we are created. Deep inside every human being, in the depth of his spirit, in the faculty of communion, God has “wired” the worship instinct in us – a touch of the sense of eternity, even though we may not understand it at all, or enough (Eccl. 3: 11). Nevertheless, the instinct is there, waiting for opportunity or reason to express itself. And it ALWAYS expresses itself – even among those who refuse to acknowledge God, they end up creating objects of worship for themselves. The expression of worship happens when provoked by the experience of awe in the knowledge or presence of the being worshipped. When man is overwhelmed (whether positively or negatively), one of the responses is to bow down in worship. With respect to God, what overwhelm man are the attributes and works of the being.

 

Attributes and Works

Of all the attributes that engender awe, the notion of self-existence (or at least pre-existence) is most potent, and of all the works that stimulate awe, that of creation and/or control over creation, especially the manipulation of the elements, is most impressive. Therefore, once a group of people believes (rightly or wrongly) that a being is self-existent and has power over nature (i.e. super natural), they call such a being “God” and worship him (or her or them or it). The tragedy is that most of the beings so worshipped do not possess the pre-creation existence ascribed to them. The beings themselves know that they are not the true God, but because they are impious and enjoy the worship of men, they not only accept the worship, they often demand and compel it by increasing their demonstration of supernatural feats. Pious beings who are able to perform supernatural feats will always reject being worshipped. Rev 22: 8-9; Acts 14: 8-15)

 

Identifying the True God

We have noted that the work of creation is the certain way by which we can identify the true God. But the problem is that every religion claims that it was their “God” who did it. So, it is one group’s word against another unless there can be an objective means of determining who actually was responsible for creation. This would not have been necessary if the different religions were merely referring to the same God under different names. But this is not so! The YHWH (pronounced as Yahweh or Jehovah) of Christians and Jews is not the Allah of the Muslims, and Allah is not the Brahman of Hinduism, and so on. These beings are real and their differences are not just their names but entirely different beings with unique personal attributes. So, we have to rely on the “marks” of creation to know who created.

 

Testimony of Prophecy

Since only a manufacturer knows the full details of the structure, workings and course of a product, (apart from whoever he tells), it stands to reason that the true God is the One who can declare the end from the beginning concerning creation (Isaiah 46: 10). This is technically referred to as prophecy and it is universally admitted from the contents of the writings of the different religions and subsequent developments that the YHWH of the Bible alone has spoken consistently and effectively of the course of creation concerning issues of relevance to His purpose for us eternally. For example, some infidel commentators were so embarrassed and disturbed by the accuracy of the prophecy of Daniel that they said “it must have been written as history after the events had happened”! Yet, Jesus Christ Himself authenticated the prophetic ministry of Daniel (Matthew 24: 15)

 

The point here is that while practically any being can manipulate creation to the measure of the gift of God he has received, thereby manifesting things like miracles, great feats, etc., only the Author of creation can say in advance the course of creation.

 

This is not to be confused with divination which works via one of two ways – (a) Merely parroting received knowledge and presenting it to ignorant people as prophecy (Acts 16: 16-18) or (b) declaring a personal desire, usually evil, and assigning spiritual agents to effect the desire. This is how curses operate and evil covenants are enforced. The fact that a proper deliverance exercise (which binds and casts out the evil spirits), will abort the so-called prophecy shows that it was not prophecy at all. Real prophecy will always be fulfilled eventually.

 

Jehovah is the Creator

As the Bible claims YHWH to be the true God (2 Chronicles 15: 3-4; Jeremiah 10: 10; John 17: 3; 1 John: 20), it also backs it up with the evidence of the Being and works of God.

He is the self-existent, self-conscious personal Being of infinite perfections, who is the origin, the sustainer and the end of all things; who transcends the entire existence created by His will, and at the same time is immanent in every aspect of it.

 

This is the God who is love, existing as three Persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and who has commanded that all creation should kiss the Son (Psalm 2: 7-12) for without a knowledge of the three Persons, there is no knowledge of God at all. (John 5: 23; 1 John 2: 23)

 

Dear reader, is this your God? Do you know Him? He wants you to know Him and enter into His rest. You can do that right now if you will humble yourself before Him, who is your Creator and accept the Son , Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour.

God bless you.

 

 

Our study of the creative work of God in the beginning automatically makes us to address our attention to what was before the beginning – or, to put it more correctly, “What is beyond creation at the beginning” The answer to this great question is what the Bible calls Eternity.

What is Eternity?
The concept of eternity is understood more by the context in which it is used in the Scriptures and less by the academic grammatical meanings of the different words variously translated as eternal, everlasting, forever, etc. Primarily, eternity is the mode of existence where God exists having life in Himself.

For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Isaiah 57: 15

God has always existed in eternity. He still inhabits, and permanently continues to inhabit eternity. He is always in that mode and He alone can be in it, although He has graciously determined that creation will partake with Him certain characteristics of eternity.

Nature of Eternity
To us creatures, the nature of eternity cannot be known in the positive sense of what it is, but only in the negative sense of what it is not.

Essentially, what God did at creation was to create Time, Space and Substance. So, descriptively, we know that eternity is a mode of existence where there is no Time, no Space, and no Substance, but where there is the uncreated life of God which He alone possesses. Later, we shall learn that this life, called zoe, is part of the characteristics of eternity that the grace of God makes available to those who do His will.

We therefore see that the popular notion of eternity as “infinite time” is inappropriate for there is no time at all in eternity – whether finite or infinite. Time was created at the beginning (Titus 1: 2; 2Timothy 1: 9) and God had been existing in eternity beyond the beginning.

The absence of time means there is no notion of before, now, or after in eternity. No notion of older or younger. We cannot even say everything is in the present for since our conception of present is “now” and hence time-based. We agree (with J. Lindsay) that in the eternal form of existence, all the infinite series of varying aspects or processes are in the unity of a single insight.

Therefore, time is not at all a segment of eternity which we have seen as the mode of timeless existence of God.

Space and Substance
Apart from timelessness, the eternal mode is also devoid of space as well as substance. There is no interval in eternity. Neither is there height nor width nor depth. There is no “here” or “there” Absence of substance also means there is no quantity. God, who inhabits eternity cannot be measured or weighed. He has no height or girth. Neither weight nor complexion. Nor does He have content of which He is composed or constituted. He is simply alive, nay, He is Life in absolute perfections. YHWH.

Life in the Eternal Mode
In considering the nature of the eternal mode, we have also necessarily observed the attributes of that mode viz.: (a) self-existent life, (b) incapability of change, (c) limitlessness, and (d) insubstantiality

It is important for us to remember that these attributes of God are practically (experientially) inconceivable to us as humans, Therefore, we often use conceivable language to express our ideas. Thus we end up describing the equivalent time-based attributes rather than the timeless attributes to convey our message. For instance, timeless life cannot be understood by our brains, but since we figure that a timeless being:
• will not have time boundaries, we describe Him as everlasting (unending time)
• if alive, will be incapable of dying, so we call Him immortal

It is therefore, permissible to use such time-based attributes to replace eternal terminologies whenever such exchange will help our understanding, provided that we do not forget that they are not actually synonymous. Indeed, if we always insist on eternal terminology alone, we would get into conceptual quagmire because our human language will not be able to bear the burden. For example, if Psalm 53: 2 is written as “ from eternity to eternity, You are God” we shall enter into the problem of describing eternity as an extensible changing (progressive) mode since the word “to” implies a range in time or space.

But apart from these, what more is there to the eternal mode? Would it not be a rather dull and boring existence? The Scriptures tell us much about this mode and we shall now take a closer look in three major aspects: (a) Eternal values, (b) eternal processes and (c) eternal works.

Before the Foundation of the World
Just as the expression “Foundation of the world” signifies “the Beginning”, the phrase “Before the foundation of the world” is a synonym for eternity which helps us to comprehend timeless eternal events in time-coloured language. Nonetheless, let us never forget that the eternal mode is not past tense since it did not stop at creation but continues as God’s unique and private habitation even as He shares the temporal mode with us.

Eternal Values
These are the primal values which reside in God and characterize His being. It is from these values that all other values are expressed and communicated to creatures. Therefore when all other values expire, these will remain. The eternal values of God are Faith, Hope and Love. (1 Corinthians 13: 13.) All other value will come to an end. The love of God is eternally expressed within the Godhead in the internal relationship of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, God could not have been said to be love (1 John 4: 8) In love, God created by faith making statements of faith and abiding in hope that creation will fulfill its purpose. The will of God is that we too should make these three things our focus even here on earth (2 Corinthians 4: 18)

Eternal Processes
Within the Godhead are three eternal processes.
• Generation (i.e. Begetting) The Father eternally begets the Son (John 3:16)
• Filiation (Being begotten) The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. (John 1:14, 18; Hebrews 11: 17)
• Spiration (Procession) The Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father. (John 15: 26)

These processes are not in time or space. They are eternally on, ever continuing, yet ever completed. They must never at all be compared with any temporal process of similar names. We shall study them deeply in the future issue on the Holy Trinity.

Eternal Works
God is a working God and every Person of the Godhead partakes of divine work (John 5: 17) The works of God exist in both eternity and temporal modes and all of them are known to Him in eternity (Acts 15: 18). The specific works of God which are settled in eternity are:
• Both the Father and the Son existed in a love relationship (John 17: 24)
• God foreknew and predestined the Elect (Ephesians 1: 4; 3:11; Romans 8: 29; 2 Timothy 1: 9)
• The Covenant of Redemption was mapped out (Titus 1:2)

God bless you.

 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

The original Hebrew word used in Genesis 1:1 primarily “means to create out of nothing” This meaning agrees with the general understanding of the idea of creation but it is necessary to be clear about what God did in the beginning and not confuse it with other meanings which the word could have in other situations.

What Is Creation?

The idea of God’s work of creation in the beginning refers to His free act, whereby, according to His sovereign will and for His own glory, brought forth the whole universe, visible and invisible, physical and spiritual without the use of any pre-existing entity, and thereby gave it an existence distinct from His own and yet always dependent on Him.

Certain issues derive from the above declaration which need to be looked at in greater detail:

The first is that creation is temporal and not eternal. God created in the beginning – that is, in the beginning of time-based existence. Time itself was created in the beginning as also were Space and Substance. Therefore, there was no creature in existence before the beginning, Such a privilege is reserved for God alone (Father, Son and the Holy Spirit).

The second issue is that creation was effected freely by God out of His pleasure without any internal or external pressure compelling or necessitating Him (Revelation 4:11). This is actually to be expected since if the act were a necessary act of God (i.e. a necessity imposed on Him), then it would be an eternal act. But there are only three eternal processes and the three exit only in God. These are: generation (begetting), filiation (being begotten) and spiration (proceeding). And none of them has anything to do with creation.

The third issue to consider is that creation was not from absolute nothing – but rather from nothing created. As it is, God actually created from His Will, (Hebrews 11:3) and the will of God is NOT nothing but the source of all things in the universe. If God were to create from anything pre-existing, it means that such a thing would be eternal – and yet not be God. Such would be a contradiction in terms since whatever is eternal would qualify to be God – as Himself or His attributes.

Fourthly, we see that the act of creation resulted in a distinct, yet dependent existence, which we call the Universe (the heavens and the earth). God inhabits, and has always been in, the eternal mode of existence. In the "beginning", He created the temporal mode of existence. The temporal mode is made up of two distinct realms which are the spiritual realm and the physical realm. God created the two realms to be dependent on Him. After creation, God continues to be involved in the affairs of creation, ensuring that all things work according to His will (Ephesians 1:11).

Fifthly, God created as a single act of the triune Godhead. The whole work of creation is not subdivided into sub-tasks among the Persons of the Godhead but the whole work is ascribed fully to each Person from the different perspectives according to their “ministries” by which we know that all things are at once (not sequentially) out of the Father (1Corinthians 8:6; Acts 17:28), through the Son (Colossians 1:16, John 1:3. 1Corinthians 8:6), and in the Holy Spirit (Job 26: 13, Job 33:4, Psalms 104:30).

And finally, we see that the ultimate purpose of creation is God’s glory. (Revelation 4:11). Indeed, no other purpose is worthy.

What Did God Create?

Fundamentally, God created only three basic (or elemental) things, - Time, Space and Substance. We may therefore also say God created Interval (Time and Space) and Content (The Content is also called "Substance", which is either Spirit and Matter). Time is simply interval of duration while Space is interval of distance. The creation of these aspects of “interval” would be meaningless if there were no substance to occupy them as their “content”.

In the general human way of reasoning, space and content are obviously recognized as connected, but until the appreciation of relativity, time was thought to be a parallel factor that merely impinged on space-substance three-dimensional model of created existence. This is one of the reasons why creation is described wholly in terms of time with the adjective "temporal" to contrast it with what is uncreated – eternal. But when it pleased God to reveal the truth of the essential oneness of what He created to us (Deuteronomy 29:29), He rewarded our investigative efforts (Proverbs 25:2) with the appreciation of relativity (Albert Einstein) by which we now know that time cannot realistically be separated from space and substance since it actually forms a time-space continuum with them.

Two Realms Of Existence

It is the nature of the content that defines the "Realm" of temporal existence because time and space remain the same regardless of the content. Therefore, there are two realms of temporal/created existence, the spiritual and the physical. The spiritual realm does not have a different "space" or a different "time" from the physical realm although they make use of these intervals in fundamentally different ways so much so that we say that they belong to different realms. This point will be considered in greater detail under the teaching of "the heavens and the earth" in other posts.

God Did Not Create Life, He Imparted It

God did not create life in the sense of bringing it forth. Life is an eternal attribute of God who alone has life in Himself. (John 5:26) This is why God is I AM THAT I AM. God is by virtue of Himself, unlike us who are because He is. All life is therefore from God, and it is imparted as a gift not newly created. Thereafter, it is transmitted from generation to generation via the procreation provision of God.

One of the most pitiable errors of false science is a misunderstanding of the nature of life and consequently an attempt to search for its beginning and attempt to "recreate" it in the laboratory. Pitiable indeed! Nonetheless, there is an issue relating to life that was actually created – and that is the spirit substance. The spirit is the substantial medium via which God transmits life to all creatures that possess life. Living things are living things because they possess the spirit substance. Matter, whether as particle or as wave, cannot suddenly become "living" regardless of the complexity of its organisation. Life comes only by the impartation of God (i.e. a gift) and the vehicle that receives that gift and propagates it is the spirit. As I'm fond of saying, "regardless of the technical perfection of the anatomy, it is the spirit the makes physiology happen".

Bringing Forth The Entities

When we look at creation, we don't primarily see elemental matter or spirit. What we see are the different beings brought forth by God, which are made up of these elements. The earth, the planets, the moons, the stars, the living organisms, great and small, visible and invisible, are all the work of God. The Scripture is silent on the specifics of "how" these things came to be, but it clearly teaches us that they were brought forth at different times and via different events or processes. These divine actions are simply identified as Let, Make and Form. Though these activities are technically different, it is convenient to simply describe them as the "creative" activities of God.

Similarly, the Scripture does not tell us the precise time of creation - only that it was "in the beginning" and that it was effected over what is described as "six days". Other posts will shed more light on this.