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.