The True God is the Creator
We read in the Bible, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them” (Genesis 1:27-28). God created man the highest and noblest of His creation, “The Lord God . . . breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). He expects man to serve and praise Him. “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11). Therefore, His creatures should worship Him, and Him only, “Worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).
God made this earth beautiful and productive. The herbs and the fruit of the trees were for man’s food (Genesis 1:29). The true God also planted a most beautiful garden called the Garden of Eden; and put the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, into it (Genesis 2:8).
Sin Entered In
God instructed Adam and Eve not to eat fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (v. 17). Instead of obeying His Word, they were allured by Satan to eat of the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3). Sin and transgression entered into the world. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). By disobeying God, Adam and Eve lost the fellowship they had enjoyed with Him. Therefore, they had to leave the Garden of Eden. Now Adam had to toil with sweat on his face for his daily bread, and man has had to ever since (Genesis 3).
Adam and his posterity needed a Redeemer because sin had entered into this world. “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Psalm 14:3). “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
A Saviour Promised
Our God is a loving God. He did not leave man without a hope. With His punishment for their transgression, He also promised a Redeemer (Genesis 3:15). From that time on man brought sacrifices of lambs and goats. Abel brought the first such offering pleasing to the true God (Genesis 4:4). These sacrifices pointed to Jesus, “The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He came from His Father’s glory and died on the cross to pay for our sins. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus made the final sacrifice by shedding His own blood for our sins (Hebrews 9:12, 26). We must look in faith to Him. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Does God Wish Man Should Worship Him?
God instilled the desire for worship in man’s heart. We cannot see God. Jesus says: “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24). No man has ever seen Him (1 John 4:12). But with the eye of faith we may behold Him, “Seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). Our Heavenly Father seeks worshipers that worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). Jesus says: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). In 2 Kings 17:36 we read, “The LORD . . . him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.” In the Psalms we read much of praising the Lord, of serving and worshiping Him, and of bringing sacrifice to Him. Psalm 103 verses 1 and 2 reads, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”
Does God Warn Against and Forbid Idol Worship?
He says: “I am the Lord thy God . . . Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:2-5). “Thou shalt worship no other god” (Exodus 34:14). The apostle Paul says: “We ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device” (Acts 17:29). In Philippians 2:9-11 we read, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Difference Between the True God and Idols
The Apostle Paul says: “We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods” (1 Corinthians 8:4, 5). “But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them” (Psalm 115:3-8). The prophet Jeremiah in chapter 32 verses 17-19 says “Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee . . . the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name; Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”
When Israel sinned and idol worship had been introduced, God called His prophet Elijah to preach against idol worship. In 1 Kings the 18th chapter we have the account where the true prophet Elijah, challenged four hundred fifty prophets of their idol, Baal. He said the God who would answer by fire was to be recognized as the “True God.” The four hundred fifty prophets of Baal called on their god from morning until evening, “But there was no voice nor any that answered.”
When Elijah prayed, “Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench” (vv. 37-38).
When the heathen Philistines had carried the Ark of God away, which represented the presence of God, they placed the ark into their idol temple, the temple of Dagon. In the “morning, behold Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left of him” (1 Samuel 5:4).
Call Upon the True God
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psalms 51:17). “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31). “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39). “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). Do you hear Him knocking on your heart’s door? Will you let Him in? Please do.