In our politically correct culture, it is almost inadmissible to argue for the existence of God. The obvious reason being that if you admit that there is a real God, then you would need to admit the existence of good and evil, right and wrong. We may even be held accountable. Surely, we haven’t sunk that low!
What is heretical in this PC, culturally sensitive world, is to claim that there are no other gods but the God of the Bible! To claim that all other so-called gods are fictional or delusional. To claim that they have no real existence. It is the ultimate heresy. Outrageous says BBC and CNN. Cancel their membership says the United Nations. Surely, that’s hate speech, says the New York Times!
There is only one of him, emerges from Genesis 1 and the rest of the Bible. If God has always existed, the uncaused cause, if God made everything that is not-God, then logically, there is only one of him. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is One”, Deuteronomy 6:1. “In the beginning God”, Genesis 1:1.
Ancient cultures believed in various gods, the god of fire, the god of fertility, the god of love, the god of war, the god of rain. It was commonplace to worship and sacrifice to different gods, deities and spirits. Today, nothing has changed. There are many cultures in Asia and Africa that worship and sacrifice to the ancestors. Hindus believe in millions of gods. Oprah speaks of “the force of light; the Christ light; Dharma; Rah; Mother of the Universe; Oh, nameless spirit that is not done with us”.
In stark contrast to both ancient and modern cultures, the Bible affirms that there is only one God, one reality, one creator and one judge of all the earth.
“You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it; the seas and all that is in them; and the host of heaven worships you”, Nehemiah 9:6
God is the creator of everything that is non-God. God is the creator of all reality. Though there are other physical entities, though there are other spiritual entities, God is in a total class of his own. There is only one of him.
“For I am God, and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me”, Isaiah 46:9.
“I am the Lord and there is no other, beside me there is no God”, Isaiah 45:5.
Paul in the New Testament confirms this Old Testament concept with crystal clear clarity. Paul not only affirms that there is only one God, but that all other gods and idols are nothing. They are vapours, imaginations, fantasies, “We know that an idol has no real existence, and that there is no God but one”, 1 Corinthians 8:4. It is quite probable that demonic forces can use so- called gods to deceive people. I have no doubt that many millions are deceived by Satan, thinking that their god or idol is real. Demonic forces we understand. Demonic forces masquerading in the clothes of gods, spirits and ideologies we understand. But we do not understand or accept that there are alternative gods to the God of the Bible. As Paul says, “We know that an idol has no real existence”. They have no existence in reality. They are no more than a myth, a far-fetched legend, a product of Disney or Netflix! You see, it is not as if the God of the Bible is the strongest or biggest or greatest of all the pantheon of gods. No, he is the only God. There is no other. He is one of a kind. There is only one of him.
Believe this, as I do, and Radio 702 will have you for breakfast and your unbelieving family will cancel lunch!!
The last thing we can learn about God in Genesis 1, is that God is made up of three persons. By the time of the New Testament, there is a clear doctrine of the Trinity. One God made up of three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
It is not yet clear or precise in Genesis, but there are clear hints and whispers of this pivotal truth of the Bible. Yes, even here in the first chapter of Genesis! “Then God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”, Genesis 1:26. It does not say, let me make man in my image. No, let us make man in our image. Third person plural. This verse doesn’t prove the Trinity, but it clearly indicates that God is more than one person. It indicates a plurality in the Godhead. That God mysteriously, is made up of more than one person.
But even before Genesis 1:26, we see a clear whisper of the plurality of the Godhead in the first three verses of Genesis 1.
Verse 1: “In the beginning God” – most probably a reference to God the Father
Verse 2: “The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” – most obviously a reference to the Holy Spirit.
Verse 3: “And God said…” – quite probably a reference to the Son. Confused! This one needs a bit of careful thought!
Remember the Gospel of John. John commences his Gospel in a similar way to Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him”, John 1:1 – 3. Well of course, now that you mention it, the agent of creation in Genesis 1 was in fact God’s voice, God’s word, “And God said…and it was so”, “And God said…and it was so”, “And God said…and it was so”. So the agent of creation in Genesis 1 was the word of God. And then John drops a bombshell, by telling us, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…the only Son from the Father”, John 1:14. Which means, almost unbelievably, that the word “says” in Genesis 1 is in fact a reference to the Son. Jesus, the Word is the means by which God creates in Genesis 1. Jesus the word, is the agent of creation, which is precisely what John tells us in John 1:1 – 3.
So there we have it, in the first three verses of the Bible, Genesis 1:1 – 3, we have a clear hint to the three persons of the Trinity. Our God is one, and he is made up of three persons.
Now is not the time to go into the mysterious and wonderful doctrine of the Trinity, one of the most glorious doctrines in the Bible. But just to encourage you, if you are a follower of Jesus, then miracle of all miracles, all three persons were involved in your salvation. God the Father planned your salvation before the creation of the world. God the Son accomplished your salvation two thousand years ago on the cross. And God the Spirit applied your salvation in the here and now. How extraordinary! What a miracle! All three persons of the Trinity intimately involved in your salvation!!
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”, John 1: 14.