PROOF THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD
Most people believe there is a god, but they disagree on who he is. Islam says Allah is God. Hindus say there are many gods. Christians believe the God of the Bible is the true and only God. How can we be sure we are right? How can we prove to others that our God is the only true God?
PROOF FROM THE BIBLE: The Bible tells us that there is only one God and He is the one revealed in the Bible (James 2:19; Isaiah 45:2-12; Deuteronomy 4:39; 6:4-5; Jeremiah 10:10; Psalm 83:18; John 17:3; Mark 12:32). For us who believe the Bible is God’s Word (we’ll prove that in an upcoming blog), that is enough proof, but what do we tell those who don’t see the Bible as the final authority from God? How do we show them that our God is the only true God?
PROOF FROM REASON: Common sense tells us that there can be multiple supernatural powers, like angels and demons, but there can only be one God. By the very definition of the word ‘God,’ which means sovereign over everything, there can only be one God, because if there were two or more than none would have final, total control and neither would qualify as ‘God.’ If there are 2 or more gods than neither of them is really ‘God.’ Therefore, the gods of all the world religions cannot all be God, only one can be sovereign over all. No religion can claim to have more than one God, for if they do they admit that none of them are sovereign over everything. The only religions that are monotheistic (one god) come from Abraham: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
PROOF FROM COMPARISON: We can agree there can only one true God. But how can we know which one is really God? Let’s compare them to what we’ve seen about the God who exists and created everything. Which one meets the characteristics we’ve seen the true God has?
CHRISTIANITY. The God of the Bible is a personal, sovereign God who created the world for man, the height of His creation, to enjoy. He wants to have a relationship with man. He has set absolutes of right and wrong. He is a just God who will punish evil but also a God of love who cares for His people. He has a wonderful future destiny for the people He created. He created man with a capacity and a need to find and connect with the Supreme Power of the universe – God.
JUDAISM has the same God as revealed in the Bible, but they only use the Old Testament. They reject Jesus as the Messiah, yet Jesus clearly claims to be God. Therefore, they only accept part of the true God.
ISLAM worships Allah, but Allah is not the same as our God. He is entirely different. Allah was one of many gods worshiped by Muhammad’s Quraysh tribe. Allah was one of the names for the moon god who was married to the sun goddess. The Muslim flag today features a crescent moon that still recognizes this fact. In fact, Abraham was called out of Ur (meaning “moon-city”) in order to follow God’s call (Genesis 11:27-32). Abraham had to leave the place of moon worship in order to follow the true God. The god Allah was an Arabian idol that sat in the Kabah with many other idols until Mohammed made Allah his number one god.
Some say Allah and our God are the same, just with different names. However, they have entirely different characteristics. Our God is knowable and personal while Allah is unknowable and impersonal. Our God cannot change or go against His nature. For example, our God cannot lie. Allah can do anything he wants with no limitations. He is capricious and changes his mind. He has no feelings towards man and doesn’t personally enter human history. Allah provides no savior or intercessor. He shows no grace or mercy. Those who follow him are on their own and not assured of his help or acceptance. He does not come near meeting the qualifications of being the true God of love, justice, care and truth. Man was created with a capacity for love, joy, truth and peace. Only a God who had these qualities would create mankind with them, and Allah doesn’t have them.
HINDUISM has many, many gods. Anything and everything can be a god. Brahma is impersonal, formless, abstract and without attributes. These do not even come close to a sovereign God of love and justice. This could not be our loving, caring, sovereign creator God.
NEW AGE focuses on man himself as god, the belief being each person has a higher consciousness within themselves, a part of the god force is within all of us. This falls short of God being all-sovereign as revealed in His creation.
BUDDHISM does not believe in a personal god. Buddha never claimed to be god, but taught there is a god-like force in everyone.
CONFUCIANISM has little belief in the supernatural and so focuses on social and political structure in this life. It teaches there is an ethical principle of order which is impersonal but guides all things.
So, we can see that only the God of the Bible is personal, sovereign, caring, just and loving. None of the other gods come anywhere near to those characteristics. Yet many people follow them because there is a counterfeit supernatural power behind them. That power is Satan, the one who wants to be worshipped instead of God. He puts his power behind these other religions and receives their worship (1 Corinthians 10:20-21; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; Ephesians 2:1-3; Revelation 20:3). Make no mistake, there is power behind the other gods, but it is from Satan and his demons, not from our God.
What difference would it make in your life if there were several true Gods?
What, to you, is the strongest argument that our God is the only true God?
Pray now and ask God to bring someone into your life this week that you can talk to about the only true God.
The next blog in this series is about how we know the Bible is God’s Word. For more proof see my book “Why We Believe” at https://www.christiantrainingonline.org/download/india/Books/english_translations/Why-We-Believe.pdf
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling)
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