God: the Almighty Spirit

Published in Pasugo, Nov 1998

"Yet for us there is only one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him."

Although serving and worshiping God is man's inherent obligation and the very reason religion exists, some people think it useless to debate who among the countless gods being revered today is the true God. In this day of political correctness, many actually believe that we are all worshiping the true God under different names. Even among those who have accepted the Bible as the basis of their faith, there is no consensus. In fact, many times,debates are held between different churches trying to resolve who the true God is. Is the true God a Trinity, composed of three persons - the Father,Son, and Holy Spirit, each being coequal with one another? Or is Jesus Christ God Himself?

God the Father

The problem lies with the refusal of the people to carefully consider the words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who clearly taught who the true Godis:
"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (Jn. 17:3, New King James Version)

The only true God is the One Christ refers to in this verse by the pronoun"You." Christ, who never lied nor used words of deception, did not say "Me"or "Us." In fact, there is neither a single verse in the Bible in which Christ said that He is the true God nor is there a single verse that mentions the words or the concepts of the Trinity, "God the Son," or"God-man." These are but inventions that must be rejected (Dt. 12:32; I Cor.4:6; Rev. 22:18-19).

Furthermore, if we study the context of Christ's statement, "You" refers to the Father:

"Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:"Father...."(Jn. 17:1, NKJV)

Therefore, according to the Son of God the only true God is the Father. Any god worshiped other that the Father is not the true God. The Father is only the true God taught by the disciples of Christ, the apostles:

"Yet for us there is only one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him." (I Cor. 8:6, Ibid.)

The true God even of the prophets is also the Father:

"Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?" (Mal. 2:10, Ibid.)

While there is disunity among all Christian-professing churches, there is an amazing unity among the messengers of God who recorded God's words over a span of thousands of years that the Father is the only true God. Those who believe in the Trinity or the deity of Jesus Christ have to contend with Jesus Christ, the apostles, and the prophets.

The Almighty Spirit

When Jesus Christ taught about the true God. He said that "God is Spirit"(Jn. 4:24, Ibid.). In another instance shortly after His resurrection,Christ even explained what it means to be spirit in state of being:

"Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." (Lk.24:39, Ibid.)
Hence, God who is spirit does not have flesh and bones and is invisible:

"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, behonor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (I Tim. 1:17, Ibid.)
God Himself, furthermore, revealed what king of spirit He is:

"Also God said to him: 'I am God Almighty'." (Gen. 35:11, Ibid.)

God, who is "omnipotent", has no equal. There is none greater than He for He is "above all, and through all, and in you all" (Eph. 4:6, Ibid.). Thus,God is also "omnipresent"; His power is boundless and nothing is impossible for Him (Mk. 10:27). He is also "omniscient" or all-knowing; nothing can behidden from Him (I Jn. 3:20).

God's existence

In this age of unbelief and skepticism, it is refreshing that there are still many who believe in the existence of a Creator. For these people, the idea that all life spontaneously generated from a primordial soup of chemicals and amino acids and then evolved into more complex forms of life is simply untenable, defying all known scientific laws. Yet, the atheist sinsist that God does not exist, while the agnostics say the certainty of His existence cannot be definitively prove. What these people fail to realize isthat God is manifested and seen through His power:

"Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." (Rom. 1:19-20, NKJV)

God's creations

Although God is invisible, we are completely certain of His existence because He has revealed Himself through His creations, such as the heavens and everything in them:

"The heavens keep telling the wonders of God, and the skies declare what he has done. Each day informs the following day; each night announces to the next. They don't speak a word, and there is never the sound of a voice. Yet their message reaches all the earth, and it travels around the world." (Ps.19:1-4, Contemporary English Version)

All life came from God and is in God's hands:

"If you want to learn, then go and ask the wild animals and the birds, the flowers and the fish. Any of them can tell you what the Lord has done. Every living creature is in the hands of God." (Job. 12:7-10, Ibid.)

The earth in which we live was also created by God:

"The Lord alone is God! He created the heavens and made a world where people can live, instead of creating an empty desert. The Lord alone is God;there are no others." (Is. 45-18, Ibid.)

Man's obligation

In the face of so much evidence, what kind of person can declare with so much confidence that God does not exist or that we cannot know with certainty of His existence?

"Only a fool would say, 'There is no God!' People like that are worthless;they are heartless and cruel and never do right." (Ps. 14:1, Ibid.)

Those who don't believe in God have to realize that "...every house is built by someone, and God is really the one who built everything" (Heb. 3:4, Ibid.). In scientific jargon, this is called the law of cause and effect.Simply stated, there can be no effect without a cause. Those who are foolish enough to ask what caused God should realize that He is the exception:

"Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God." (Ps. (0:1-2, NKJV)
God alone has neither a beginning nor end and since He is our Creator, what is our obligation to Him?

"Shout praises to the Lord, everyone on this earth. Be joyful and sing as you come in to worship the Lord!

"You know the Lord is God! He created us, and we belong to Him; we are his people, the sheep in his pasture." (Ps. 100:1-3, CEV)