The Truth about God (Part 1)

There can only be "one true God."  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in the Bible is He.

July 17, 2021

"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

John 17:3

Part 1

Today:  He Is “the Only True God!”

What is the truth about God in the New Testament?  The name that we use for “God,” used the most in the New Testament, comes from the Greek word “theos.”  The use of this word teaches us several truths about the God of the Bible.  We will look at these truths over the next few days.

 

– We can see that God is the “only true God.”

Sadly, our world has many wrong ideas about God.  The false mystical religion of pantheism says that “god is all, all is god.”  They believe somehow that the god force is in everything everywhere.  This religion tries to make you and me god along with the plants, trees, and rocks.  This belief is an inferior substitute for the truth.

There is also the false religion of polytheism that emphasizes many gods.  They believe in gods that control everything.  If you need something done, you go with the sacrifice to that particular god that controls whatever you need.  The Egyptians had more than 2000 gods in their catalog, the Hindus 3 million.  Indeed man has been worshiping and serving the creature rather than the Creator.

And then there is philosophical naturalism to which many in humanity cling.

“In philosophy, naturalism is the idea or belief that only natural laws and forces (as opposed to supernatural or spiritual ones) operate in the universe.”[1]

In this way of thinking, there is no God, Creator, or anyone else who runs the universe.  It is only the fickle “mother nature” in charge of everything.  Of course, in this false view, sin is irrelevant, and there is no loving Savior.

When Jesus speaks of “the only true God,” this biblical thought is the opposite of these false religions and philosophies.

Not only is God “the only true God,” but he is the One that loves the truth.  Interestingly, in both the Greek and Roman ideas of god, their gods are seen as men in that lying and other sinful acts are not a problem for them.  Obviously, these are false gods.  They are so unlike the God of the Scriptures.

God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19).

“He that hath received His testimony hath set to His seal that God is true” (John 3:33).

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).

The God of the Bible can never lie to us because He is trustworthy.  His very nature makes falsehood in Him impossible.

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2).

Our God says He loves us and that He has provided His Son as our only Savior from sin.  He did not lie when He said these things, and His Word backs up His actions.  He tells us He gives His child eternal life, and we rest on His promises!

Come back tomorrow as we see that “the only true God” is unlike anyone else.  He is unique.

 

Quote:  “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus ChristThis is the true God, and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).

 

 

 

[1] The definition of naturalism is from the Oxford English Dictionary Online.  I borrowed this quote from the Wikipedia article, “Naturalism (philosophy).”