The world we live in offers us many gods. Oh, we don't call them gods, not like they did in year gone by. Israel struggled with such gods as Baal, Ashorah, and Molech. They faced many gods in Egpyt, Assyria and Babylon. As they returned from the Babylonian captivity, these gods has faded away but they faced new gods - more gods made by human hands or by human desire.
So we face them today. When we teach our children the 1st Commandment (You shall have no other gods), it is a struggle for our world today because we don't talk about "gods." After all, who actually has a shrine or an altar to some sort of god, where they burn incense or offer sacrifices to that god? Well, maybe they do that in India but they are Hindus, and we don't really understand what they worship. And the Japenese might burn incense to their departed elders, but is that really worshiping a false god? (Understand, I am presenting an argument. This is worshiping false gods.) So what "god" do our children know?
That is the struggle we face. What is a god - that which we fear, love and trust in above the true God? Wait, who is the true God? And what do we know about this God? Isaiah writes:
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: "I am the first and the last; besides me there is no god." (Isaiah 44:6 ESV)
This true God is the One revealed in Scripture, the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Here we see the Father and the Son - The Lord and the Lord of Hosts, the Lord God almighty. We see the God of the Bible, the One we hear about in Revelation:
I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God. (Rev. 1:8 ESV)
And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end." (Rev. 21:6 ESV)
I am the Alpha and the Omego, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. (Rev. 22:13 ESV)
Here is where we see the God of all eternity, the one who was, and is and is to come. Here we understand that He alone is the true God. This is the God we worship. It seems so simple for us to hear these words from Isaiah and agree with him. There is no god beside the Triune God.
But then again, maybe there is. In the world today, it is safe to say (in my mind) that the new god is science. It is science that is going to save us. It is science that has all the answers. It is science that you must liten to in order to survive. Without science, there is no hope to survive the current pandemic. You are to listen to science. To accept what it tells you. And if you question science, you are seen as someone who has broken the 1st Commandment of society, "You shall hav enot other god than science." You are suspect at best and an unbeliever at worst. And in questioning science, you question the very right to live. Do as science tells you or you will die.
Is taht the new god? It used to be sports stars or stars of the silver screem. But those gods have fallen from their pedestal (or been pulled down) and are replaced by scientists, health care workers and those considered on the front lines of fighting this virus. Who do you listen to? Listen to the god of this age. They have the answers for you.
Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
Let them decalre what is to come, and what will happen. (Isaiah 44:7 ESV)
Are the gods of this age really gods to be trusted? We see them change almost daily. One source, one power, on god today, falling from the pedestal, or perhaps dragged from it by the next god of the age. "Listen to me!" it cries, and the people listen. Perhaps we even listen because we feel that it answers our questions or quiets our fears. Perhaps the new god of science, a viral god, can quell the fears of this nation at this crucial time. Do we listen? Do we follow? Where do we put our fear, love and trust?
As the Lord says, "Let them declare what is going to come, and what will happen." And yet, these new gos cannot, any more than the old gods could. They cannot tell you waht was to come. Oh, they make their claims, but do they really know what is to come? If this happens, then that might take place. But what they say soon changes. One teacher told me, "Things are so fluid, that we don't know what to expect." And it that way. One model says this, so do it. Another model says that, so do that. Can the gods of this age answer?
Who can tell us waht is to come except for the true God?
He tells us who to trust - not the gods of this age but His only-begotten Son that He sent into this world, to bring true hope, peace and salvation to a world that is tearing itself apart and to a people who do not know which way to turn. Listening to the voice of the Shepherd in the chaos of this world brings hope and peace. The Lord is my Shepherd - Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow, I will fear no evil. Why? Because the Lord God has shown me the depth of His love for me, that which He is able to do for me as He died upon the cross and rose again from the dead. He tells me the outcome of all that I face. It is what leads Paul to write, "For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18 ESV)
Fear not, nor be afraid,
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
And are you my witnesses!
Is there a God besides me?
There is no Rock; I know not any. (Isaiah 44:8 ESV)
So fear not, nor be afraid! But the gods of this age seek to creat fear and not peace. The gods tell us, "You will die." Yes, you are right, I shall die. Not because you have told me but because the Word has told me. Because of my sin, I shall die. From a virus? Form a disease? From an accident? Fro a war? Who knows? God does, but the gods of this age do not for they are not gods at all. They are made in the hands and the minds of sinful, corrupt man.
God has shown this to me. But He has not shown me the outcome - the empty grave. For death does not win. That is shown in the hands, feet and side of the One living Lord, the One who was slain but is now alive.
Yes, you and I are His witnesses. In this age of new gods and new teachings, we are witnesses of the One, the only God who gives life, forgiveness, peace and hope where these gods cannot.
Is there any God besides Him? No. There is not. He alone is the true God. As we hear the call of the false gods of this age, we need to remember:
On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
WIth Isaiah we proudly proclaim: There is no Rock, I know not any!
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