“You shall have no other gods beside Me”
Who is this God who demands singular devotion and commitment?
Who is this one who denies me the freedom of religion? To worship the god I
choose?
This is the living God,
who created all things. He alone is almighty and in His invisibleness
is eternal. All the other gods are the product of human imagination such
as worshipping the sun, or worse, they are the ingenious devices of the devil, in
an attempt to deny God the almighty, the worship due to His Name. This could be
from the feasting to idols to the praying to saints.
God has revealed Himself, not
through many religions, but over quite a long period of history. He has spoken
through prophets, been known in real life experiences and then finally in Jesus
Christ. Moses, who in a very special way knew God and mediated a special
communication of God, he foretold of a special prophet who likewise would speak
with heavenly authority – not the budda, not Mohammed, not Krishna, not Bahaullah
– it was Jesus Christ and Him alone.
Through Moses was seen the
holiness of God Jehovah, but through Jesus Christ was evidenced the grace and
truth of God. More than being seen, grace and truth by love divine was
implemented as the means to a functional relationship with the same God who
made the world, the same God whom Moses made know as holy. In a beautiful way
Moses deferred honour to the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus deferred honour to
Moses [eg John 5] .
“God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son”
Was the coming of Jesus into the world, the
beginning of God’s love? NO. God loved
the people of the world from the beginning. The emphasis is that the world of
people had now proved themselves unworthy of Himself, unworthy of His love. Now
God’s glory was being expressed in a different hue. Not so much holiness being
revealed in a holy law, but, on the foundation of that, God’s undeserved love
shines forth in hitherto unrivalled brilliance.
Just as the law was more than philosophical
words (it was a law defined by action), so the love of God was and is more than
words. “God so loved the world that He gave” – God throughout history has given
much, but this is the greatest gift. This is God giving Himself. That is why
the word ‘begotten’ (left out in many
translations) is so significant. Out from God Himself came the Son of God (not
as a child with a beginning), as the perfect representative of the Father. Much
could be said of the blessing of His years on earth, but God’s love is finally
expressed in this action –“God spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for
us all” (the cross) Romans 8.
Many treated Moses law with
indifference, and today many treat God’s love in Christ with indifference. But
God is not mocked. He will have the last say. God will be the final judge.
“Of how much sorer punishment will
he be thought worthy who has spurned the Son of
God................................vengeance is mine , I will repay says the
Lord” (Hebrews 10)
What should be our response to
God revealed?
In the words of another when he
saw Jesus alive from the dead:
“My Lord
My God”
“blessed are those that have not
seen, yet have believed.” (John 20)
We indeed should know God and love Him forever!
John McKee
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