| People worship many things. But the Bible tells us that there is only one TRUE God. He created everything in heaven and on earth. Because he gave us life, he is the only One we should worship. (1 Corinthians 8:5-6; Revelation 4:11) |
1 Corinthians 8:5-6 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." |
I would be hesitant to say, "Because he gave us life, he is the only One we should worship." Not because there is no truth in this statement, but because it implies that God’s desert of worship is based on His act of creation. Certainly, awe at His work of creation spawns worship. However, the simple facts that He is God, that He is Good and that He is All-Powerful are all reasons for worshipping Him as well. |
| God has many titles but has only one name. That name is JEHOVAH. In most Bibles, God’s name has been removed and has been replace with the titles LORD or GOD. But when the Bible was written, the name Jehovah appeared in it some 7,000 times! (Exodus 3:15;Psalm 83:18) |
Exodus 3:15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob-has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. Psalm 83:18 Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD - that you alone are the Most High over all the earth. |
Exodus 3:14 says this: God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' " The NIV footnotes comment that the words "I AM" sound like the word for "Lord". Exodus 6:3 says: I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. The NIV footnote interprets "my name the LORD" to "my name El-Shaddai", which is nothing like Jehovah. He clearly calls Himself by different terms and titles. Furthermore, the name ascribed to Him by the Jews was an unpronounceable word (lacking vowels) that they were forbidden to say. It seems that God’s point when it comes to His "name" is that He is either all names or none. He simply is. Either way, I am left with the question: How does a name impact the reality of God? How should my relationship with Him be changed by it? How does it impact my salvation? |
| Jehovah has a body, but it is not like ours. "God is a Spirit," says the Bible. (John 4:24) A spirit is a form of life that is much higher than ours. No human has ever seen God. Jehovah lives in heaven, but he can see all things. (Psalm 11:4-5; John 1:18) What, though, is the holy spirit? It is not a person like God. Rather, it is God’s active force. (Psalm 104:30) |
John 4:24 "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." Psalm 11:4-5 The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them. The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates. John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known. Psalm 104:30 When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. |
God is spirit. Yes, the Bible clearly states that God is spirit. But, it does not say that He is only spirit. Again, inferring from a statement of truth that an "opposite" statement would be contradictory – this does not hold up logically, especially when dealing with God. If I were to say, "The cat has white hair," you could not say, "The cat does not have black hair," because there may be some black markings on the cat. Furthermore, it wouldn’t even occur to you to say, "The cat does not have a nose," based on the fact that I said, "The cat has white hair." The cat is not just a pile of white hair. I’m only telling you about part of the cat when I say, "The cat has white hair." A spirit is a form of life that is much higher than ours. There is no scripture reference for this. On the other hand, there is a passage that refutes this: Genesis 1:27 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. If we are created in the image of God, how can He be a form of life that is different from ours? Furthermore, what makes a spirit "higher"? Does "higher" mean "better", or just "beyond our ability to physically sense"? Jehovah lives in heaven. God is omnipresent, not sitting distantly and watching. The imagery in Psalm 11 points out His royalty and His authority as a judge, rather than that He lives somewhere else. Furthermore, we are later told that our bodies are God’s temple. (John 2:21; 1 Corinthians 6:19) God dwells among us as well as in heaven. The holy spirit … is not a person. There are many places in the Bible (starting in Genesis 1) where the attributes of the Holy Spirit are described in the terms used to apply to a "person," distinct from the Father, but yet still fully God. Some examples are Genesis 1:2 (distinction of the Holy Spirit from the Father/Creator), Acts 2:4 (the Spirit "enables"), John 14:26 (the Spirit is a "Councilor"), John 15:26 ("He will testify" – "He," as a person, "will testify," meaning He will talk to us the way a person talks), and Galatians 4:6 (He "cries out", speaking as a person would). Furthermore, it should be noted that Psalm 104:30 does not in any way imply that the Holy Spirit is not a person (see the discussion of the cat, above). |
| The Bible reveals Jehovah’s personality to us. It shows that his outstanding qualities are love, justice, wisdom, and power. (Deuteronomy 32:4; Job 12:13; Isaiah 40:26; 1 John 4:8) The Bible tells us that he is also merciful, kind, forgiving, generous, and patient. We, like obedient children, should try to imitate him. (Ephesians 5:1-2) |
Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. Job 12:13 To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his. Isaiah 40:26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. 1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Ephesians 5:1-2 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. |
This is an excellent list of attributes, but it doesn’t tell me what God is like. If I were to describe my best friend as someone who is "loving, intelligent, and strong," you wouldn’t have any idea what to talk to her about if you were in the same room with her. You also wouldn’t really know what to do to make her happy. Is it more important to her for me to practice loving her back or for me to make myself more intelligent? Furthermore, if we are to try to imitate him, we must resolve some of the paradoxes introduced by the list of attributes. God is just, but He is also merciful and forgiving. How can a person be just and forgiving at the same time? Justice demands punishment equal to the crime. Mercy and forgiveness mean waiving the punishment. How does God do this? How can we imitate this? (Of course, I believe that God has created a solution to this paradox - He is just, demanding repayment of debts, but He has mercifully provided a sacrifice to repay that debt in our place. The point is that the text does not address this type of issue.) |
| Should we bow down or pray to images, pictures, or symbols in our worship? No! (Exodus 20:4-5) Jehovah says that we must worship only him. He will not share his glory with anyone or anything else. Images have no power to help us. (Psalm 115:4-8; Isaiah 42:8) |
Exodus 20:4-5 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me…" Psalm 115:4-8 But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. Isaiah 42:8 I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. |
Images have no power to help us. While the rest of this statement and its corresponding scriptural reference seem sound to me, there are many times when imagery can help us to understand attributes of God. In fact, the Bible often has metaphors, comparing God to a lion or a potter. Images can be used for revelation of qualities of God, and therefore "help us" in worshipping God. This is different from worshipping the image – it is using the image to increase the worship of God, and this seems to me to be a powerful form of help. This is also an example of a logical problem in this tract: Trying to deduce "Images have no power to help us" from "We should not worship images" lacks any sort of logical basis. There is no connection between the statements. |
| How can we get to know God better? One way is by observing the things he has created and thinking deeply about what they tell us. God’s creations show us that he has great power and wisdom. We see his love in all that he has made. (Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 1:20) Another way we can learn about God is by studying the Bible. In it he tells us much more about the kind of God he is. He also tells us about his purpose and what he wants us to do. (Amos 3:7; 2 Timothy 3:16-17) |
Psalm 19:1-6 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Amos 3:7 Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. |
I am very glad that this question only gives "two ways" we can learn about God – since it leaves some out. One very important way to learn about God is by talking to Him and listening for His guidance (this can - and often does - occur through revelation in the scripture, but can also come from other sources). Another way is to study and listen to other people (especially those with strong faiths) and to learn from people that have studied the scriptures. While I may read the Bible and get one sort of message from it, another person could interpret it differently. I can learn from the other person’s interpretation. This is the whole point of having a pastor preaching in church on Sundays – he’s done a lot of study and contemplation and can reveal things about God that I, as a layperson, might not have understood or noticed. I would also like to point out that this statement refutes the previous question and answer - we can benefit from images in worship. We learn about God from nature and that impacts our worship of God. |
