There is a programme on Sunday mornings on BBC television in the UK where weekly debates are conducted about moral, ethical and religious issues. In May 2016 the issue debated was entitled “Did Man Create God?” My first reaction was “here we go again” but, on reflection, I thought that in every case except the worship of the true God, man did indeed create the god or gods that he now worships.
We know that there is “no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12) and that this applies only to Jesus Christ. Further, we also know from the Bible that the Holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey Him is a condition of being a called-out member of the Family of God.
The true Church of God knows and understands that there is only one God and that there are conditions that apply to being a member of the Church that Jesus founded. We also know that there will be those from other religions who will see our understanding as being “exclusive” and even within mainstream Christianity they can also take the same view about Church of God “exclusivity”.
But we are not exclusivists in the way that the world would understand. Jesus made it abundantly clear that there is only one way and that is the narrow way and there are few who find it (Matthew 7:14). So it is not exclusivist to make the assertions that we do, but just a reflection of the knowledge that God has given us through a correct understanding of His Word.
If you think about it, man did create god or gods in his own foolish imaginations. We read in Romans 1:21-23: “…because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” This clearly shows that man has created “gods” and worships them accordingly.
We know that the ancient Egyptians worshipped all manner of created beings with a myriad of so called “gods” that had nothing to do with the true God. Down through the ages, man has created a god or gods and ignored the true God. Of course, many have never even heard of the true God because of the societies in which they live but we are privileged to know that they will be given their opportunity to know the true God at a later time.
When we see all of the gods of other religions today, we can get an understanding of the way that Satan works as he counterfeits religion and makes paganism seem another way that leads to God but we have been given the understanding that this is not acceptable to the true God.
In this programme with a carefully selected audience which included religious people, philosophers, scientists and others, we were exposed to false religionists pontificating about their brand of religion which we know from the Bible is truly false. In addition, there was a female rabbi and a female vicar. The latter stated that she knew the New Testament but not so much the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) but, from what she said, she didn’t even know the New Testament that well; otherwise, she wouldn’t be a part of the ministry! A Muslim from a Muslim think tank and someone representing Hinduism gave their insights, not realising that their brand of religion was in fact man creating god or gods, a principle not acceptable to the true God.
The ancient nation of Israel was told to “love the LORD your God, with all your heart, with all your soul (being) and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5) and we know that God is a “jealous God” (Exodus 20:5) which is mentioned as part of the second commandment. Jealous means that God is intolerant of unfaithfulness. As one commentator put it: “Jealousy is a sin when it is a desire for something that does not belong to you. Worship, praise, honour, and adoration belong to God alone, for only He is truly worthy of it. Therefore, God is rightly jealous when worship, praise, honour, or adoration is given to idols. This is precisely the jealousy the apostle Paul described in 2 Corinthians 11:2, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy…”
Did man create God? No, he didn’t create the true God, of course, but all of the other gods have indeed been created by man. We have just been privileged to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day which gives us such invaluable understanding of the Way of the true God and His master plan for all of humanity.
It is quite sobering to think how far man is from the knowledge of the one true God but that will be rectified during the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment when everyone who has not been called until that time will then be given their opportunity to worship the true Creator. Then there will not be the need for such a discussion; just happiness and joy that the one true God is in charge and that mankind has been given the opportunity to share eternity with Him.
