In my last StandingWatch program, “Why Atheists Are Wrong,” I discussed Stephen Hawking’s new book, “The Grand Design.” In the book, Hawking claims falsely that the universe created itself. As could be expected, negative responses to our program from some viewers were forthcoming; self-proclaimed “militant agnostics” and “atheists” did not like our approach, nor the very thought that there is a God who created the universe.
On the other hand, many believe in a God–and may be as deceived as the atheists and agnostics are. As Christians, we do not believe in just “any” God, but in THE God, as He reveals Himself in the pages of the Bible. God has not left us without witness. He challenges all who believe and worship any “god” but Him, and encourages them to recognize the futility of their ways and to turn to Him who created everything. Atheists are called “fools” in Scripture, but so are those who worship idols, demons or false gods.
God tells us: “For I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22; compare also Isaiah 44:6). He is the God of the Bible who created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). He is above all other “gods”–man-made creations which by nature are not gods (Galatians 4:8). God says through the prophet Jeremiah: “The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens” (Jeremiah 10:11).
God is “Almighty God”–He is more powerful than anything or anyone else (Genesis 17:1). He is a God of truth (Deuteronomy 32:4). He does not lie (Numbers 23:19), and when He tells us in His Word that He created the universe, we can believe Him–and reject at the same time EVERY “scientific” opinion to the contrary.
God is a LIVING and ACTIVE God (Jeremiah 10:10). He is here to help us when we are in need. Psalm 25:5 tells us: “… You are God, my deliverer, it is You I look to at all times” (Tanakh). It is the God of the Bible–the God who is unknown to most people (Acts 17:23)–whom we are to proclaim today (Isaiah 40:9). Many will disbelieve our message. But he “who is of God hears God’s words” (John 8:47). It is God’s Spirit which reveals the true nature of God (1 Corinthians 2:6-14).
Overall, man has rejected God and “the things of God.” He has rejected godly understanding and replaced the true God with the wrong idea that the universe created itself and that some gases produced life (Romans 1:18-22). Man–including the bright minds of highly-educated scientists–came to believe falsely that man evolved from animals. Others concluded that animals or human beings needed to be worshipped (Romans 1:23). In the ultimate sense, man has been worshipping Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44) and the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Man has adopted the devil’s many different philosophies and ideas, including the very thought that the devil does not even exist.
We believe God–the true God. We are not of those whom God calls fools. We believe that God created the universe (Hebrews 11:1). And we believe the Bible when it tells us that God is a FAMILY–that both God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son–the WORD or Spokesman–are divine members of the God Family. We believe that the Father created everything–including the universe–through Jesus Christ (John 1:1-3, 14; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:1-2). We believe that Jesus Christ upholds and sustains the universe today (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:17).
We believe that there is only ONE God; but we also believe that this ONE GOD is a Family. The Father and the Son–God beings within the God Family–are “one” (John 10:30); they are totally unified. They are ONE FAMILY–ONE Kingdom! And we believe that both the Father and the Son can dwell with and in us today through the Holy Spirit (John 14:23), and that we, God’s Spirit-begotten children, are to become “one,” as the Father and the Son are “one” (John 17:20-23).
In fact, man was created with the potential to become a member of the very Family of God (John 10:34-36; Genesis 1:26-27; Ephesians 3:14-15; compare Hebrews 2:11: “Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family,” NIV).
When we know all of this, we need to do something about it. Just believing it, without more, is not enough (James 2:19). God is the Lawgiver (James 4:12). He expects of us to keep His law (James 2:10-12). James 1:22, 25 tells us: “But be doers of the WORD, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves… But he who looks into the perfect LAW of liberty and CONTINUES IN IT, and is not a forgetful hearer but a DOER of the WORK, this one will be blessed in what he does.”
We are commissioned today to do the WORK–to preach the gospel message of God’s Kingdom in all the world as a witness. This good news includes the knowledge as to who God is and that He created everything, including the universe. These glad tidings include the understanding of what the purpose is of man’s creation; and how man can enter the Kingdom or Family of God, as an immortal God being. After Christ’s return to this earth, God’s Kingdom–the God FAMILY–will rule over mankind. We who know God and are known by Him (Galatians 4:9), are called to be in that Kingdom and to rule with and under Christ, as kings and priests (Revelation 5:10; 20:4-6). It is our responsibility today to prepare for that time. Let’s not treat it lightly!
