Reading: 1 Corinthians 8:1-6; Deuteronomy 6:4-19
We believe that there is only one God, Who is the origin of everything that exists.
With this, we differ from most religions. Many religions believe in many gods. If we believe in more than one god, then that means that there is something higher than the gods. The Greeks believed that the gods were creatures, just as we, who are also subject to a higher power, which is ‘fate’. Even the gods could not escape fate. Some of those who believe in one god, also believe that this god dwells in an existing reality, even though this reality may be different from ours. They call it ‘eternity’. They believe that this god is also subject to higher truths and laws. Someone once told me that 2+2=4, and even God cannot change that; even God is subject to that truth. Then people can say that God cannot help it either: God does not want evil, God is a compassionate God, He is not Almighty.
We deny that God is subject to any higher power or is subject to any truth that is outside of Himself. For us, as Paul says, “there is one God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we for Him; and one lord Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things, and through Whom we live.” This makes it clear that outside God there is nothing. No higher power, no higher truth. God IS truth and God is the God of order. Every order comes from Him. That 2+2=4, that is because that is how God is. That is part of the order of God. God is not subject to this truth, but this truth is subject to God. We discover this order by our study of nature. Mathematics discovered this order because God put this order in this creation.
When God gives us the commandments, then these commandments show us the order in this creation and show us the order in God. There is order in this creation because God is the God of order. God does not want us to kill, because that goes against His nature: He is the God of life. God does not want us to commit adultery, because that goes against His nature: He is faithful and never changes. He does not want us to steal, because it goes against His nature: He is the God of order and stealing creates disorder, chaos. He does not want us to lie, to give false testimony because it goes against His nature: He is the God of truth, and the lie is from the devil. Sinning against God’s commandments is going against the order of this creation and does not bring any good.
God does not just dwell in eternity, but God IS eternity, He is even greater than eternity. Eternity and time are both subject to God. Eternity is not a time without end. Eternity is a different realm Eternity means, without any limits. Not only without the limits of time, but without any limit, into every direction, whether it is the width, length, depth or height.
Time is created by God. Time has limits. Eternity has no limits. But also eternity is subject to God. It reflects God’s nature but is still subject to God. Because God is the origin of everything. God is subject to nothing and is limitless.
Key text: 1 Corinthians 8:5-6: “For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.”
Meditation: All other gods are false gods, created by mankind, in his own image. We, however, are created in God’s image. Christian faith is substantially different from any other religion. How is it different?