Five Reasons for Worshiping
the God
of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob
Part
1
“….Worship
Him who made the Heavens, the Earth,
the sea
and the
springs of water.” (Revelation
14:7)
The
expression “I believe in
God,” has different meanings for
different people because there are
many “Gods.” Jehovah is not
Allah and Jesus is not Shiva, Vishnu,
or Shakti (Hindu Gods). Even within
Christianity, Catholics, and
Protestants have very different views
about “God.” Therefore, the
phrase “I believe in God”
is just a catch-all phrase.
Belief
“in God” or “the
absence of God” really does
matter. Beliefs shape behavior
and behaviors have consequences.
Currently, the radical Islamic group,
ISIS, is waging a brutal war against
so-called “non-believers”
in the Middle East. ISIS is
killing men, women and children,
beheading non-Muslims and forcing
young girls into sex slavery. ISIS
claims that “Allah” fully
approves of its actions. Do you see
how beliefs shape behavior? When
people believe their identity is
concealed, they are more likely to do
things that they would not otherwise
do. Beliefs shape behavior. With
increasing frequency, people are
doing terrible things to one another.
Hatred and violence is rising,
immoral behavior is pandemic, and
ethnic relations are at a breaking
point. We have reached this point
because today’s harvest is the
result of seeds sown yesterday.
Beliefs shape behavior and man’s
behavior has produced the conflicted
environment we now see.
Does
God Exist?
Beliefs about
God can range from total denial to
wholehearted commitment. Because this
wide spectrum exists and space is
limited, this study will focus on the
two aspects of believing in God. The
first aspect will be “Does God exist?”
and if so, “Who is He?”
For
authority in spiritual matters, I
have accepted the Bible as God’s
Word. Even though there are other
“so-called” sacred
writings, I accept the Bible based on
five reasons that will be presented
in this study. The Bible declares
there is only one God* who is to be
worshiped. He is unlike
all the other deities called
“God.” The God of the
Bible is the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. He is called
“Jehovah” in the Old
Testament and “Jesus” in
the New Testament. Notice what Jesus
says of Himself: “This is
what the Lord says –
Israel’s King and Redeemer, the
Lord Almighty: I am the first
and I am the last; apart from me
there is no God.” (Isaiah
44: 6) This declaration in the Old
Testament is amplified in the New
Testament. Jesus said to John,
“…’Do not be
afraid. I am the First and the
Last I am the Living One; I was
dead, and behold I am alive for ever
and ever. And I hold the
keys to death and Hades.’” (Revelation
1: 17, 18)
(*Note: The
Bible teaches tritheism, that God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob actually
consists of three separate and
distinct Gods functioning as one God.
The Bible teaches that the plan of
salvation required the services of
three Gods. One God, Jesus,
voluntarily died for our sins.
Another God, the Father, raised Jesus
from the dead. The gospel which Jesus
spoke came directly from the Father
through the ministry of yet a third
God, the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the
only visible member of the Godhead.
Jesus is also our spokesman (The
Logos) for the trinity. Ninety-five
percent of the references in the Old
Testament pertaining to
Jehovah/Lord/God/Almighty pertain to
Jesus. Because the Trinity is united
in purpose, plan, and action, to the
casual reader they may appear to be
one God. However, as a husband and
wife become one flesh at marriage, so
three Gods surrendered their rights
and prerogatives to each other in
order to become one unified Trinity.
For additional study on this
fascinating topic, please see
The Wake Up Report, December
2012 or go here: https://www.wake-up.org/newsletter-archive/the-wake-up-report/questions-answered-about-the-trinity-dec-2012.html)
The
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is
eternal and changeless. (Genesis
21:33, Malachi 3:6) He is omniscient.
He knows the very numbers of hairs on
each person’s head. (Matthew
10:30) He sees everything that occurs
on Earth: “The Lord looks
down from Heaven on the sons of men
to see if there are any who
understand, any who seek God.” (Psalm
14: 2) “For the eyes of the
Lord range throughout Earth to
strengthen those whose hearts are
fully committed to him…” (2
Chronicles 16:9) There is a great
deal of confusion about God, so I ask
you to consider five reasons why I
worship and love the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. Of course, my
reasons may not be adequate for you,
but I offer these thoughts in hope
that they may help you to know God
better. This month I will share the
first two of the five
reasons.
Heaven
and Earth are the Products of
Intelligent Design
My
first reason for loving and
worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob is this: Heaven and Earth
are products of an intelligent
designer. Jesus Himself made them. He
is the Creator of everything that
exists. The Bible says:
“This
is what God the Lord says – He
who created the heavens and stretched
them out, who spread out the Earth
and all that comes out of it, who
gives breath to its people, and life
to those who walk on it.” (Isaiah
42: 5)
“For
by Him all things were created:
things in Heaven and on Earth,
visible and invisible, whether
thrones or powers or rulers or
authorities; all things were created
by Him and for Him.” (Colossians
1:16)
Even
though the Bible makes these
declarations, we must find support
around us to affirm what the Bible
says. The difference between a
symphony and random notes is that
music has a design, while random
notes do not. The Mona Lisa is
separated from random lines and
patches of color because the Mona
Lisa has a design, while random lines
and colors do not. A jet airplane is
a marvelous creation. Jet airplanes
do not accidently or randomly occur
without the handiwork if intelligent
designers and builders. However, jet
airplanes are very simple creations
when compared to the human
genome.
The
total length of the human genome
contains more than 3 billion orderly
base pairs. Is the human
genome the work of an Intelligent
Designer or is it the result of 3
billion freakish accidents that just
happened to occur in perfect order?
When I consider the diversity of
plants, animals, fish, birds, and
human beings that live on Earth, when
I consider that each specie brings a
unique contribution to life on Earth,
when I consider that each specie has
its own unique DNA and the ability to
procreate, when I consider all the
forms of life require the
simultaneous presence of perfectly
formed DNA, different types of
solutions, and essential
three-dimensional proteins, the
evidence declares this is the work of
an Intelligent Designer. When I
consider Earth’s orbit around
the Sun, I am impressed that
Earth’s orbit is no cosmic
accident. If Earth’s distance
from the Sun varied by a mere 10%,
life on Earth could not exist. The
winters would be so cold and the
summers would be so hot that nothing
could live. Looking at the structures
of Earth, I conclude that it
defies reason and mocks
reasonableness to claim that life is
a result of billions of freakish
accidents that began with life-less
ocean slime.
If
we take the probability of
intelligent design one step further,
we find that science itself declares
the handiwork of God. It is baffling
and ironic that many scientists deny
the existence of God when science, by
definition, involves the process of
discovering and applying the laws
that govern life. Intelligent laws,
like jet airplanes, do not naturally
occur. When we consider the law of
physics that govern the planet, when
we consider the laws of biology that
govern life on this planet, when we
consider the laws governing the
behavior of atoms, when we consider
the laws governing mathematics,
thermodynamics, economics, and the
procreation of all living things,
these profound designs point to an
infinity wise Creator. Of course, no
one understands all of the mysteries
of God’s Creation, but there is
enough evidence to convince me that
Heaven and Earth are not a freakish
accident. The Bible tells the truth.
Earth and all that is in it is the
handiwork of Jesus, the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He created
Adam and Eve on the sixth day of
Creation.
God
Has Accurately Declared the Future
I
love and worship the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob because He knows and
declares the future with 100%
accuracy. Here are three
examples:
- “Then
the Lord said to him
[Abraham] ‘Know for
certain that your descendants
will be strangers in a
country not their own, and
they will be enslaved and
mistreated four hundred
years. But I will punish the
nation they serve as slaves,
and afterward they will come
out with great possessions.
You, however, will go to your
fathers in peace and be
buried at a good old age. In
the fourth generation your
descendants will come back
here, for the sin of the
Amorities has not yet reached
its full measure.” (Genesis
15: 13-16)
God
gave this prophecy about 500
years before it was fulfilled in 1437
B.C. When God delivered Israel
out of Egyptian slavery, the fourth
generation returned to Canaan. The
four generations are counted as Levi,
Kohath, Amram, and Moses.
- God
said to Jeremiah: “This
whole country [belonging
to Israel] will become a
desolate wasteland, and these
nations will serve the king
of Babylon seventy
years.” (Jeremiah
25: 11, insertion mine) With
uncanny accuracy, the
captivity of Israel by the
Babylonians began in 605 B.C.
and ended, right on time, in
536 B.C. The Bible says: “The
land [belonging to
Israel] enjoyed its
Sabbath rests; all the time
of its desolation it rested,
until the seventy years were
completed in fulfillment of
the word of the Lord spoken
by Jeremiah.” (2
Chronicles 36:21)
- Just
before His death in A.D. 30,
Jesus made a startling
prediction: “Jesus
left the temple and was
walking away when his
disciples came up to him to
call attention to its
buildings. ‘Do you
see all these things?’
he asked. ‘I tell you
the truth, not one stone here
will be left on another;
everyone will be thrown
down.’” (Matthew
24: 1,2)
This
prophecy was fulfilled with
astonishing accuracy in A.D. 70 after
the Romans set fire to the temple in
Jerusalem. The gold that adorned the
interior of the temple melted and ran
into the joints of the massive stones
that made up the temple. The Romans
devised a system of pulleys and
levers to pull the stones apart to
retrieve the gold.
These
prophecies (and there are many more
in the Bible) demonstrate a profound
fact. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob can foretell the future with
100% accuracy. Jesus said, “Heaven
and Earth will pass away, but my
words will never pass away.” (Matthew
24: 35) No other God can do this.
Jesus said: “See, the
former things [I predicted] have
taken place, and new things I
declare; before they spring into
being I announce them to you….O
am God, and there is no other; I am
God, and there is none like me. I
make known the end from the
beginning, from ancient times, what
is still to come. I say: My purpose
will stand, and I will do all that I
please [there is nothing that
can stop me] ….” (Isaiah
42:9; 46: 9, 10, insertions
mine)
Next
month, we will look into the next
three reasons.
Larry Wilson
