Who is God? (Part 1)

One of the biggest stress relievers I have is knowing that I don't have to be anyone else but me. It really doesn't matter what someone else thinks I am or what I should be, as long as I am being true to God and using my gifts and talents that God has given me, then I'm OK with just being me. There is too much stress found in trying to be someone else. In the spiritual realm, I too have great peace knowing that I don't have to make up my own "god" or try to create the "perfect god" on my own. There are only two ways that humans can know anything about God, first, we can explore what men tells me about various gods (this is call religion), or second, we can listen to what God says about Himself (this is called wisdom). Psalms 115:8 tells us that when men create idols (gods), they are idols that look and act like sinful men. So the question we must ask ourselves is, "What does God say about Himself?"

In Isaiah 45, God tells the prophet Isaiah to give King Cyrus a description of the true and living God. The Persian Empire worshipped many gods, along with Israel at this time. The God revealed to us in the Bible, Jehovah, uses this chapter to describe Himself with some powerful language that we as humans should not ignore The first description found throughout this chapter is that God is God alone (45:5-6,14,18,21,22). Note how many times God says that there is only one God, and He is Him. On the very surface we as humans can do one of two things, either accept that God is telling us the truth, or consider Him a lunatic and liar. Humanity has been constantly coming up with their own versions of God, i.e. Allah, Buddha, The One, Baal. Yet Jehovah is quit different than all gods, and this chapter proves it. This God declares that He is the only God that lives, and will be the only God that all of humanity will stand before and worship (45:23). When I accept and submit to God's description of Himself, I have found that my life is more at peace with simply trusting in the only God who truly lives. Next week we will look at the implications of God describing Himself as Creator. Until next time, keep walking close to Christ.