Who or What Is Your God?
Full Transcript
Who or what is your god? A “god” is any person or thing you love, serve, and worship above anyone and everything else. For some people, they are their own god. They don’t believe in a divine Creator, the Supreme Being we call “God.” Others believe in God but live their lives as if He doesn’t exist. So who or what is your god? Let’s discuss.
In our last episode, we answered the five most common objections against keeping the Ten Commandments. In today’s episode, we will begin a new series of 10 episodes discussing each of the Ten Commandments, beginning with the very first commandment.
The Ten Commandments are the basic Laws of Life that, when followed, bring true success, happiness and peace — with God and with other people. And the very foundation — the very heart and core — of the Ten Commandments is the FIRST commandment — about worship and obedience to God — the Creator and Ruler of heaven and earth:
Exodus 20:1-3 — And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before [or besides] Me.”
The "I" who spoke with such tremendous power identifies Himself as “the LORD your God.” The phrase “the LORD” is translated from the Hebrew word YHWH (pronounced “Yahweh”), meaning “the Eternal,” “the Everliving One,” or “the Self-Existent One.” As the proper Name of the one true God, it is found over 6,800 times in the Bible.
This same Being who spoke and thundered the words of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai later became Yahshua the Messiah (more popularly known as “Jesus Christ”) in the New Testament. And when He was once asked by the Jewish scribes about the first and foremost commandment of all, He replied without a moment’s hesitation and cited Deuteronomy 6:4-5:
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 — “Hear, O Israel: [YHWH] is our God, [YHWH] alone. You shall love [YHWH] your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
According to Christ, our great Lawgiver and Savior, the most important commandment of all is to LOVE the one true God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). But how can you really love God with all that you are if you are worshiping other gods besides Him?
From the beginning, the Creator God wanted to have a loving relationship with His creation. That’s the reason He created us, so that we can become part of His Family and share in His joy, happiness, and level of existence. But from the beginning also, most of mankind rebelled against God’s rule and authority. They went their own way, ignoring the One who made them!
Over the course of time, these people became the various pagan nations, worshiping various false gods — gods of their own making — idols who couldn’t even speak, hear, see, or save!
But Yahweh (YHWH) is the only true God, the Creator of heaven and earth. He demonstrated His stupendous power as Creator by sending thunderings and lightning, shaking Mount Sinai.
“I am the Eternal [YHWH] your God,” the Almighty Creator states. Is the God of creation, the God of Israel, the God of the Bible, really your God whom you serve and obey?
God commands: “You shall have no other gods before [or aside from] Me.” Have you put something else in place of God? Is your time, your interest, your service taken up more with something other than the true God? What idol have you placed between yourself and the true God, studying His Word, and living by it?
The Bible declares that God is the real Creator of this earth and of the universe. He is the one who gives life and breath to all creatures. Do you honestly think of and worship God as your Creator and the one who gives you every breath of air you breathe? You should, for that is part of worshiping the true God and having no false gods before Him.
1. God Desires Faithfulness From His People
What God desires above all is our single-minded loyalty, faithfulness, and devotion. Notice:
Exodus 23:13 — “And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.
Deuteronomy 6:14-15 — You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you (for [YHWH] your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of [YHWH] your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.
Joshua 23:7-8 — You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them, but you shall hold fast to [YHWH] your God, as you have done to this day.
Today, the greatest deception of all is not communism or atheism, but the false, pagan doctrine of evolution preached by the false god of science. Evolution is an attempt to explain the creation without the Creator. It denies the true God and His very nature and office. It is the very basis of most of this world’s “education.”
2. Who or What You Serve Is Your “God”
Most people who just go to church once a week and take their religion for granted actually don't really know what worship is. They think it is something you do once a week in church — not realizing that it should affect every thought and word and action every day of your life! In everything you think or say or do, you either serve God, or else you serve your own desires and Satan the devil. The apostle Paul was inspired to explain this:
Romans 6:16 — Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
There is no middle ground. You either delight in God and His law and serve and obey Him all day long, or else you serve and obey your own lusts!
One way to tell your priority is how you use your time. For your time is your life. The Bible commands us to “redeem [buy back] the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).
How much time do you actually spend each week studying and meditating on God's Word and law as David did? How much time do you spend in earnest, prevailing prayer to Almighty God? How much time do you spend in discussing the Bible with others, teaching it to your family, writing to others words of spiritual edification as well as words of purely social interest?
It is true that most professing Christians think of their religion as just occupying a corner of their lives. But the day will come when they will realize that that type of religion is false religion and false worship. What is the most important thing God commands you to do?
As we have already seen earlier, when Christ was asked this question, He answered: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.” Then Yahshua continued: “And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).
On these two commandments hangs the destiny of all nations and individuals. If men will obey these two commandments as they are magnified throughout the Bible, they will be blessed. If not, they will be cursed and will become wretched in their own confusion and frustration. As Yahshua said, the very writings of the prophets hang on whether or not nations obey or disobey God's law. Every prophecy written against a nation shows that God foresaw that the nation would turn away its eyes from His law and obedience to His commandments.
These are the living laws — like the law of gravity — that rule the world in which you live.
3. Love and Worship God Above All Else
Yahshua said the greatest commandment is to love God with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength. You are to worship and serve God with all of your being.
Whenever you think or speak or hear of anything good or beautiful or wonderful, you should think of God. Remember James' inspired statement: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).
Because you love Him, because you know His way is right, because you truly worship Him, you should meditate on God's law and on His Word daily as David did. You should study your Bible regularly to live by every word of God. You should pray to God regularly, with sincerity and with all your heart, as Yahshua did, setting us an example.
Whenever you find that God commands you in His Word to do something, you should immediately say: “Yes, Lord,” and not argue, reason, or evade the issue, as so many falsely professing Christians do today.
Knowing that He made you and that your life really belongs to Him, you should present your body a living sacrifice as God tells you to do (Romans 12:1). You should serve and obey God with all your being — with a willing heart — and do all in your power to prepare yourself for and to further the work of reaching others with the message of the soon-coming government of God which will finally bring real peace to this earth.
Your attitude should always be that of Yahshua the Messiah, your example, when He was called upon to give His very life: “Not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
This is what true worship really means. This is how to keep the first commandment, the GREATEST commandment!
Until next time, this is Daniel Macaraeg of BiblicalTruths TV, reminding you to always be growing, to always be giving, and to always be grateful.
