Is there a God?

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If
God were to speak, what would He say?
If there is a
God who created the world with such grace and awe, created life with such
wonderful intricacy, and created humans with intelligence, morality and
spirituality, would He not communicate with us?
Bible claims to have recorded the revelation from the
One who created the world. Written by more than 44 writers over a
span of 1,500 years, in various places. Human authors included a variety
of men in many walks of life - kings, peasants, poets, herdsmen, fishermen,
farmers, priests, pastors, tentmakers, and governors. Among its themes are
such content matter as philosophy, poetry, prophecy, theology, history, science,
and sociology. Not one of the writers know that he was writing a part of
the Holy Bible. Probably many had no knowledge of what others had written.
But when they put together, they told one complete story and are
consistently about one theme: this Creator
God has spoken to humanity and prepared for us a redemption plan.
Read the
following passages from the Bible, you will have a glimpse of the nature
of this God.
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"In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth
was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the
Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there
be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and
He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light
"day," and the darkness he called "night." And there
was evening, and there was morning¡Xthe first day."
(Genesis 1:1-5)
In a figurative literary style, the writer of Genesis disclosed the
identity of the One who has spoken: the Creator of the World.
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"Moses
said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The
God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his
name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I am
who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent
me to you.' " (Exodus 3: 13-14)
As God revealed
Himself to Moses as the transcendent One; He does not have a
name, because unlike our parents naming
us, there is nothing
greater than Himself to give Him
a name.
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"You shall have no other gods before me.
"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in
heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not
bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous
God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and
fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand
{generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD
will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
(Exodus 20: 2-7)
In the Ten
Commandments, God revealed His transcendence and holiness once again.
There is no other god but the Creator. To worship any
image and object in this world is blasphemy.
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"With
what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
"Will the LORD be
pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I
offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin
of my soul?
"He has showed you, O
man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly
and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
(Micah 6:6-8)
God is disgusted by
false religion but embraces the true faith that worships
the real God by a life of reverence, justice and mercy.
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"The heavens
declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."
(Psalm 19:1)
" O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory
above
the heavens...... When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which
you have set in place, what is man that you
are mindful of him, the son of man that you care
for him?
You made him a
little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and
honor." (Psalm 8:1-5)"For since the
creation of the world God's invisible qualities¡Xhis eternal power and
divine nature¡Xhave been clearly seen, being understood from what has
been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans
1:20)
God reveals Himself in His
Creation as well.
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"He is the God who made
the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he
doesn't live in man-made temples, and human hands can't serve his
needs--for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to
everything, and he satisfies every need there is. From one man he created
all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand which
should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
"His
purpose in all of this was that the nations should seek after God and
perhaps feel their way toward him and find him--though he is not far from
any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As one of your own
poets says, `We are his offspring.' And since this is true, we shouldn't
think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or
stone. God overlooked people's former ignorance about these things, but
now he commands everyone everywhere to turn away from idols and turn to
him. For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by
the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising
him from the dead."
(Acts 17:24-31)
God refuses to be
manipulated by idol worshipers or 'created' by the hands of man. He is the life Giver and Sustainer, and He is the Judge over His
Creation, and
Redeemer of our sins. Who is He?
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"In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He
was with God in the beginning. Through him all things
were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In
him was life, and that life was the light of men.....
"The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the
world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the
world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his
own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God¡X
children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's
will, but born of God.
"The Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the
One and Only,
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
(John 1: 1-4, 9-14)
The Bible also
records some wonderful news, namely that God appeared in flesh so that we can know
Him. His name is Jesus Christ.
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