Chapter 1

To Know...

Before the mountains were brought forth, or, ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Psalm 90:2.

The universe has a beginning and an end. But God has no beginning and no end. He is, He was, and He will be. As created creatures, it is difficult for us to comprehend how God could have no beginning nor an end. Since we inhabit time we have difficulty comprehending eternity. It's hard to imagine an existence without the sense of time passing, yet God is eternal and dwells in eternity which is separate from the time continuum.

BELIEFS ABOUT GOD

Thus saith Yahweh the King of Israel, and his redeemer Yahweh of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last and beside me there is no God. Isaiah 44:6

With this declaration, Yahweh asserts that He alone is the living God. Many thinkers over the world have struggled with the first philosophical question: what is the prime reality? Their answer about God forms the cornerstone to their particular world view. Mankind has only two choices concerning God: either He exists as the theists [1] believe, or He doesn't exist as the atheists [2] believe. If a person denies His existence, (as the evolutionists have done), then he is forced to believe that the universe is eternal and self-existent, (which they believe). The Bible declares that the "heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll" (Isa. 34:4) which refutes its eternal nature. It takes great effort to be an atheist. The reality of God is displayed in nature (Rom. 1:20), and is written in every man's heart (Rom. 2:15). Because of this, atheism's denial of God comes forth in three variations: the agnostic [3] who doesn't know, nor care about God; the skeptic [4] who doesn't know and critically questions God's existence; and the atheist who adamantly denies God's existence. To adamantly deny God's existence is to court nihilism [5], which teaches that nothing is worthwhile, and can lead to suicide. Because such a road leads to despair, existentialists [6] are atheists who look upon mankind as the only god (although there are some theists who believe God is not involved with mankind, therefore look upon man as the preeminent concern, and thus embrace existentialism, too). The Bible's judgment on such a person is that it is "the fool [who] hath said in his heart, 'There is no God'" (Psa. 14:1). Only fools follow a road to folly.

While atheism has flourished in 20th century America, historically, the majority of people world wide have believed in some kind of god. Even though theists believe there is a God, the separation from God caused by sin has caused a variety of views, which, five main subdivisions are given. Deists [7] admit God's existence but think life is a machine that runs without God's involvement. But the Bible says that we are to "cast our cares upon Him, for He cares for us" (1 Pet. 5:7, paraphrased). There are those who believe that God is unable to be involved or control his creation which is called Finite Godism [8]. But the Bible cries out, "Ah Lord Yahweh! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee" (Jer. 32:17). These two roads lead to Naturalism [9], which focuses on the creation and not the Creator. Given its course, it can fall into theistic existentialism, then to atheism, then, even, to nihilism. The Pantheists [10] of the Hindus, some pagans, and New Agers believe that God is all and in all as an impersonal force. The Bible, once again, refutes this by saying, "for I Yahweh your God am holy" (Lev. 19:2); and again, "Yahweh is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works" (Psa. 145:17). To be holy means to be separate from, of which God is separate from his creation. The Polytheists [11] of paganism and mythology believe that there are many gods. But Yahweh declares, "Is there a god beside me? Yea, there is no god; I know not any" (Isa. 44:8). Christianity is theism. While there are other forms of theism (Islamism, Judaism, and Cults), only Christianity believes that God is a person who is immanent (close by) yet transcendent (separate and above all), and freely helps men because of the work of His Son, Jesus Christ.