Here is the latest question a friend asked me: “what about other Gods? The ones that came before Jesus or before the Jewish God? Do you think there were earlier gods and that there will be a new religion after Christianity fizzles out?”
Those weren’t his exact words, but his gist was that Christianity is only one more in a long line of religions that come and go. Do I think there were ever other gods before the God of Noah and Abraham?
There Were Other Gods?
That’s the simple answer. “God said he is the beginning and the end. There is no beginning of God; he always was and always will be.” My friend’s reply was, “Well, why do you think that?” “Because it’s in the Bible.”
Here is what the Lord said about himself:
- “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13).
- “I am the first, and I am the last” (Isaiah 48:12).
- “Besides me there is no god” (Isaiah 44:6).
- “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16).
- Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
I thought my argument made sense: Scripture says Christ is God, and Scripture says that God always was and always will be. Wasn’t that sufficient?
But my friend asked an excellent question: “well, why do you believe the Bible?” We all need friends in our lives who will challenge us to make an answer for our belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (1 Peter 3:15).
Why Do I Believe Christ’s Testimony?
No one lives outside of Christ. Yes, you are alive right now, reading this article, but you will spend eternity apart from God if you have not believed in him for salvation and given him your life.
Paul wrote, “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Jesus told the disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
What about those competing ideas about how the world began and what’s going to happen to the earth and to all of us?
What about others who gave their lives to promote and stand up for their beliefs? What did they give their lives for, and why does their sacrifice not lead me to believe in a different god?
It’s not like I grew up in the faith. My parents were not believers. We learned about other religions in school, and I met many people of other beliefs over the years, including pantheists, followers of Baha’i, Buddhists, and Muslims.
I learned that many religions teach that salvation is earned. There are religious practices and rules which assure adherents a place in heaven. Or on the other hand, certain beliefs indicate that we must do what feels right. All roads lead to God; just be true to yourself.
These beliefs did not convince me for a few reasons. One of them is that I felt like a hamster on a wheel. No amount of good I did could erase the good I failed to do or the wrongs I had committed. I lived in horror of Satan rather than in awe of a beautiful and loving God.
Secondly, what sort of god would be so carefree? What god would care so little for his honor or for justice? There is no power or hope in a god who just says, “Do what you want.”
In fact, this is a contradictory god who shaped us with the innate understanding that there is right and wrong, and yet what feels good to me might, in fact, be unjust or simply unloving from another perspective.
If our God is love, what is love anyway? It’s not “being nice” because sometimes love has to be confrontational.
Thirdly, martyrs to other causes and beliefs simply died, leaving no hope except for the possibility that we can change the world somehow. I find this notion unconvincing because the world has continued the same since it started.
There is no evidence that we, as a “species,” will ever evolve and become civilized enough to stop cheating, lying, abusing, stealing, and murdering one another. We are selfish, and each of us can justify the way we live our lives because we’re not as bad as the next guy.
No kind, generous, gentle person out there ever overcame this reality in a way that inspired belief or worship. Even if a few people die in the interest of ending war or injustice, all they can do is inspire. They cannot empower.
Nor could any person on earth ever overcome my sin. I can strive to be a better person, but that won’t guarantee me anything. Why bother at all if there was nothing beyond this life except — well — nothing?
Or if I could never do enough to earn a better station in my next life, why bother being a good person either? These weak, unfinished ideas don’t keep me away from the ledge when life is hard and cruel.
Because of Jesus
Why do I believe there have never been any other gods but Almighty God? Because Christ is the only person who ever proved he was King and Savior by rising from the grave. I believe he really did die based on the account of the nature of his death.
I believe he was sane based on the accounts of both his life and the way he died. I believe he rose from the grave: hundreds of people saw him, and it had to be him (in my eyes) because the lives of his disciples were changed completely.
Saving faith in Christ is not merely a means by which one escapes hell; saving faith changes the believer’s life for the better. Believers then go out and share their refining faith.
I believe because Jesus wasn’t nice, he was actively loving. Actively loving. His active love did not pull punches yet drew sinners to the Father. There is a hell because God punishes those who malign his name and hurt his people.
He was alluring because he could be trusted. He was honest. Imagine if he had simply told people that God loved them, that they didn’t have to worry about the future, it was all going to be taken care of — what a soft, squishy, powerless message.
No — Jesus told the people that God did, in fact, love them in spite of what they had done. He taught them that getting right with God was the healing they needed most; forgiveness.
He taught the people that they could not be good people, but they could rely on him to keep loving and pruning them: just abide in him. “He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful” (John 15:2).
Jesus’ words sounded like real life. I do feel like I’m being pruned sometimes. It hurts. Why do I stand for it? Because I know that this is a sanctifying work, and I trust the Lord to keep doing this in order to shape me as he wants me to be to his glory and for my good.
And One More Thing
My friend is right that some religions are no longer practiced. They seem to have died out with their ancient cultures. Who is to say that Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons or certain sects of Christians and Jews won’t disappear also?
But religion is a manmade structure; faith is personal. We walk with God one-on-one and in community. “God walking with people normally suggests closeness and intimacy and fellowship,” Randy Alcorn proposed.
Adam and Eve had this in the garden without a church or a membership contract. I don’t believe in religion — religion gives shape to my worship, but I believe in the everlasting Triune God.
For further reading:
How Does God Differ from Man-Made Gods?
7 Spiritual Elements in Thor: Love and Thunder
What Is the Difference Between Religion and Spirituality?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Liudmila Chernetska
