Who Is Your God?
“WHO is your God?” That is the most important question anyone could ask you. The confusion and strife that are in the world today on every plane of human endeavor are due more to the difference in gods that people worship than to any other one factor. The Eastern bloc worships the god of military forces, the neutral bloc worships, in the main, pagan deities, whereas the Western bloc gives at least lip service to the God of the Bible. And individuals, by their course of action, betray the kind of god they worship.
Yes, in the minds of men there are ‘gods many and lords many,’ even as an inspired apostle of Jesus Christ observed long years ago. However, in view of the orderliness of the universe it just cannot be that there is more than one true God. If there were, we would find the same confusion in the inanimate universe that we find in the intelligent human creation on earth—gods or rulers having differing laws and at war with one another. It is because the entire universe has one Lawgiver that scientists are able to discover these laws and work out practical methods in using the principles governing these laws for the good—and all too often for the harm—of man.—1 Cor. 8:5, 6.
The Creator endowed man with the faculty of worship, and for man’s own well-being he must worship God. This is a fact that modern psychotherapists are learning to appreciate more and more. But unless one is worshiping the one true God, the Creator, he is, in effect worshiping “the god of this system of things,” Satan the Devil. As Jesus said: “He that is not on my side is against me, and he that does not gather with me scatters.”—2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; Matt. 12:30.
Who is your God? Perhaps you will answer, as did H. Wouk, a popular author, in the book This Is My God, that your God is the Creator, the God of the Bible. But is he in fact? Suppose a fellow employee boasted that the boss was his friend, and yet he did not know the boss’ name, what kind of man he was and what his goals in life were; at the same time this employee loafed at his work. What would you think of his boast? If the boss really was his friend he certainly would know the boss’ name, his characteristics, his goal in life. And then, instead of loafing at his work, he would be giving his best because he was working for his friend. Right?
So, if the God of the Bible, the Creator, is your God, then you should, first of all, know what his name is. Do you? You say “God” is his name? No, that is merely a title, as is “boss.” Did you say, “Jesus Christ”? No, that is the name of God’s Son. Then what is God’s name? He tells us in his Word: “I am Jehovah. That is my name.” “You, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High.” Yes, the true God has a name that distinguishes him from the many imitation or false gods.—Isa. 42:8; Ps. 83:18; 1 Cor. 8:5, 6.
If the God of the Bible is your God, you will also know what his basic characteristics or attributes are. What are they? They are four. First, justice: “A God of faithfulness, with whom there is no injustice; righteous and upright is he.” Second, power: “With God all things are possible.” Third, wisdom: “Jehovah himself in wisdom founded the earth. He solidly fixed the heavens in discernment. By his knowledge the . . . skies keep dripping down light rain.” And fourth, love. “God is love.”—Deut. 32:4; Matt. 19:26; Prov. 3:19, 20; 1 John 4:8.
Further, if your God is the God of the Bible, you should be familiar with his purposes. Then when others reproach him, because of ignorance or malice, you will be able to defend his good name just as you would that of any earthly friend. Does someone accuse your God Jehovah of being merely the tribal God of the Jews? They are wrong. The faithful men of old from Abel to Jacob were not Jews. Besides, all humankind are recipients of Jehovah’s blessings and yet will be. It is only that at one time Jehovah gave the Israelites, later known as Jews, certain privileges because of the faith of their forebears. Jesus Christ worshiped the God of Moses; his followers will do likewise.—Rom. 3:29.
Or, if someone found fault with your God because He used the armies of Israel to destroy certain pagan peoples in times past, you, as a Christian, should be able to clear God’s name from this reproach also. Those pagan Canaanites deserved to die because of being steeped in the vilest immorality. Since Jehovah is earth’s rightful Sovereign and Judge, he is free to choose the means of executing criminals: the Flood for the antediluvians, fire for those of Sodom and Gomorrah, the literal sword for the Canaanites.—Deut. 9:4-6.
Then, again, should some, because misery and injustice are the lot of humankind, deny that Jehovah God exists, how will you answer? Many persons have no answer. But the Bible has. In the first place, let it be noted that mankind has only itself to blame. True, God could have at once wiped out the principals in the Edenic rebellion, but God was challenged as to his ability to have creatures upon this earth that would remain true to him under test. To answer that challenge God had to permit suffering, even as the book of Job shows. Once Jehovah God has fully refuted these charges and answered Satan’s challenge, he will destroy all evildoers and bring about conditions upon earth that will leave no doubt as to his existence, sovereignty and attributes.
One more relevant point—your conduct. Does it belie your claim that the God of the Bible is your God? If he truly is your God, you will try to please him by your very way of life. Actions speak—often louder than words. You must ‘love Jehovah with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength.’ You must also “love your neighbor as yourself.”—Mark 12:30, 31.
So, who is your God? You do have one; even those who deny belief in God have a god they serve. If your God is the God of the Bible, the Creator, then you know his name, his attributes and his purposes. Then you are able to vindicate him when he is reproached. Then too, you live so as to please him. Otherwise, your god, in effect, is “the god of this system of things,” the base, would-be rival of the one true God Jehovah.