May 21
“We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live,” 1 Corinthians 8:4-6.
Idolatry is the worship of idols – that is, worshiping man-made gods. Many people fear, love, and trust in creatures and created things more than they fear, love, and trust in the one true God. In the days of the apostle Paul, he had to contend with the beliefs and the teachings of the Greeks and the Romans, who worshiped many gods and goddesses – Jupiter, Mercury, Apollo, Venus, Diana, and the list goes on and on. Today, we would add to the list the worship of Allah, the god of the Muslims, and the worship of Vishnu, Krishna, Rama, and other gods of the Hindus. All of these are idols, of which Paul wrote, “An idol is nothing in the world.” An idol is a nothing – a god that does not exist! Paul also refers to them as “so-called gods.”
A thousand years before Jesus was born, the psalmist wrote about the idols, the gods of man’s making: “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear; noses they have, but they do not smell; they have hands, but they do not handle; feet they have, but they do not walk; nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them,” Psalm 105:4-8.
In his Epistle to the Philippians, the apostle wrote of other gods: “Whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame – who set their mind on earthly things,” Philippians 3:19. In our day also there are those whose god is their belly; they only live to eat and drink! Their glory is in their shame; sexual activity and sexual perversion have become the god of many, both young and old! Money has become the god of multitudes throughout the world! “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows . . . Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God,” 1 Timothy 6:10, 17.
The apostle clearly states what Christians believe: “We know . . . that there is no other God but one.” This is the testimony of the whole Scripture: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” Deuteronomy 6:4. Jeremiah wrote, “The Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King . . . The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens. He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom,” Jeremiah 10:10-12.
Of the one true God, the evangelist John wrote, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent,” John 17:3. The one true God is our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. He has created all things in heaven and on earth by His almighty power in a period of six normal days. In His love and mercy, He sent His Son to earth to live, suffer, die, and rise again to conquer sin, death, and the devil for us. The Lord Jesus shed His holy, precious blood on Calvary’s cross to wash away our sins. “(God) made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,” 2 Corinthians 5:21. Through the Word of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit invites us, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved,” Acts 16:31.
“Oh, that I had a thousand voices,
To praise my God with thousand tongues!
My heart, which in the Lord rejoices,
Would then proclaim in grateful songs
To all, wherever I might be,
What great things God hath done for me.” Amen.