January 05, 2005

PLAINER WORDS . . . “NO GOD BESIDE ME”

To grow in the grace and knowledge, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, one is required to believe the truth that is at hand. Whatever God reveals, the believer readily confesses without demanding further proof, even though many more confirming truths may follow. In considering the Biblical concept of Jesus Christ, it is not a matter of our intellects being able to receive it, but one of whether we have faith to receive whatever God has given, and at the time He gives it.

How can we relate to that which is incomprehensible? We cannot. We are finite creatures. God is Infinite. The finite cannot fathom the Infinite. The dictionary states; “the Infinite is God.” The finite’s imaginations create images of the Infinite. But, they are the imaginations of a darkened heart. We can relate to things that pertain to man, or things that we see, but “God is not a man,” (Num. 23:19). He is spirit (John 4:24) NIV. Since He is invisible we can only image what He is like. Some imagine that He is the “Man upstairs.” Some think He is an old man with a beard and a shepherd’s staff. Legend has even accorded Santa Claus, with what some have imagined are the qualities of God, in as much as; “You had better watch out, you had better not cry; he knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you’re awake; he knows when you’ve been good or bad, so be good for goodness sake. Santa Claus is coming to town.” Santa’s coming to town like in the Second Coming of Christ. It is sad to think of Americans, who live in a land of Bibles, have no concept of God, let alone a Biblical one.

All we can know about The Infinite is what the He reveals about Himself in the Bible. Let’s consider the following revelations from The Infinite.

Isaiah 42:5; “Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:” KJV

Isaiah 42:8; “I am the LORD (Yahweh): that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” KJV

Isaiah 43:10-11; “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD (Yahweh), and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD (Yahweh); and beside me there is no saviour.” KJV

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

Isaiah 44:8; “Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” KJV

Isaiah 44:24; “Thus saith the LORD (Yahweh), thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD (Yahweh) that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.” KJV

Isaiah 45:5-6; “I am the LORD (Yahweh), and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD (Yahweh) and there is none else.” KJV

Isaiah 45:12; “I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.” KJV

Isaiah 45:21-23; “Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD (Yahweh)? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”

“I, even I, am the LORD (Yahweh); and beside me there is no saviour” (Isa. 43:11) KJV

“Yet I am the LORD (Yahweh) thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me” (Hos. 13:4) KJV

These passages should be carefully read and re-read, noticing exactly what Yahweh (i.e. the LORD) asserted about Himself. He forthrightly declared that He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, all that comes out of it, and man upon it. He asserted that He is the Maker of all things, that He alone stretched out the heavens, that He spread abroad the earth by Himself. Words cannot be more precise in claiming that He acted alone in the creation. The LORD’s testimony makes clear that He and He alone, is the Creator, the One and Only God and Savior. There was no God or Savior before Him and there will not be another after Him. He also declared that He is the Redeemer.

Isaiah stated, as pointed out above, “That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear” (45:23). Here Yahweh Himself laid claim to this future acknowledgment and worship. This declaration is of paramount importance. The Apostle Paul, twice, applied this to Jesus Christ.

In Romans 14:11-12; “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (KJV). The context in Romans is the “judgment seat of Christ” (see vs. 10)

Again, in Philippians 2: 10-11; “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” KJV.

How can this be unless Jesus Christ is truly Yahweh? Paul’s application of these verses makes it abundantly clear that he identified the Lord Jesus Christ as the LORD (Yahweh) of the Old Testament. Could Paul have been wrong? Obviously he was not. This is a truth at hand; I have chosen to believe it.

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). KJV

Tom L. Ballinger