How many Gods are there? II ...

Tuesday, Jan 8, 2019. How many Gods are there? We have started to discuss this question yesterday, pointing to different people believing in no God at all, one unique God, or many Gods and powers and spirits on the planet. But what did Jesus teach? What is the genuine Christian viewpoint? We also should discuss the question why we come to the conclusion and believe we have.

Teaching of Jesus …

Jesus clearly was part of the Jewish believe, that there is one God, the creator, the beginning and the end, center, ultimate goal and maintainer of all what is. Jesus believed in a personal God. He talked to God in prayer. He trusted God. He loved God.

There is more to say about Jesus and God. The Old Testament starts with God and his creation, but then talks about God walking and living with people of faith. Prominent examples are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but also Noah, Moses, David, Solomon and the prophets Jeremia, Isaiah and Ezechiel. It is a fascinating and very meaningful history, recorded in the books of the Old Testament.

Then Jesus is born as the special child which is announced in so many books of the Old Testament. God is coming to visit his people. God becomes human. And indeed, Jesus talked about God as his father. He talks about God being in him, and he being in God. We hear about a far reaching unity of the father and the son and the holy spirit. The story of the New Testament is not just about a distinct creator, but it is about God being a loving father, being the son, who is crucified at the cross for the sin of the world. It is about the holy spirit, to build deep and eternal community.

The New Testament talks about salvation a lot. What is it that needs to be saved? Humans need to be saved from being lost. Humans need to be saved from the big alienation - they have lost contact to God. The biblical word for this is “sin”, another word for a big ditch or trench.

Getting to know God …

How can you come to any conclusions about God? Is God there, the one God, the creator? Or is there no God at all, or perhaps many Gods? Who is God, the loving father, the son, the spirit? Perhaps God is just the universe itself, the large void behind the appearances, as the eastern philosophies teach us?

The bible teaches that you can get to know God. This is the teaching of Jesus himself, and of the prophets of the Old Testament. You can pray to God. He is a living God, the ultimate love and truth and companion. He is. The answer which the bible give to any one who seeks to explore the truth is: search and you will find. Jesus promises that everyone who sincerely wants to know, will get to know. He or she just has to ask, just has to search!

Indeed, if you start to study the biblical books, you find great treasures here. If you start to attend some lively Christian church - and there are so many, from roman catholic to protestant, from free evangelical to pentacostal and charismatic - you find the holy spirit in the community of believers. Go and find your place! Go and find the Lord, the eternal creator.

God wants us to invite him into our life. He can stay out - we are given our life time. But he can also come in, and we live with him, get to know him and learn from him. It is a highly fascinating journey, to live with the living God, father, son and holy spirit. (Roland Potthast) ... further texts