What is so special about the God of the Bible?

As Christians we believe in one God who has revealed himself to us in the Bible.

However, Hindus believe in one supreme being that exists in many gods, in fact they believe in about 330M gods.

Muslims believe Allah is god and revealed himself through Mohammad the prophet.

Mormons believe in one God called Heavenly Father but they also believe that if they are faithful mormons that one day they will also become a god in the heavenly kingdom.

During Paul’s second missionary journey he visited Athens where he observed the close to 30,000 idols that the athenians worshipped.

Hechos de los Apóstoles 17:16 NIV

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.

As Paul traveled the city he saw an altar that was different from all the others. They had altars dedicated to Athena, to Zeus, to Nike, etc., but this one was different.

Hechos de los Apóstoles 17:23 NIV

23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

This altar was dedicated to an unknown god.

They made this altar so that they would not offend a certain god that did not have their own altar.

Now Paul comes to Athens to preach about the God of the Bible, the God of revealed in the Old Testament, the God who took on human flesh and was born of the virgin Mary.

Paul was about to preach to people that worshipped statues that were made to appear like their gods.

…but Paul says - the real God, the only true God that exists is not like your false gods.

The God of the Bible does not live in temples.

Hechos de los Apóstoles 17:24 NIV

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.

They had altars in their homes and temples built on top of the hills all around Athens.

But Paul says that the God of the Bible made all things and does not dwell upon any altar or inside any temple made by humans.

This is why we do not believe that churches or religious buildings are holy or sacred.

They are special indeed because of how we use these buildings.

However, it is not as if god is living inside this building.

The God of the Bible cannot be represented by any image.

Hechos de los Apóstoles 17:29 NIV

29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.

God cannot be made into any statue or image made out of gold, silver or stone.

God cannot be represented by a statue who we then worship and offer sacrifice to.

This is why we do not have images or statues in our congregation.

It is also why we do not bow down before an image or statue of what people think represents Jesus.

Conclusion

So if God does not dwell in a temple or church building, where does he dwell?

1 Corintios 6:19 NIV

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

Those who follow Jesus are the temple of the living God.

God lives within each of us and gives us the assurance that he is with us until the end.

If we cannot make an image of God to worship, then how are we able to worship God?

Juan 4:24 NIV

24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

We must worship God in the way that the Bible tells us to worship him - not by making statues and bowing down before them.

We worship God by praying to him, by singing to him, by reading his word and learning about him.

Let’s pray: Our Father, help us to truly know you. There are many in this world that are blinded by lies regarding who God is. Help us to know you more every day through what you have revealed to us in your Word. The only way to know you is through the study of your Word. Give us comfort knowing that the God of the Bible dwells in each believer and calls us to worship him in spirit and in truth, Amen.