Rev. Ron Hanko
Do you know the true God? Not the god of man’s imagination, but the God of the Bible? This is an important question, because Jesus teaches us that eternal life is knowing God and His Son, Jesus Christ (John 17:3). If you are to live with God forever in heaven, you must know Him.
If you are interested in knowing the true God, please consider the following.
1. The true God is very great and glorious. He is so high and holy that nothing in all the world is like Him. He is the eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, unchangeable God (Ps. 113:4-6).
2. The true God is the Creator of the world. In six days, He created the heaven and earth and all that they contain. God also created you (Gen. 1).
3. The true God is the Sustainer of the world. He upholds every creature by His almighty power. He gives you life, breath, and all things (Acts 17:25, 28).
4. The true God is the Absolute Ruler of the world. He brings to pass His eternal will by His almighty power. God is your Ruler and King (Dan. 4:34-35).
1. Since God is your Creator, Sustainer and Ruler, to whom you owe your very life, He demands that you reverence Him as the only true God (Ps. 33:8).
2. God requires that you worship and serve Him from a heart that is filled with gratitude for all that He has done for you (Ps. 100).
3. In reverence, you must obey God’s law as given in the Ten Commandments. This obedience must be complete and perfect (Ex. 20:3-17).
4. Your obedience must come from a heart of love. You must love God with all your being and you must love your neighbour as yourself (Matt. 22:37-40).
1. However, you do not keep God’s commandments out of love for Him. You are a sinner who fails to do what God demands of you (Job 7:20; 13:23; 40:4).
2. You can do nothing that is truly good and pleasing to God. Even the best of your works are like filthy rags to God (Rom. 3:10-18).
3. Your sinful deeds come from a wicked heart. You were born with a corrupt inner nature (Gen. 6:5; Ps. 51:5; Jer. 17:9).
4. God is the holy One who hates sin and must punish sinners. Apart from God’s grace, you will be condemned to the everlasting torments of hell forever (Matt. 13:49-50).
1. God is also the Saviour who has sent Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners from their sin and the everlasting torments of hell (Isa. 43:11).
2. In His death, Christ suffered the torments of hell in the place of all those who believe in Him. By His death, He paid their debt and earned for them the forgiveness of their sins (I Peter 3:18).
3. Christ fulfilled God’s demand for believers by perfectly loving God and keeping God’s law. God considers them to be righteous in Christ (Rom. 5:19).
4. Christ gives spiritual life to those whom God saves so that they believe in Him. They know God and enjoy His fellowship. They will live with the true God in heaven forever (I John 5:20).
1. Do you seek the forgiveness of your sins, the righteousness of Christ, and eternal fellowship with the true God? God says to you, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31).
2. Believe that God is your Creator, Sustainer and Ruler, who is worthy of your love and worship. Realise that you are a sinner who has failed to fulfil your God-given duty and who needs salvation. Trust God to save you from your sins through the atoning death and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.
3. True faith will cause you to repent of your sins. You will acknowledge that you are a sinner, sorrow over your sin and rebellion against God, and forsake your sin (Eze. 18:30).
4. True faith will make you obedient. It will cause you to seek to keep God’s commandments and live a life of thanksgiving to Him (James 2:17-19).
5. True faith believes that salvation is not the work of man but the gift of God. The believer is saved by the grace of God alone (Eph. 2:8-9).
Do you know the true God and His Son Jesus Christ?
If not, obey the command of God to trust Christ for salvation.
Without the knowledge of the true God, which comes through faith, you do not have eternal life but face the everlasting torments of hell.