There Can Only Be One

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The Bible tells us that we serve a jealous God. Some people have a difficult time with this description of God, because jealousy is a sin, and God doesn’t want us to harbor it in our hearts. Typically, we think of jealousy as a very ugly word. We think of it as having cousins like suspicion, selfishness, and distrust. It is a disruptive and negative feeling that can lead to division and strife. Jealousy has been known to decimate relationships. So it’s not a stretch that we might have a little difficulty with assigning characteristics of jealousy to our awesomely loving and good Heavenly Father.

In Exodus 43:4-5(NLT), God told His people, “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.” It is meaningful that we derive both a sense of comfort and terror from God’s words in this passage. Comfort in His desire to surround us in the ark of His loving care; in relationship, covenant, and communion with Him. Terror in the sense of what happens when we venture away from God.

There is no such thing as being neutral or in between when it comes to our relationship with the Creator. Some people think there’s a spot in heaven marked for those that are non-committal. This is a person that will tell you they believe God exists, but they do not believe that Jesus Christ is the way to have a relationship with Him. Jesus Christ declared in John 14:6(NLT), “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” This is indisputable truth. Others will have an affinity for nature, and will say that communing with nature and relishing in its beauty is their way of communing with God.

We don’t get to determine what constitutes worship of our Heavenly Father. He has told us what is required. Jesus Christ said in John 4:23-24 (NLT), “23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” There is no ambiguity in God, and He doesn’t deserve it from us either. We cannot serve two masters, we’ll either love one and hate the other. (Matthew 6:24)

God had a goal in mind for all of us. He always wanted a family. One of the reasons we can be assured of this is because He made us in His image. In Genesis 1:26 (NLT), He said to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.” Adam and Eve were perfectly created by a perfect Creator, and they were perfect in every way. This pleased God, but we all know that Adam and Eve didn’t remain in a perfect state. They lost their holiness and connection to God through sinful action. Humankind needed a plan of redemption to get back to the state that God intended, and Jesus Christ offered to die the most horrific death to save us.

Hebrews 9:22 (NKJV) tells us, “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Jesus Christ had to give himself as a sacrifice because of this Law. God doesn’t do anything half-way. Ephesians 3:20 tells us that He goes exceedingly abundantly above anything we could ask or think. Jesus Christ had to fulfill the law in every way. If he had not fulfilled every inch of the law, dotted every ‘i’ and crossed every ‘t’, then we would still be under the dominion of satan, because our redemption would not have been complete.

In the spiritual economy of love and fear, sin is a spiritually dark transaction that requires a spiritually dark payment. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. The only payment for eternal death is eternal life! So Jesus Christ came down from heaven so that he could accomplish God’s plan of getting us permanently into sonship. Remember, God wanted a family. He wanted a royal priesthood of brothers and sisters that would be like Christ, His only begotten Son.

The Holy Spirit impregnated Mary with the seed of the Father, so Jesus Christ was born in the flesh with blood so pure, that it would cover the sins of people for an eternity. He didn’t have Mary’s blood. Although the mother’s womb is the incubator for a baby, and it receives nourishment from mommy, her blood never enters the child. The blood is passed through the biological father. It comes from his seed. The blood of Jesus came from our Spiritual Heavenly Father through the seed of the Holy Spirit; therefore, we know with absolute certainty that the blood of Jesus Christ was without impurity.

1 Corinthians 6:20 (NKJV) tells us, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Jesus Christ purchased us back for our Heavenly Father. He made it possible for us to have God’s seed, the gift of Holy Spirit, dwelling inside us. When we become born again, our human spirits are recreated. We have the fullness of the Godhead living inside us. So Heavenly Father has used a strong word like ‘jealous’ to convey His strong connection and allegiance to us. We should feel as strongly about our connection and allegiance to Him. We can no more deny our Heavenly Father than we can our biological father. There can only be one Spiritual Father, and Yahweh, our God, is it. ■

4TheChristianMan

Christian encouragement and inspiration for men

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