Bible Study - Tough Questions (5) - Aren't All Religions the Same? - Isaiah 44:6-11; John 14:5-7 - December

Bible Study – Tough Questions (5) – Aren’t All Religions the Same? - December 29, 2019

This is lesson five (5) in our series entitled “

Our focus scripture is Isaiah 44:6-11; John 14:5-7.

A vast difference exists between faith in JESUS and all other religions.

Religion is man-made. It is man-kind’s effort to reach up to god. But to which god? Are all gods of various religions the same? Can Christianity become a religion as way to god?  Did JESUS come to earth in the flesh to establish a way to a god or to The One and Only True GOD, HIS FATHER?

The Muslims say that they and Christians worship the same god. There are key words missing from the Koran - atonement, covenant, redemption, and regeneration. The Koran claims Jesus as a porphet but he was not crucified but only appeared to have been crucified. There is but One True GOD, YHWH.  

Let’s explore!

What does the Prophet Isaiah have to say as he speaks the words of the One True GOD as we read on ----?

Let’s read Isaiah 44:6-8:

No God Other Than the Lord

⁶ This is what the Lord, the King of Israel and its Redeemer, the Lord of Armies, says:

I am the first and I am the last.
There is no God but me.

The LORD makes it clear that HE is the One and only True GOD. There is NO OTHER. All other so-called gods are made up. The human mind is very creative and works to create in its own image some facsimile of its concept of god. It is man-kind’s desire to be in control. It began in the Garden of Eden. Isn’t it interesting how many things trace back to the Garden of 

Eden?

GOD Himself establishes the fact that there is “No other GOD than The LORD.” The LORD defined HIS name to Moses in Exodus 3:11-15:

¹¹ But Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹² He answered, “I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I am the one who sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship^[d] God at this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”

¹⁴ God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.^[e] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

Look back at verse 12, “this will be the sign to you that “I am” the one who sent you: “when you bring the people out of Egypt”, you will all worship^[d] God at this mountain.”

GOD proves Himself through what HE does as we obediently serve HIM, “I will certainly be with you,” when you are doing MY will.

GOD told Moses that when you do what I have asked you to do “you will know that “I AM” GOD.

People of today, you will never figure out The One True GOD, I AM/YHWH, using your intellect. The only way to know GOD is to take a step of faith by asking JESUS to forgive you for your sins and for HIM to come into your life. It is this step of faith that is the secret to having the right relationship with GOD through Spiritual rebirth, having eternal life and being indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Being indwelled by the Holy Spirit is every born-again believer’s assurance that they are GOD’S Child.

Let’s look again at this first scripture from GOD through Isaiah:

No God Other Than the Lord

⁶ This is what the Lord, the King of Israel and its Redeemer, the Lord of Armies, says:

I am the first and I am the last.
There is no God but me.

GOD defines Himself through action. HE is LORD, the King of Israel and the LORD of Armies. First, HE is LORD. HE has identified Himself by working in the lives of the Israelites as HIS chosen Nation through whom HE would send The Promised Messiah, JESUS.

GOD says what HE means and means what HE says. If you do not believe that, then read the Bible. The Bible is the revelation of GOD on an ever ascending scale culminating in JESUS sinless life, underscored by the miracles and works performed, HIS physical death, HIS resurrection by GOD, HIS ascension, the return of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the actions of the indwelling Holy Spirit through those born-again and the revelation of the final days.

GOD is the LORD of Armies and refers to HIS sovereign rulership over the created order. (Keep this in your mind when we read about the Prophet Elijah later on.) There are none like HIM. HE is unrivaled in power and authority.

GOD’S desire is for every person upon earth to build the right relationship with HIM through faith in JESUS. It is not a passive relationship but an active relationship and it is an exciting relationship. It is not an easy relationship but it is rewarding when we see the hand of GOD at work. 

Seeing the hand 0f GOD at work builds our trust in HIM and assures born-again Christians that HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS.

GOD continued to speak through the Prophet Isaiah as we read on ----
Let’s read Isaiah 44:7-11:

⁷ Who, like me, can announce the future? [ With 100% accuracy? No one or nothing! My insert.]
Let him say so and make a case before me,
since I have established an ancient people.
Let these gods declare^[c] the coming things,
and what will take place.
⁸ Do not be startled or afraid.
Have I not told you and declared it long ago?
You are my witnesses!
Is there any God but me?
There is no other Rock; I do not know any.

⁹ All who make idols are nothing,
and what they treasure benefits no one.
Their witnesses do not see or know anything,
so they will be put to shame.
¹⁰ Who makes a god or casts a metal image
that benefits no one?
¹¹ Look, all its worshipers will be put to shame,
and the craftsmen are humans.
They all will assemble and stand;
they all will be startled and put to shame.

GOD reveals HIS sovereignty in these verses. Making a statement is one thing but backing that statement up is another.

GOD gives us a lesson in logic. In essence, GOD tells us to think about any other god. Did any other god come to them or did they create the god they worship in their minds, looking at some object of wood, stone, metal or some other facsimile to give their false god form?

GOD demonstrated HIS power in 1 Kings 18:20-39:

Elijah at Mount Carmel

²⁰ So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions?^[b] If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.

²² Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. ²³ Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers with fire, he is God.”

All the people answered, “That’s fine.”

²⁵ Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.”

²⁶ So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced^[c] around the altar they had made.

²⁷ At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away;^[d] or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” ²⁸ They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. ²⁹ All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near me.” So, all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down: ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones—according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name”— ³² and he built an altar with the stones in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons.^{[e][f] 33} Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.” ³⁴ Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time. ³⁵ So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.

³⁶ At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah approached the altar and said, “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that at your word I have done all these things. ³⁷ Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.”

³⁸ Then the Lord’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”

GOD is sovereign. But how did the Prophet Elijah respond when Ahab and Jezebel told Elijah they were going to kill him as we read in 1 Kings 19:2-5:

² So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods punish me and do so severely if I don’t make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow!”

³ Then Elijah became afraid^[a] and immediately ran for his life. When he came to Beer-sheba that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there, ⁴ but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my fathers.” ⁵ Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree.

Suddenly, an angel touched him. The angel told him, “Get up and eat.”

When our lives are threatened many of us do not look to the sovereignty of GOD but to our ability. Our ability falls short but GOD’S ability is sovereign. GOD allowed Elijah to run for his life becuse HE desired for Elijah to learn of HIM as we read in 1 Kings 19:9-15:

⁹ He entered a cave there and spent the night. Suddenly, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁰ He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Armies, but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life.”

¹¹ Then he said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.”

At that moment, the Lord passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

Suddenly, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁴ “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Armies,” he replied, “but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they’re looking for me to take my life.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him, “Go and return by the way you came to the Wilderness of Damascus.

Once GOD has revealed Himself to us personally, it is time for us to go in HIS power and strength. It may take a disappointment in us before the sovereignty of GOD is revealed. DO NOT GIVE UP, THE BEST IS YET TO COME.

GOD instructed Elijah to return the way that he came.

GOD is always teaching HIS Children because HE loves us and when we place our trust in HIM, we are confident in the path of life now and ahead. Trust is the hallmark of walking in step with GOD, as confirmed by the Holy Spirit.

We shift from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The Apostle John reveals what he has learned in his walk and intimate relationship with JESUS/GOD. John intimate relationship comes from his walk with JESUS and what JESUS revealed to him through HIS life and teachings.

Let’s read John 14:1-7:

The Way to the Father

14 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe^[a] in God; believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many rooms; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. ³ If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. ⁴ You know the way to where I am going.”^[b]

⁵ “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you know me, you will also know^[c] my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Jesus Reveals the Father

⁸ “Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.”

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works. ¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe^[d] because of the works themselves.

GOD through our faith in JESUS and the indwelling Holy Spirit reveals the Father to all born-again Christians. HE teaches through all things in our lives. If you do not see it, then ask HIM to reveal it or them to you.

True Christianity is NOT a religion but a personal, intimate relationship with JESUS/GOD. Some people attempt to make Christianity a religion based upon their works. No person can work hard enough or long enough to earn his or her way to Heaven. There is but one way and that is by placing your faith in JESUS. Today is the day of salvation. What a way to close out 2019 and begin 2020! Blessings!!!