The God Hole

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air; and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1: 26-27

Man is unlike any other living thing on earth. He was a special creation of God. He was made in God’s image. He is a three-in-one being. He has a physical body. He has a spirit. He also has a soul.

Inside man God has place a hole that can only be filled by Him. You see this in every human society. In primitive societies they worship nature, the heavens, even rocks. In our modern American society we have been trying to replace our God hole with pleasures, money, drugs, etc.

News people are amazed that people would join a group like ISIS. I don’t see why they should be so surprised. We have tried to take God out of society. The God hole must be filled. ISIS tells potential followers that they are a spiritual group. Man must believe in something. ISIS simply fills that void.

When you understand the God hole, it is quite easy to understand why radical groups can be attractive to people. When will we understand that man must worship God?

The Greatest Gift

This time of year brings to mind the greatest gift ever given to mankind. Almost two thousand years ago, God came to earth. Jesus lived for about 33 years teaching man about what He expects. He then suffered a horrible death but miraculously arose on the third day to give man eternal life.

There were deniers from the very first. The Scribes and Pharisees paid the guards to tell people that His disciples stole His body. As the years have passed, more and more deniers have arisen trying to discount Jesus and His death and resurrection.

Today, we have people who even deny that Jesus existed. The simple fact is that we have more evidence that Jesus existed than we have that Julius Caesar or Homer existed. No one would claim these men didn’t exist.

Why is there such a concentrated effort to deny that Jesus existed? The answer is complex and simple. The simple answer is that the Devil tries to tell us that God’s word is a lie. It started in the Garden of Eden when he told Eve that God lied.  God said if they ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would die. The Devil, in the guise of the serpent, told her she would not surely die, but she would become like God. Of course, His word was true and they died spiritually and physically.

Today the cries are shriller. The Devil still wants man to believe God’s word isn’t true. Man also has a dilemma. If he admits that Jesus was real, then he must ask himself what will he do with Jesus.

All men know that there is sin in the world. The question is what to do about it. Many think the government is the answer. Others believe overcoming poverty and ignorance will defeat sin. All of these are doomed to failure because sin is a condition of the heart. Until the heart is changed sin will continue. Jesus brought us freedom from sin and death. That is why his death and resurrection are so important and why it is fought so vehemently.

The Name of God

Over the years, I have known a number of people from different faiths. I have also known those who professed to have no faith at all. In each case, I noticed something unusual.

When these people cursed, they used the name of my God in vain. They didn’t swear by their deities.  This always brought up some questions to me. First, why would a person who confesses that they do not believe in God swear at all? Why would you use an oath on a Being who doesn’t exist? Some atheists say God is a fantasy. If so, why don’t they swear by the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, or the Great Pumpkin?

If you believe in another faith, why would you swear by the name of my God? It took me a while to understand this phenomenon. The answer is quite simple. You do not swear if you use the name of a false God. If I say “Oh Zeus” or “For Thor’s sake”, I didn’t swear. These gods do not exist.

Isn’t it amazing that by the swear words others use they uphold the fact that my God is in fact the only God.