Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me.

  Isaiah 43:10b

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

          Acts 4:12

It’s uncomfortable for some and entirely offensive to others…the proclamation that there is only one God. But it’s more than that. There is a God and there is only one God and He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Bible. He came to earth and took on human flesh as Jesus. And God accomplished on the cross what can never be matched throughout a lifetime of human effort and religious motion. Salvation is only through Jesus Christ and is completely apart from works. Yet the world insists that all religious and philosophical views should be considered (or ignored). But the very suggestion that all views have equal merit is equivalent to saying that none of them do for the simple reason that many views contradict one another. Just like in mathematics, we have finite rules and truths (i.e 2+2=4), when it comes to spiritual truth, there are absolute truths that remain with or without human acknowledgment. This is very offensive to a post-modern world that declares, “You do you and I’ll do me.” But both the Old and New Testaments point to the reality that there is but one God. But before looking at these and other passages that teach us about the Lord, let’s consider the derogatory nature of misidentifying God. 

Suppose I was speaking about you to another person and while describing you I got lots of things wrong. I mislabeled your height, weight, hair color, and ethnicity. In fact, I even got your name wrong. I got just about everything about you so incorrect that the person I’m speaking to would not even recognize you if you walked in the room. Through my misinformation, I effectively clouded and distorted the mind of the person so that the truth about you was not even known to them. This is much what it’s like when we mislabel God. People who do not know Him speculate and often arrive at conclusions that are not even accurate. So how do we combat this mistake? Well, two things have to be in place and if they are, there will be no mistaking who God is and what He is like. 

First, we have to be born again (John 3:3). Until we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, we will be void of the Holy Spirit and will continue living in spiritual darkness. It’s the presence of God in the lives of Christians that allows them to not just know about God but actually “know Him.” Secondly, after this spiritual transformation has taken place, we recognize the Bible as our authority for all things regarding life, now and eternal. If we have either, not been saved or ignore the Word of God, the Bible, we are destined to make the same mistakes that the world makes in mislabeling God. Consider the following:

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.

  1 Corinthians 2:14-15

This passage explains why the world, apart from Christ, does not know God or accept the things of God. Only when we belong to Christ do spiritual things begin to be illuminated. So what does the Bible say about God? First, God’s testimony of Himself. “Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me” (Isaiah 43:10b). Humanity can question the authority of scripture and dispute God’s own declaration of Himself but those things are done in ignorance. For those who know God, we understand that He is eternal and that nothing that we know in this world would even exist if it were not for Christ. Consider the following:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

          John 1:1-5

Also:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 

      Colossians 1:15-17

If it were not for Christ, the world in which we live would not even exist. This is the irony for those who would deny God and Christ. The objection couldn’t even be made without the life given to them by God Himself. And when it comes to the salvation of our souls:

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

          Acts 4:12

The name of Jesus is a power one. It is the only name given to mankind by which “we must be saved.” Consider the colorful language often found in movies and television. It’s not just four-letter words being thrown about but also the names of Jesus Christ and God. You won’t find the names of any other religious figures used in such ways. Why? Even script writers know the power in the name of Jesus (whether they are believers or not). Not to mention the reality that all of those other religious figures are still in the ground. Only Jesus is a resurrected Savior! And Jesus even gives us the testimony that He is God and that salvation only comes from Him: 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

John 14:6

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

      John 14:7

So with such a great witness and the testimonies provided to us through scripture, why would anyone live apart from Christ? But this, unfortunately, is the reality for many in the world today. Without a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, being void of the Holy Spirit, many reject not only the gospel (designed to save their souls) but also the testimonies given to us in scripture. Yet, spiritual truth and the reality of who God is doesn’t require anyone’s approval or acknowledgment. Just like people can have the wrong opinion about our lives, we can have a misguided opinion of God and that will remain until we personally meet the Savior.

Jesus went to the cross for us, meaning that sin and death need not be the final answer for you and your life. The gospel waits…Jesus waits and longs to see you not just survive but thrive and this all begins when we surrender our lives to Him!

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

      Philippians 2:9-11