“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” (Deut. 6:4).

It is very clear from the Bible that there is only One True God. He is The Almighty and the Creator of the Heavens, the Earth and all things (Gen. 1.1; Neh. 9:6, Ps. 124:8; Isa. 40:26,28; 44:24; Acts 14:15; 17:24,25; Rev. 14:7)

There was a time when nothing existed, except for a Spirit Being who was the One. He had always been in existence. Before time began, He existed alone, not needing anything to give Him energy or life. This Being is the One True God (Jn.17:3; 1Jn.5:20). He is immortal (1Tim. 6:16). That means this God cannot die.

The ancient Hebrews knew this immortal Spirit Being as Eloah. The meaning is singular or one. Today, we know Him as God. He is the Most High God (Gen. 14:18; Num. 24:16; Deut. 32:8; Mk. 5:7). He is also called Yahovih or Yahovah of Hosts. The Islamic faith refers to the One True God as Allah. This is the same God as in Christianity.

Proverbs 30:4-5 shows the name of God and that He has a son.

Who hath gone up to heaven, and come down?

Who hath gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands?

Who hath wrapped up the waters in His cloak?

Who hath established all the ends of the earth?

What is His name and the name of His son? Tell me if you know.

Every word of God [ELOAH] is flawless: He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

Do not add to His words, or He will rebuke you and prove you a liar. (NIV)

Pre-beginnings

Time started when God (Eloah) began to create. But before anything was created, God thought about what He would do and how He would go about it. Nothing is impossible for God. He was even able to see the end result of everything He did. For everything that would come into existence, Eloah thought out how
each action and creation would affect and relate to another.

Eloah is Alpha and He is Omega (Rev. 1:8). He alone was the first as an immortal being, so He is Alpha, or the beginning. He is Omega because he will be the end result of all His creation. The creation exists because of Him. The creation is centred on Him and in itself is the end object of His activity. Thus, God is creating Himself in an extended sense (Ex. 3:14). God became a Father when He created a family for Himself. But we can learn more about His family in the paper The Creation of the God Family (No. CB4).

Before anything came into existence, God thought about what He would do and how He would do it. He knew how everything would work out. He foresaw the final outcome of everything. There is nothing hidden or done in secret that God did not know before creation began. God knows everything (1Jn. 3:20). This is called omniscience. God did not need anything to assist Him to calculate things before He started to create. He was able to internally calculate every formula and was able to see what path each choice would lead to.

God is all-powerful. There is nothing that God cannot create or do to successfully complete His Plan. He knows what is possible, and He knows the best way to do things. Everything that has been created was designed and determined before time began. That includes us. Everything had to make sense and work out for the ultimate good. God knew how things were to be made, in what order and how many, and so on. This knowledge is truth; God is truth (Deut. 32:4).

God was able to create a universe without guessing or taking a chance on any outcome. Therefore, His will reflected perfection in truth. There is no error in His essence or character. God cannot make a mistake. By being able to work out every possible outcome and avoiding any mishap through His omniscience, God is perfect (Mat. 5:48).

Before beginning to create, God knew that it would all be perfect and good. He knew what was good, because He wanted the creation to be like Him and reflect what He was. God’s ultimate purpose is for good. Therefore, God is good (Ps. 25:8). The source of all goodness comes from Him. When someone referred to Christ as “good teacher”, Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good” (Mat 19:17; Mk 10:18; Lk 18:19).

God is love (1Jn. 4:8; Rom. 13:10). He is not a God who punishes with eternal torment that some make Him out to be. He is a forgiving and merciful God. He has even prepared repentance for Satan and the fallen Host. He only wants the best for everyone. Once the physical creation has served its purpose, the entire spiritual Host and every son and daughter of Adam will be united as children of God.

The end result of everything is that we will all think and live with perfect love for one another and see how wonderful God truly is, and only worship Him. When we love our neighbour it shows that the love of God is in us.

1John 4:20-21 If people say, “I love God,” but hate their brothers or sisters, they are liars. Those who do not love their brothers and sisters, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have never seen.²¹And God gave us this command: Those who love God must also love their brothers and sisters. (NCV)

God wants all of us to be holy just like He is (Ex. 22:31; Lev. 11:45; 19:2; 20:7; 21:8). This can only be achieved by living within God’s perfect Law of liberty (Jas. 1:25).

1Peter 1:14Now that you are obedient children of God do not live as you did in the past. You did not understand, so you did the evil things you wanted.¹⁵But be holy in all you do, just as God, the One who called you, is holy.¹⁶It is written in the Scriptures: “You must be holy, because I am holy.” (NCV)

God has given us His Law, which is a reflection of His own character; it is holy, right and good just like He is (Rom. 7:12). Doing away with the Law of God does away with the nature of God that He wants written on our hearts. Christ showed us how we are to love one another by obeying God’s Commandments. He lived a life without sin, humbling himself before his God and laying down his life for all of us so we too could have the love for God and our fellow man as he does. God wants us to come into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29; 1Cor. 11:1).

No man has ever seen God or heard His voice (Jn. 1:18; 5:37). The prophets of old did not see or hear God or Eloah; instead, they saw and heard the Angel of Yahovah who later became Jesus Christ (see the paper Who is Jesus? (No. CB2)).

How do we know the Supreme God exists?

It is written that only a fool says in his heart that there is no God (Ps. 14:1). Eloah has always existed (Ps. 93:2). He is a Spirit Being.

John 4:24 “God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth”. (N IV)

God has proven His existence by many works. He created the heavens and the Earth (Gen. 1:1). Eloah is the builder of everything (Heb. 3:4). Everything belongs to Him (1Chro. 26:16). It is Eloah who made us and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture (Ps.100:3).

Jesus came to teach us about the Father.

John 7:28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, "You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord; he who sent me is true, and him you do not know. (RSV)

Does the fact that we suffer and die mean that God does not love us?

No. Much of mankind’s problems are caused by not keeping God’s Laws. Eating unclean food causes disease in our bodies. Many humans do not follow proper hygiene and quarantine and so infections and diseases spread from one person to another. Humans are becoming weaker and weaker as a species because of generations of disobedience to God’s Laws. Also, we do not take proper care of the Earth as God commanded us. Wars cause a lot of suffering and this is not God’s doing. Humans abuse each other and pollute their own bodies. We pollute the Earth too. So, we are mostly responsible for our own suffering (see the paper the Biblical Food Laws (No. CB19)).

Does God really care what happens to humans?

Yes He does! God cares and loves us greatly. He does not want anything to come between Him and us. He wants us to know and understand that nobody is equal to Him in power and might (Deut. 4:35).

God gave man a perfect start (Gen. 1:26-30). But man rejected God’s Law and decided to do things his own way. This has brought a great deal of trouble on us (Rom. 5:12). Remember, God sent His son to redeem humans from sin and death. This is proof of God’s great love for mankind (Jn. 3:16).

We should not be discouraged when things go wrong. We should not ask, “Where is God? Why did this thing happen to me?” God knows everything that is happening in our lives. Remember, Jesus was perfected through suffering. We too must expect to learn from our trials and suffering. But God is never far away. He will never allow us to bear any more problems than we can handle. We should rejoice in our hearts because we can trust God (Ps. 33:20-21).

To whom should we pray?

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray (Lk. 11:1). Jesus then gave them some examples of how to pray and to whom they should pray. Read the Scriptures and notice that prayer is directed to the Father alone.

Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (RSV)

Then Jesus followed with the model prayer (Mat. 6:9-13). Notice verse 9:

Matthew 6:9 This then is how you should pray: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. (NIV)

As Christians we are to follow in Jesus' footsteps. So when we pray we ask in his name.

John 14:13-14 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; ¹⁴ if you ask anything in my name, I will do it. (RSV)

(See also Jn. 15:7)

God can hear us in Heaven. The Lord God listens and hears those who fear Him and they will not be forgotten (Mal. 3:16). When we pray we are to give thanks to God for our many blessings and the wonderful creation He gave us (Ps. 105:1).

For more information see the papers Lesson on Prayer Part A Teacher’s Guide (CB31) and Lesson on Prayer Part B Worksheet (CB32)).

Is it important which God we worship?

Yes, it is most important that we worship the right God. We are to worship before the Lord our God (Deut. 26:10; 1Sam. 1:3; 15:25). But is this God made up of two or three persons? No! Can we say that Jesus Christ the Son of God is God as God the Father is God? The answer is definitely “NO”.

Jesus is spoken of as God (Jn. 1:1), even as mighty God (Isa. 9:6), but nowhere is he spoken of as being The Almighty God (Gen. 17:1). Jesus in no way seeks the position of his Father (Lk. 4:8). Jesus is a god, but he is not the One True God. He is a separate spirit being, but through his obedience he is one with the Father.

Christ tells us that the object of our worship is the Father and not himself.

John 4:23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. (NIV)

When do we worship our God?

The One True God has given us a Calendar and special instructions as to which days we are to keep holy and gather together to worship Him. These times and days are all explained in the following papers: God’s Sacred Calendar (No. CB20); The Sabbath Day (No. CB21); God’s Holy Days (No. CB22).

There is No Other God

No god comes close to being like God the Father (Ex. 8:10). He is majestic, awesome in glory, working wonders (Ex. 15:11).

Isaiah 44:6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of Hosts: “I am the First and I am the Last; besides me there is no god.” (RSV)

The apostle Paul wrote to true Christians:

1Corinthians 8:5-6 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), ⁶ yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came, and for whom we live. (NIV)

No one else shares the position of the Supreme God (Eloah, in Hebrew). All other objects of worship such as idols, dead saints, the Virgin Mary and Satan are false gods.

We are to worship no other Elohim (god) other than God who is the Father (Ex. 34:14; Deut. 11:16) or we will be destroyed (Deut. 30:17-18). God gave His First Commandment as:

Exodus 20:2 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other god(s) (elohim) before me. (NIV)

Eloah is our God and Father and the God and Father of Jesus Christ (Jn. 20:17). God created us all and we have only one Father (Mal. 2:10). Our Father is in Heaven (Mat. 23:9). He is the Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Eph. 4:6).

There is One True God Eloah. All other Elohim (gods) exist because He wills it to be so. They continue to exist because of obedience to Eloah’s authority.

The Lord God is gracious and compassionate. He does not get angry quickly, but is patient. He is full of love (Ps. 145:8; Ex. 34:6). He is always willing and ever present to help us in any trouble (Ps. 46:1). God wants all of us to be like Him. Everyone who has ever been born will have the opportunity to receive eternal life. God’s wish is that everyone will choose to live by His rules.

As we come to understand who God is and begin to live His way, we will see that it is perfect. As we read and study His word we find it is flawless. So if we come to trust in God and obey Him He will protect us (Ps. 18:30; Pro. 30:5). We must know and worship the One True God before we can understand the mysteries of God. This takes time but we have an awesome future ahead of us.

It is man’s destiny to become Elohim (gods) like Jesus Christ who was the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament (Zech. 12:8).

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Pre-beginnings