One reason we believe there’s only one God is because it’s simply more logical. For example, how could thousands of gods and goddesses — each with only limited power and authority — ever create something as complicated and awe-inspiring as the universe? The answer is, they couldn’t. But the main reason we know there’s only one God is because He has revealed this great truth to us. We aren’t left to guess what God is like, or to try to create Him out of our imaginations — because God has shown us what He is like. He has shown us that He alone is God, and that there are no other gods or goddesses besides Him. As the Bible says, “Before me there was no God formed, and after me there shall be none.…I am, I am the Lord: and there is no saviour besides me.” (Isaiah 43:10-11). When the ancient Israelites were about to enter the land that God had promised them, He repeatedly warned that they would be surrounded by nations that worshipped many gods. But they weren’t to be influenced by them or misled by them. Instead, they must worship God alone, for He alone is the one true God: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. (Deuteronomy 6:4). What we need to recognize is that there is only One God. He is ONE God, in three divine Persons, the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.)and his name is YHWH or Yahweh. “He is the one true and living God, creator and lord of heaven and earth, almighty, eternal, immeasurable, incomprehensible, infinite in will, understanding and in every perfection.” He is pure spirit and divine. His domain in heaven is thus pure and divine like unto Him. Therefore nothing defiled can enter it. As His creatures, we are finite. We cannot compare to His infinity, and His divinity. Many scholars believe that the most proper meaning of Yahweh may be “He Brings into Existence Whatever Exists,” which implies that Yahweh (in the Old Testament — it is written as “LORD”) is the self-existent, eternal God the Creator. When God made Adam and Eve, their nature is fulfilled in that they are in harmony with God and with all of creation. They lose this harmony when they seek to “be like God” (Gen 3:5) when they disobeyed God and ate the apple, they committed Original Sin. Had Adam and Eve not committed original sin, we would all merit heaven. But original sin was committed, and original sin damaged the essence of man in the unity of his body and soul (corrupted our nature), separating us from God, and bringing dissatisfaction and guilt into our lives. In our fallen human nature, man's intellect is darkened, his will is weakened, and his passions become rebellious.
The gates of heaven was closed to us when Adam and Eve was driven away from Paradise. Our souls were then stained with the mark of original sin. This is the reason why Baptism is necessary to cleanse us from the stain of original sin. Therefore in God’s merciful love, He sent His only Son, Jesus, to us on Earth to set the precedent of the need of Baptism, by being baptized by St. John the Baptist, even though Jesus need not be baptized. Jesus then redeemed us through His Passion and death on the Cross, shedding His Precious Blood, in order to open the gates of heaven and setting up the Church and the Sacraments to help us to attain entry into heaven. It was only Jesus’ being also God, only He could atone for our sins thus His sacrifice on the Cross was true sacrifice worthy of God’s acceptance. The Sacraments of the Church, are to help us to re-unite ourselves with God after having committed sins against Him. Without these Sacraments especially Baptism, Confirmation and the Sacrament of Penance - Confession, we as finite creatures of God have no way to cleanse/purify our souls to regain our friendship with God. Therefore, please appreciate these facts and become a child of God as out of His love He desires us to be and united with Him in His kingdom, our true home. Comments are closed.
|
Details
AuthorAn artist, entrepreneur, a loving family man, 30 years a Catholic traditionalist upholding traditions for the love of God. Shop for Catholic giftsArchives
January 2024
Categories
All
|