In January 1977, I departed the United States of America for the nation of India. This trip was to preach the inspired word of God to the people of India. The first thing I noticed was the mass of people. People were everywhere! Solitude was non-existent! Yet, this very fact gave rise to the great opportunity to fulfill my mission (2 Tim. 2:2) of teaching the lost the beautiful soul saving gospel of Christ!
The second thing that got my attention was the fact that this nation was wholly given to idolatry! Hardly was there a place that I could look and not see a “god;” be it in the fields, in the squares, in the buses, in the taxis and of course, in the homes! It was then that I was reminded of Paul’s words in Athens: “spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry” (Acts 17:16). What was my answer? It was the same as Paul’s, having studied his answer: “For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you” (Acts 17:23). At times I was in such a location, that I could point to the fields where such “gods” had been placed and say to my hearers, that they did not take very good care of their handmade “god” as the grass was as high as their “gods” were tall!” I pointed out that every “god” that I saw was nothing more than dead; that there was no life in any of them; and that all of them were made by their hands. Think of this; man making with his own hands his own “gods!” Make the “god” or “gods” that make you happy! By the nature of the God revealed upon the pages of the Bible, that which is worshipped by man, is greater than man! Why would any man desire to worship that which he has made with his own hands?
The God revealed upon the pages of the Bible, beginning in the first verse, God is declared unto us: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). Then, this most revealing verse, as it relates to our subject: “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day” (Gen. 1:11-19). Where does everything come from? God!
The above words are then followed with: “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Gen. 1:20-24). Here is the beginning things and their continuance, as seen in the words “bring forth!” This is followed with these words which reveal the beginning of mankind: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that crept upon the earth” (Gen. 1:26). There is God and man, in the proper order: first, God and then, man. God created man; man did not and cannot truly create God!
Yes, man can with his own hands, make whatever he so desires, call it a “god,” bow down, fall upon his face, and worship that which he hath made! But his words of worship will get no higher than his voice may travel. But, one thing for sure, the “god” made with his hands does not hear one word of his adoration, as his “god” has no ears to hear with (Isa. 59:1-2), no voice by which he can response to his request!
It was never, something from nothing, as it can never be such! Wherever and with whatever, man must start with “something” when addressing the beginning of things! Truth says: it was “in the beginning God!” Friends, don’t let anyone fool you, into believing that “nothing” can create “something!”
Frank R. Williams