Message from Scripture: 7/29/2021

 

Our message from Scripture today comes from 1 Cor. 8:4; “About eating food sacrificed to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.”

 

In this passage, Paul is emphasizing that, although idolatry was prevalent during his day, there was no reality behind those idols.  They are worthless substitutes for the one true and living God of Scripture. Later Paul would warn us, “But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:3-4).  While Satan is certainly not the one true and living God, he is “a god” in the sense that so many people allow him first place in their hearts and lives, instead of God himself.

 

The devil is the force behind any and every expression of sin. Satan is god of this world, and is pleased so many worship him without knowing it, living in sin but calling it anything and everything but that.   He is content for people to have various gods in their lives, as their origin and consequences originate with him. There are really only two choices for who we serve:  Satan or the only God.  Satan desires to destroy us, but God loves us and seeks what is best for us, today and eternally. Truly, Satan is no match for our loving Father. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Jas 4:7).

 

Let’s go out to serve the only God who is deity, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In Him we have confidence about our future, while following the course of the world will only lead to destruction. May our lives lead others to the better, the only way to life. God bless.

 

Robert