How Do I Know My God is Real?

Perhaps this is a question we have all pondered at some time or another. Isaiah has a very interesting section that helps assure Israel the answer to this question. Isaiah 41-48 is a court setting where God has called the entire pantheon of earthly gods together to present their respective case for deity. This section contains 3 fundamental principles that are necessary for deity. God's first challenge implies that a true God can reveal (41.21-24). He demands that the "other gods" reveal the course of human history. Tell the court about the future, tell us about the past, how about you tell us anything. Obviously, they are silent. Not only are they nothing, but it is an abomination to serve such a farce existence (41.24).

The second principle: a true God can create. 44.12-40 contains a detailed account of idol making and worship. I recommend reading it in the Complete Jewish Bible if you have access to that translation. This section describes the labor of a carpenter and a blacksmith as they work with great detail and care to create an idol. Half of the wood used to carve the idol must also be used for heat and cooking. The other half is fashioned and worshipped. The sad disillusionment of this practice is brought out in the CJB: "Not one thinks to himself or has the knowledge or the discernment to say, "I burned half of it in the fire, baked bread on its coals, roasted meat and ate it. Should I now make the rest an abomination? Should I prostrate myself to a tree trunk?" He is relying on ashes! A deceived heart has led him astray; so that now he won't save himself, just won't say, "This thing in my hand is a fraud!" How can that which is made by the hand of man, be the creator of man? A true God is not created, he creates!

The final principle comes from 45.1-4. As the children of Judah were being forewarned about the impending Babylonian exile, Isaiah goes a step further and tells them that God has already planned to deliver them; he even names the person who will deliver them (Cyrus). Not only is this pure predictive prophecy, here lies the last truth that proves YHWH is God. A true God can save. When Isaiah reveals the future exile that Babylonians will go into, he tells how the Babylonians loaded their gods onto beasts in order to save them. These gods do not save, they need saving (46.1-2)! How could a human possibly save deity?

We may not have the same temptation for idol worship as the Ancient Near Eastern world struggled with, but we do face the temptation of placing things above God. How do I know if my God is real? There are 3 fundamental truths that define the nature and ability of an infinite being: What does he reveal? What has he created? Can he save?