“God Is Exclusive” by Steve Lawson
Humans have a favorite word we use when we challenge a rule that we do not like. We simply ask, “Why?” This one word puts the rule maker or rule enforcer on the defensive. They must explain the reasoning behind the making and keeping of the rule. They may have to resort to giving some sort of cost/benefit analysis. Little children ask “why?” often when a parent forbids them from being disobedient. The child’s defiance leads to the parent giving plenty of reasons.
Sadly, way too often, God’s people want God to answer their “whys” about following His commands. Much of our questioning should come to an end when we acknowledge that God is the only true God and that He alone has every right (and the duty) to tell those created in His image how to live. The fact that “God is exclusive” impacts our lives. Look to the last paragraph to see what that is.
Moses records the first commandment to be, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Steve Lawson then notes, “Any other god is simply the result of the vain thought of darkened minds. Any other deity has no basis in reality whatsoever.” In the second giving of the Ten Commandments in Dt. 5:7, God restates the same words. “God is emphatic that He alone is exclusively God.”
Later in Isaiah 45:5-6 God says, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no God…There is no one beside Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.” The Psalms teach God’s exclusiveness by calling Him “the LORD.” [For homework, explore the Psalms and count at least twenty uses of “the Lord.”] The term merits all capital letters as it refers to the holy name of God which Israel held so highly that they did not speak it or even write it. We know that name as Yahweh or Jehovah. It refers to God’s eternal nature, sovereignty, perfection and supernatural character. No other small ‘g’ god can compare to Him.
Therefore, all other “gods are nonexistent and (have) no basis in reality. The exclusive God demands to be worshiped as the only God.” We must get rid of any gods in our lives that keep us from worshiping the exclusive God and living to His glory alone.