Same Name, Different God

Have you ever had a conversation about someone and then later realized that you were both using the same name but were talking about completely different people? Imagine you were talking with three people and one of them said, “I met Chris Hippe today” and you ask, “What is he like?” The first person responds that he is a four-foot tall Eskimo man living in the arctic. Another other person says he is a 7-foot tall Rastafarian man with dreadlocks. A third person chimes in and says, “It’s okay…you both are right as long as you believe it in your heart.” This is how it can be when we are talking about the Lord. We are using the same name, but not talking about the same God. Misunderstandings about who God is are pervasive, so how do we see Him rightly? In Scripture, we don’t have a right to impose our opinion on God. He describes His attributes and His character.

From the Bible

  • There is one true living God. The Bible repeatedly states that there is one true God (Isaiah 43:10; 45:5-6, :21). On Mount Carmel,Elijah called upon the Lord to remind the nation of Israel that there is only one God. When the ark of the Lord was captured by the Philistines and placed in the temple of their god, Dagon, his statue was repeatedly found fallen over and bowing down before the ark of the Lord. What was the Lord saying then and now? There is only one true living God.
  • He is holy (Isaiah 6:1-5). We are not just talking about another person. God is not like us; He is so different and Holy we can’t see His face. Meditate on Isaiah 55:8-9. His thoughts are above our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. It’s so easy for us to define God on our terms, as if the clay could tell the potter what to do. We often do this when we rely on our logic and feelings to be the barometer of truth in our lives. We must turn to the Lord’s Word and spend time in prayer before in order to see Him rightly.
  • We are prone to idolatry. Throughout the Bible, we often see the people of God ambushed through sexual immorality and idolatry. In Isaiah 44, we see the depravity of turning to idols, which is anything natural that is given sacred value and power. Expose hidden idolatry by thinking about where you turn for security and happiness, who or what you ultimately trust, and who you’ve placed in charge of your future.

See Him Rightly

It is no different for us today as it was for ancient Israel. We live in a land where people create gods in their minds. If we aren’t careful, we can use our own logic and our feelings to tell God who He is. Give yourself to searching the Word of God. Spend time praying, “…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe…” (Ephesians 1:17-19).