Two Gods

     Yes, there are two Gods.  One God, the true God, is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The other god, the false one,  is the devil.  The devil is referred to as a god in the Bible.

II Corinthians 4:4
   In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

   How did the devil get to be the god of this world with the power and authority to control and blind the minds of man?  The answer is no secret.  The devil has legal power and authority over the world because Adam, who was given dominion over all the earth (Genesis 1:28) delivered that authority to the devil when he disobeyed God.

   The devil blinds the minds of man.  The secret of his success is secrecy.  If man knew the true nature and actions of the devil, man would never follow him.  The devil is content to let the goodness of the true God prevail in the world and he is content to let evil, disaster, and death be blamed on the true God as well.  The devil would rather stay hidden in the background and blind the minds of men.  Jesus Christ exposed the devil with the light of God's Word.  Throughout his ministry Jesus cast out devils and exposed the devil for the evil god that he is.  The devil would rather stay hidden.  The devil is a Blinder.  The true God is Light.

I John 1:5
   This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Psalm 18:28
   For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

  God is Light!  He wants us to know the score.  The true God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, gave His Word so that men and women could know what is going on.  The true God enlightens the minds of men just as the false god blinds them.

Ephesians 1:3
   Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

   God is a Blesser!  He pours out the blessings we need to live a life that is more than abundant.  He gave us His Word and set up principles that allow us to live a blessed life.

Malachi 3:10
   Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

   God pours out blessings in abundance as we apply His Word in our lives.  The true God is the Blesser of our lives.  The false god, in contrast, is a Devourer.

Malachi 3:11
   And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

   The devil is a Devourer.  He eats up and destroys our abundance.  The true God promises that as we give and acknowledge Him, He will rebuke the Devourer so that our work prospers and we keep the abundance that He pours out as the Blesser.

I Peter 5:8
   Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour;

   The devil devours people just as he devours goods.  He is your personal Adversary.  He is against you!  In contrast the true God is on our side.  He is our Defender.

Psalm 118:6
   The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

Psalm 94:22
   But the Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.

   God is on our side.  He is our Defender just as the devil is our Adversary.  The devil was given authority over the earth and mankind.  He uses that power to turn men and women away from the true God and attempts to get them to worship him rather than the true God.

Luke 4:5-7
   And the devil, taking him [Jesus Christ] up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
   And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
   If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

Matthew 4:1, 3..
   Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. - - - And when the tempter came to him, he said . . .

   The devil is the Tempter.  He challenges the truth of God's Word and tempts man to reject it and worship him.  In response to the tempter's challenge the Lord Jesus Christ continually answered with "It is written!"  When we stand upon the Word of God in time of temptation by our adversary we receive the approval of the true God.  In contrast to the Tempter, the true God is the Approver.

James 1:12-13
   Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried [approved], he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
   Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God:  for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

II Timothy 2:15
   Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

   The devil is the Tempter.  He tempts men and women to not rightly divide and live according to the truth of God's Word.  When we stand upon that Word we are rewarded of God.  We are approved!  Just as a teacher gives an "A" for excellent work, God gives us His approval when we believe His Word.  We are rewarded with the approval of God - a crown of life!  God is the Approver!  We rightly divide God's Word and stand upon it because it is the word of truth.  The Bible is the word of truth because God, its author, is the God of Truth.

Deuteronomy 32:3-4
   Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
   He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

   God is a God of Truth.  He is right.  He is just.  His work is perfect!  In contrast to the God of Truth, the devil is a Liar.

John 8:44
   Ye [Pharisees] are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

   The devil is the father of lies.  He is a Liar and a murderer.  He uses lies to deceive and accuse men and women and so capture them.  Just as a hunter or trapper uses snares to catch prey, the devil uses lies to capture people.  He is a Captor.

II Timothy 2:26
   And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him, at his will.

   The devil is one who sets snares and takes captive.  He is a Captor.  In contrast, the true God, delivers us.  God is our Deliverer!

Psalm 91:2-4
   I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
   Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

Psalm 18:2
   The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

   God is our Deliverer.  He sent the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver us from captivity and He raised him from the dead and set him at His own right hand.  That which captivates people was lead captive in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 4:8
   Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

  All things that captivate and oppress people were led captive in Christ.  The devil is the Oppressor of man.  Jesus Christ came to set the captives free.

Acts 10:38
   How God anointed Jesus of nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

   Sickness is oppression.  It is not God's Will!  It comes from the other god: the devil.  Jesus Christ healed all those oppressed of the devil.  Jesus Christ always did God's Will.  God was with him.  In contrast to the Oppressor, the true God is the Righteous Judge who sets free those that are oppressed.

Psalm 146:7
   [God] Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry.  The Lord looseth the prisoners:

Isaiah 58:6
   Is not this the fast that I [God] have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

   God is the Righteous Judge.  He lets the oppressed go free.  He looseth the prisoners.  He is the God of Life!  He sent His son, the Lord Jesus Christ to provide us with a life that is more than abundant now, and everlasting throughout eternity.

John 3:16
   For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 10:10
   The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:  I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

   The god of this world, the devil, comes to steal the blessings of God.  He is a thief.  He comes to kill and he comes to destroy.  God is the God of Life.  The devil is the god of Death.

Hebrews 2:14
   Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.

   The devil has the power of death.  He is the god of Death.  The devil does his best to hide his true nature from man.  Yes there are two Gods.  There is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and there is the god of this world, the devil.  Knowing their true natures the choice for man is clear.  Which God do you want to worship?
 

The devil - the god of this world
The God & Father of the Lord Jesus Christ
Blinder
Light
Devourer
Blesser
Adversary
Defender
Tempter
Approver
Liar
God of Truth
Captor
Deliverer
Oppressor
Judge who Frees
Death
Life

 


July, 1998
URL http://www.cortright.org/twogods.htm
Michael Cortright