The history of the gods is virtually endless. Volumes could be filled if all was brought to our attention and explored. To avoid that, we will limit our focus to a few examples.

Throughout the ages people of every culture had their gods. Those classified as the uncivilized generally worshiped the powers they did not understand, especially the elements such as the sun, the moon, the earth and the weather. Their beliefs and superstitions were passed down from generation to generation, with some still being embraced to this day.

Later on, people relied on the more educated thinkers, such as poets, to tell them who, or what, the gods were. Those gods took on the form of their creators, yet having much more power and supernatural abilities than mere human beings.

As mentioned previously, two of the Greek and Roman poets, Homer and Hesiod, are credited for supplying them and the rest of the world with most of the gods; of course, there were others; such as, Virgil, Plato, and later on Dante Alighieri to name a few.

Homer created quite a number in "The Odyssey." And around 700 BC, Hesiod wrote his Theogony, which described the origins and genealogies of the gods as he had envisioned. It is also known as — "Birth of the Gods."

 The Greeks, Romans and the other nations had numerous gods, and just to make sure they had not missed or offended any, they made an image of the "Unknown god," the one Paul mentioned in the book of Acts. Perhaps surprisingly to some, even though Christians maintain that there is only One God, in effect, they have made Him to be many Gods. Depending on the dogma of the denominations and sects primarily determine the image of their god. Notwithstanding, much of Christianity's initial and abiding images of God were due to the influence of Homer, Hesiod, Virgil, Plato, Dante, etc.

To name a few, the following religions are examples of their gods of different kinds:

Calvinism: A god of "Predestination," He predestines every human being from the infants to old aged, to either eternal bliss in heaven or eternal torment in hell.

Arminianism: A god that elects those who exercise their freewill in choosing to follow Christ. It is a conditional election. They do not believe in once saved always saved, and all that are lost at the time of death will spend "eternity in hell."

Most Protestants: Among other things, he is a god that requires people to believe Jesus is His Son, and confess Him as their Lord in order to enter "eternity in heaven" rather than the alternative of "eternity in hell."

Roman Catholicism: Their god has provided "purgatory" as a place where believers suffer as their "venial sins" are purged before being allowed in heaven. Their release, however, is not until their family and friends have paid adequate indulgences to the church on behalf of their loved ones. Praying the rosary for them also helps to lessen their time in purgatory. This god also has a place for the unbaptized, unrepentant, as well as nonmembers of the church. This place is designed especially for those who have committed "mortal" sins, and that eternal place is similar to other religions that embrace — HELL!

Jehovah's Witnesses: A god that was able to find only 144,000 qualifying, faithful witnesses that he allowed into heaven from AD 30 to 1935. It was determined back then that since the number had been reached, the door to heaven was forever closed to anyone else. No one else would ever be permitted access to that highest paradise. All others would be confined to Earth with the remainder of the Jehovah Witnesses ruling over them. They believe that people who die pass out of existence and do not suffer in a fiery hell.  God will bring billions back from death by means of a resurrection. However, those who refuse to learn God's ways after being raised to life will be destroyed forever with no hope of a resurrection.

There is much more about the gods of these and other religions, but we will let those who are interested search it out for themselves.

Truly, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:5: "...whether in heaven or in earth...there be gods many," and 2000 years down the road, it stands the same in the religious systems of the world as partially listed above.

The images of God today may vary, but in many ways they are similar. One of those similarities is the supposed war between God and Satan. It is believed that an "archangel" by the name of Lucifer waged a losing war in heaven against God. Upon his failed coup, the devil and his angels were cast down to the earth.

However, as the popular belief goes, God evidently loses the war, that is, if we do a headcount of the casualties. Since the fall of Adam and Eve until the end of the ages, it has been estimated that a mere 1% of humanity will be saved while the rest will be spending eternity in hell. This storyline has Satan winning 99% of humanity who will spend eternity in the flames of fire. Thus, making him the real winner of the war. What distorted images of God and Satan that men have made of both!

That man-made image of God has Him as the one in the beginning who loved everyone unconditionally; but in the end He loses all affection for those who were beguiled and became battle casualties at the hands of the devil. He then leaves them in the captor's prisons to be tormented throughout eternity and in every demonic way possible. A strange way to permit the treatment of your fallen soldiers of war. Even so, this is supposedly the same God who says in Proverbs 11:1 that a false balance is an abomination, and the god that men made is way out of balance with such a scenario.

What a terrible, unbalanced price to pay for a few years of sin, and with some a few months, days, or even a few hours, depending when they die. It is like the blind and ignorant being cast into a briar patch of vanity, lusts, temptations and having to toil a few moments or through a lifetime of thorns and thistles, and coming out the other side without a scratch. The clincher is this: all of humanity came into and was subjected to a world they never chose to come into in the first place. Paul said it this way: "For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly." Romans 8:20.

For some, it is as if mankind has been a big, uncontrolled experiment, and when it fails, which God knew from the beginning that it would fail, He sends His failures to a burning garbage pit to writhe in flames forever. What an uncaring, pathetic remedy that would be! But with Dante’s influence upon Christian theology, such is affectionately embraced.

Their god provided an inferno in one form or another for the unfortunates. Although some of the attributes of Dante’s god were creations of his own; a large portion came from a variety of sources as well as from legendary stories of his time. He also made eternal punishment and its god real and exotic, as well as being Christian. The church has embraced so much of his epic poem as “gospel” rather than what the scriptures say about the living God and Father of us all. Dante’s god was much more exciting and bore more of a witness to the man’s religious mind-set than the One of endless love, mercy, grace, and remedial judgment. Therefore, the true God was traded in for a newer model, which was more to their liking. Another false image some have made of God is much like another said:

"The God of many Christians seems to be a self-centered narcissist who suffers from Munchausen Syndrome, that is:

"'I'll make you sick so that you know how much you need Me.'

"People who do such today are called psychopaths; but if God does it to His children, He is called a loving God who is Holy and Just in everything He does. Frankly, such a god would be in dire need of a visit from Child Protective Services..." — Unknown

"...LET GOD BE TRUE, but every man a liar...." Romans 3:4. One lie that men make is by saying “Jesus would like to save the world, but He either can't or He won't,” while, it is written, "...For we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is INDEED the Christ, THE SAVIOR of THE WORLD." John 4:42. And God is not a liar!

Please know that when the anointed word declares something it becomes a fact, and this verse declares that He is INDEED (TRULY) THE SAVIOR of THE WORLD! He is not “potentially” the Savior of the world, but IS THE SAVIOR of THE WORLD. Not only is the declaration clear that Jesus will deliver mankind, but the word indeed from the Greek word alethos means, an unveiling, a truth, a reality. Therefore, when it says that Jesus IS INDEED THE SAVIOR of THE WORLD, it is more than just a man-made mental image or hypothetical statement. It is saying Jesus is IN FACT, IN REALITY, THE SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE WORLD, a fact that will be testified in due time!

INDEED in this verse also comes from the same word used for TRUTH when Jesus said, "I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life....and you shall know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall make you free." John. 14:6, 8:32. You see, Jesus was, is, and will become that UNVEILED REALITY that literally saves people from sin and death (all death) as He draws and makes Himself known to them. John 4:42 very strongly declares Him as being in reality THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. It is not saying He could be the Savior, but He IS the Savior, and being the Savior, He will INDEED BE THAT EXPRESS REALITY!

In the book of Hebrews we have a verse that sheds some light on these significant matters:

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever." Hebrews 13:8. We won't go into depth, but there is a lot more here than what might meet the eye; primarily, the name and title of Jesus makes quite a statement. There is also a time element involved into which He fits. His name, Jesus, is the Greek form of Joshua and means Jehovah the Savior. His title, Christ, comes from the Greek word christos and means anointed. Forever in the Greek is "eis tous aionas" and would more accurately be rendered "into the ages."

With this understanding, we will translate the above verse accordingly: "Jesus Christ; that is, Jehovah the savior, the anointed one — He is always the same! He is the anointed savior yesterday (to all those in ages past). He is the anointed Savior today (to all those in this age). And He is the anointed Savior into all the ages (to all those in the ages to come.)"

Since He is the Savior of those who fill up the ages with death (yesterday, today, and tomorrow), He will no doubt draw and lay hold of all the souls of all the ages and accomplish what our Father had spoken; namely, “...to loose (not lose) those that are appointed to death.” Psalm 102:18-19. As easily as He is a Savior to the ones in this present day, so is He the Savior to those in all the ages past and future.

It matters not that the masses have been laid into the dark graves of earth and many swept over with the water of the seas, there will be a time when they will all hear the voice of the Son of God, and when they hear, they will come forth, some to the resurrection of life and some to the resurrection of damnation (Grk krisis; crisis, that is, a breaking or turning point). This crisis, the critical turning point, is brought on as a result of the judgment fires of God, and in turn it produces a godly sorrow that works repentance unto salvation (rf. John 5:25-29).

When Jesus becomes real to them, they are delivered from corruption by His life. He then becomes their Savior in experiential reality. Although we do not yet see all things made subject to Him, He is already their Savior. As an example: To a drowning man, as it is with creation, the one who will ultimately be seizing and drawing him from the swirling torrents of death can justifiably be called his savior, rescuer, deliverer/liberator before the act is accomplished, for it is something that will emphatically be executed, not attempted, but accomplished. .

God first calls those things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17), because the word coming out of His mouth is as sure and concrete as the finished product. However, it is not until he actually pulls the drowning man from the watery grave that he experientially becomes his savior. Therefore, in order for the scriptures to call Him the Savior of the world, He must in fact become the Savior of the world, else we have been lied to by God who inspired the writers to record it as a declaration for all time. And since God is True and every man (born of Adam) is a liar, we can conclude who has been lying to us.

CAN GOD SIN?

Jesus said, "...I came...to save the world." John 12:47. Again, and still drawing from Isaiah 55:11, since He is the Word that will not return void and will accomplish and prosper in what He was sent to do, if He does not save the world, the whole world, then He and His Father will have utterly missed the mark, that is, sinned.

Some might say, "Wait a minute, Brother, that wouldn't be a sin for either God or Jesus! But your statement does sound like one of the closest things to blasphemy a person could possibly come to; for we know that neither of the two can sin! Don't even suggest it!"

Put your minds to rest, for I am not suggesting such a thing. When we understand what the word sin means according to the Hebrew and Greek, we will see that if Jesus does not become the Savior of all, He indeed will have missed His intended mark and become a sinner as well as God who sent Him. To illustrate, we will note the definitions according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance as well as a couple of scriptures in reference to this often misunderstood word — SIN:

Old Testament Hebrew: H2398..."chata; to miss."

New Testament Greek: G264...."hamartano; To miss the mark (and not share in the prize), to err."

"Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss [chata, sin]." Judges 20:16.

"...Whatsoever is not done in faith is sin [hamartano, miss the mark]." Romans 14:23.

What the churches have commonly been saying, is that Jesus will miss His target by not reconciling and saving the whole world. They teach that God's purpose for sending Him will largely fail, and neither of them will share in the greater portion of the prize. According to this presumption, the greater portion will go to the enemy, which is obviously absurd, of course.

Men and women of various religious organizations have been announcing to the world in vivid detail of how our great God and Father of ALL (Ephesians 4:6), and our Lord Jesus Christ the Savior of ALL (1 Timothy 4:10), will be the greatest losers/sinners of all time. They proudly trumpet this message by saying that they will both be missing the mark by losing 99% of their targeted prize. Without hesitation, they say that Satan will be the one who ends up with the lion's share.

Well, think of it, if all that Jesus was sent to save is not saved when it is all over and done with, He will have then missed His intended mark which would be more than anyone else throughout all the ages. Satan will have been on target much more than Jesus and His Father combined; for his goal has been to deceive the whole world, and according to popular belief he has hit that target for which he has aimed.

Jesus said, "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 3:16. In three words, Paul spoke of the greatest, most powerful law in existence, the law of love: "LOVE NEVER FAILS." 1 Corinthians 13:8.

In the same manner that God's Word (Jesus and His spoken word(s) will never fail, neither will His immutable love ever fail. Not only does He love His creation and forgives them seventy times seven in this age while their hearts pump blood and their lungs breathe air, but He loves them in all the ages as He forgives them even more than seventy times seven. Ultimately the reality of this love will experientially save them when godly sorrow and true repentance finally comes to every soul.

God’s love, however, is not always pleasant; for to the rebellious His love often comes in the form of discipline and can be very painful. John 3:35-36 says that although all have been given to Jesus, as long as one is an unbeliever, he will not be seeing Life (Grk, zoe). Zoe is the Life of God in all aspects. Rather than knowing this life, the wrath of God will abide on him. Fortunately, this wrath (Grk, orge, desire, passion) is an intense, heated form of His love that persists until the rebel is brought to the place of submission and believing. You see, it is like breaking young horses for riding or working. It is not only good for the Master, but good from tem as well, and not for their hurt.

Therefore, let us never get out of balance just because we know that His love will not fail, for if we do, we will surely find ourselves in the midst of His chastening, cleansing, fiery hand of judgment, and though we will be delivered from sin, we stand to suffer and lose a great deal.

After knowing God and tasting the powers of the age to come, if we sin willfully, there will be no more gentle renewing by repentance as it was when we were first saved; but His fiery indignation will be our portion that will devour the adversaries, the rebellion. (ref. Hebrews 6:4-6 & Hebrews 10:26-27). Nonetheless, when His chastening rod has worked its purpose, we shall all be saved, "yet so as by fire." 1 Corinthians 3:15.

Now, what do you think? Can God Sin? To be sure, only the spurious gods of Dante, Homer, and Hesiod that men make can sin, but not our God.

STOP HAVING BABIES

If you still give homage to that age-old god, please note. If you cannot truthfully say amen to Jesus eventually becoming the Savior to all mankind to where everyone is ultimately in Him and saved from all sin and death, then stop having babies. If you truly believed in the traditional teachings of an eternal hell to all who don't quite measure up and fail to please a testy god, then the short time of personal pleasure of having children in your life hardly justifies the risk.

Also, if you really hold to the concept of an eternal, roaring pit of hellfire for the greater part of God's creation, why would you be opposed to Planned Parenthood? It would seem to be much more humane to never allow another child to be born throughout all eternity than to gamble that he or she might not get "saved" before its feeble life ebbs from its mortal body and drifts into the long night of eternal gloom and grieving doom.

Many pride ourselves that we are "right-to-life, pro-life" Christians, and want to insure that every conception comes to a full birth and beyond. What in the world for? So the little babies can grow up, fail to do what a frustrated god demands of his or her short span of life, and winds up in hell forever? Come on, people, either begin to open your spirit to the truth and reality of God's purpose for His creation or STOP HAVING BABIES! If you really believe in the hell that men have created, then shame on you if you birth another child.

Another has written some interesting thoughts that posed a few questions along these lines:

 "A story has been told of two brothers that formed a unique evangelistic team. One brother was an evangelist, the other a murderer. As soon as the one brother would get someone to accept Christ, the other brother would shoot him before he had time to backslide! Thus, supposedly, his salvation would be secured.

 "While not all Christians understand the security of the believer exactly the same, surely none would advocate such drastic actions!

  "It is generally believed that children, before reaching the age of accountability, are within God’s saving grace (cf. Matt. 19:14; Deut. 1:39). Without any way seeking to justify abortion, we will simply state a question some have asked: Will it end up that abortion clinics in a community will cause more souls to be saved than the churches?

  "In 2001, the nation was shocked when a Houston mother killed her five young children, all with biblical names. Insanity was involved, of course; but there was also a religious factor. She believed they would be unrighteous if they grew to adulthood, and be unable to escape eternity in the fires of hell. Having been of fearful concerned about their eternal destiny, she mercifully drowned them all.

"Questions about the eternal destiny of billions of people who never heard of Christ have long been discussed by some — and avoided by others. Will innumerable multitudes be lost because they did not believe in someone they never heard of? On the other hand, if those who never heard of Christ can be saved by ignorance, why tell them? "

Interesting to say the least, and worthy points to ponder, especially if you are still of the persuasion that God is hell-bent on committing eternal damnation to those that the church says will be unsaved at the time of their death. But there is hope! There is real hope that you do not remain among the nay sayers who insist on holding to the dogmas of Dante’s mythological god. His torture chambers are no models for divine love. It is time for the church to forsake those spurious ideals of the dark ages and know that even though all die, all will be made alive in Jesus.

ALL DIE — ALL MADE ALIVE

The doctrines of the towering religious machines of this age are contrary to the unchangeable purpose of God, and they have blinded and enslaved the masses by their lies. Regardless, the great plan that is recorded in Philippians 2:9-11 still stands true. It says that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Him to be their Lord to the glory of God the Father of all. We also read, that..."if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus...thou shalt be saved." Romans 10:9. And we might note, "...that no man can confess Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." 1 Corinthians 12:3. And let us also be reminded, that it is God "Who will have all men to be saved....which will... be testified in due time." 1 Timothy 2:4,6.

This is the true image of our victorious God. Not the ones portraying Him as an ultimate loser. His sovereignty surely trumps man’s imaginations, and it does! We can be assured that it will all play out in due season; but every man in his own rank, his own order. We also see in this letter that the balance scales of ALL humanity are equal, and that Jesus, the Word of God, totally accomplishes His mission:

"For as in Adam ALL die, even so in Christ shall ALL be made alive." 1 Corinthians 15:22. Notice the equal balance: ALL Die — ALL Made Alive! "That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in Him...Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will." Ephesians 1:10-11.

Indeed so, all will be made alive, "But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end (the end rank, or the rest of the world) when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death...that God may be all in all." 1 Corinthians 15:22-26, 28.

  And, There will be no more tears, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more death; for the old order of things will pass away as He makes all things new. (ref. Revelation 21:1-4).

In just a few verses of scripture we see such a complete consummation of what Jesus, the Word of God, was sent to do. We see ALL mankind being dead in Adam, but in Christ we see equally the ALL being made alive. However, when the whole world of lost sheep are bought, they are not all experientially delivered from the dangers of the wilderness at the same time. It is each one in his own order until the last one is brought in, which is eventually the end, or end rank. The looking for and saving of the lost sheep is during His dominion over the earth. He will reign into the ages until all powers and enemies to life are destroyed, the last one, of course, is death itself.

When this has become a reality, Jesus will not be coming to the Father with a small handful; but He will present to Him the entirety of mankind as saved, transformed and glorified. He will then have returned to His Father full-handed, mission accomplished, the target of creation redeemed and held secure, and also prospering greatly in that which He was sent to do! What a mighty commission He was sent on, but what a mighty Word of God He is that is well able to do it!

Unlike man that made God in his own image and after his lying likeness — a god who cannot or will not bring to pass His own desire of saving the world through the life and power of His sacrificial Son — Jesus will be who He IS, the SAVIOR OF THE WORLD! He will accomplish that which pleases His Father! He will bring home the pearl of great price, the treasure of the field! Therefore, rest assured, dear friends — He was given a specific target at which to aim and to hit! It is not in Him to sin! He cannot miss His and His Father’s intended mark! HE WILL SAVE THEM ALL — THE WHOLE WORLD! Now, this is Good News — the Good News of great weight — the true Good News — the real Good News! Believe it and rejoice therein!

So now:

From Where did The One and Only Living God Come?

ETERNITY!