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Twirling prayer wheels, tinkling cymbals, smoke from candles wafting up towards the ceiling, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims spiraling around a shrine!

What do these have to do with the Being we call God? Is there one way God desires to be worshipped? Are ALL of the worshippers right?

Does It Really Matter?

After all, it is what is in your heart that is important, isn’t it? With all the churches available, can’t we just shop around for the one that suits us the best? Maybe the one that is just around the corner from where we live? Or the one our boss attends? Of course, it would be nice to go to church where our mom and dad always went — when they went!

It DOES Matter to God!

You probably already know that God is the Creator, but did you know that He lays claim to EVERYTHING?

Psalm 50:10-12 For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all its fullness. (NKJV unless otherwise noted)

If the whole world is His, then are we nothing more than insignificant transient occupiers of space on this beautiful orb? Or does God have more purpose for us?

The very first verse in the Bible reveals one very important aspect of God—He is a Creator!

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

He is a Creator, and He is a life-giver. He separated darkness from light, and He divided the land from the waters. He caused grass and herbs and trees to grow on the land, and He put fish in the oceans and animals on the land. And then He produced His greatest creation — He made man. And everything that God saw was very good.

And everything belongs to Him!

Man’s Purpose

Man, through Adam, was given the opportunity to watch over the earth, to be in control of the animals and everything that he saw. In Biblical terms, man was given dominion over the fish that swim in the oceans and the birds that fly through the air and everything that creeps on the earth. All that man (Adam) had to do was obey His Creator!

EVERYTHING that God placed on the earth in the Garden of Eden was there for man’s pleasure and necessities. God made just one stipulation, and that was not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Unable to Resist!

However, Eve was beguiled by the exceedingly clever serpent and disobeyed her Creator and ate from that tree. Then she offered the same fruit to Adam, and he ate as well.

The story is all-too familiar, but what we see from these first few verses of the Bible is that God is not only a Creator; He is also a Law-Giver. And He has every right to be because the whole world belongs to Him!

A Misunderstood God

Many people today are only vaguely aware that God gave a set of laws, commandments and statutes for mankind. All too many consider that His laws are nothing more than one “thou shalt not” followed by another. And yet, the Bible clearly shows that certainly is not the case.

1 John 4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God is love—what a profound statement! Everything that God does emanates from His love. His beautiful creation exists because He is love. God’s laws also exist because He IS love!

He Loves YOU!

It was not God’s plan for mankind to live in sin. Adam and Eve failed the test and were driven from the Garden of Eden. As sojourners on this earth, man wanders around as though lost in a desert sand- storm. But God has provided a way for reconciliation.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

We frequently rehearse the story of the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross, but have we ever considered what God, the loving Creator of us all, gave up? What a tremendous sacrifice that was!

Jesus of Nazareth, the only begotten Son of God has the same nature and character God the Father has. Jesus proved this by His obedience. During the last meal Jesus had with His disciples before He was crucified, Jesus told them, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)

Decades later, the Apostle John wrote, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:2-3)

John was a man who had spent years getting to know Jesus, eating with him and traveling with Him during His ministry. John’s words, “His commandments are not burdensome,” contradict what most people think today. But, because God loves us, His commandments could not be burdensome.

Yes, the Creator, the Law-Giver, loves us. He loves you and me and each and every one of the more than six billion people living on the earth today. Not only that, He loves those who have already died and are in their graves, as well as the untold number of human beings yet to be born.

Sin Separates

It was not God’s plan to be separated from mankind, but He will NOT tolerate sin. Whatever sin is, it is not conceived in love.

What IS sin?

The Bible provides a very simple definition of sin in I John 3:4, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (KJV). God’s basic laws are listed in Exodus 20 and repeated in Deuteronomy 5.

A lawyer once approached Jesus and asked which was the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt 22:35-40)

As we study the Ten Commandments, we quickly see the first four focus on our relationship with God. Read them in your own Bible and as you do, remember that God is the Creator, that He is the Law-Giver, and that He loves you.

The first four commandments succinctly explain how to worship God as He desires. They show us how to return to God, our heavenly Father, the love He has already showered on us. Commandments five through ten enlighten our understanding of how we can and should develop a loving relationship with other people.

So Who Is This God?

He is the Creator of everything we see, touch, hear, taste and smell, as well as everything we cannot experience with our five senses. He is the Being who created us with limited physical senses, but with a fantastic opportunity.

God is the loving Giver of a set of laws, summed up by the Ten Commandments, that show us how to love Him, how to worship Him, and to love our fellow human beings. And perhaps one of the least understood aspects of God is the fact that He wants to share His creation and love with us!

This brief brochure can do nothing more than pique your interest in this virtually unknown Being we call God.

Our prayer is that you will be moved to study God’s Word, the Holy Bible, to grow in understanding so you may begin to develop a real, deep, personal relationship with God the Father and with His Son, your Savior, Jesus the Christ.

We invite you to contact us. We stand ready to assist you as you develop your relationship with God.