Do Other Gods Exist Beneath Our God?

By Billy Graham, Tribune Media Services on Jul 9, 2008

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Q: I was mystified in church the other day because one of the Bible readings said something about not worshiping other gods. Does this mean God is the supreme God, but other gods also exist, although they are below him? -- D.F.

A: No, this isn't what the Bible means when it mentions other gods. God alone is God, the Bible says, and no other god or deity exists besides Him: "Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us?" (Malachi 2:10).

When the Bible mentions other gods, it is referring only to the idols and deities that people worshipped in place of the one true God -- and it repeatedly points out that those "gods" are only the product of someone's imagination and have no supernatural power. The prophet Jeremiah exclaimed, "Do men make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!" (Jeremiah 16:20).

Perhaps you aren't tempted to bow down to an idol of some type; you probably think that is something only primitive or ignorant people do. But is this really true? Don't we have our own "idols" today -- not stone statues or wooden images, but things that we "worship" and make the center of our lives? Some people worship power or happiness; others worship money or sex or fame. In the process, they leave God out of their lives.

Don't let this happen to you. Instead, make Christ the center of your life, and worship and serve Him alone. He was God in human flesh, and He came for one reason: to bring us back to God. Don't let anything or anyone keep you from God, but by faith commit your life to Jesus Christ, who alone is "the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).

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Send your queries to "My Answer," c/o Billy Graham, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, N.C., 28201; call 1-(877) 2-GRAHAM, or visit the Web site for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: www.billygraham.org.