QUESTION # 9: If the
One True God made everything, then who made God?
ANSWER: There is
an assumption attached to this Question. It is assumed that since everything,
including ourselves, had a beginning, then God also must have had a time when
He began to exist. Such reasoning brings God down to our level of existence. It
makes Him finite like us, when in reality He is infinite. He is a self-existing,
self-sustaining, self-dependant, eternal Being, who owes His existence to no
one. Since man is under the curse of sin, it is difficult for him to accept the
fact that God is uncreated and has no origin. The very thought of this makes
man feel uncomfortable. Concerning man’s view of God having no Origin, A. W.
Tozer gives this interesting insight on the topic:
“To admit
that there is One who lies beyond us, who exists outside of
all our
categories, who will not be dismissed with a name, who will not
appear
before the bar of our reason, nor submit to our curious inquiries:
this
requires a great deal of humility, more than most of us possess, so we
save face
by thinking God down to our level, or at least down to where
we can
manage Him. Yet how He eludes us! For He is everywhere while
He is
nowhere, for “where” has to do with matter and space, and God is
independent
of both. He is unaffected by time or motion, is wholly
self-dependent
and owes nothing to the worlds His hands have made.”[1]
So who made
God? No one! This is made quite clear from such passages of Scriptures as
Isaiah 43: 10; 45: 5-6 “Before Me there
was no God formed, and there will be none after Me…I am the LORD,
and there is no other; besides Me there is no God…That men may know from the
rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD,
and there is no other.” 45:21, 22 “there
is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me…for
I am God, and there is none else.” Finally 46:9 says “I am God, and there is none like me.” Moses in the spirit said, “From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” (Psalm 90:2). These are but only a few Scripture
passages among many that speaks of God’s Self-existence.
Now having said that, some might be
thinking, “Well, if the Lord Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, how then can one
reconcile His beginning? (see Isa. 7: 14; 9: 6; Matt. 1:18-25)” Good question.
To begin with, Jesus coming in the flesh was only the beginning of His humanity
(see again Matt. 1: 18-25) that he took upon Himself (see Phil. 2:6-8) in order
to fulfill His Father’s will in making possible through His death, burial, and
resurrection salvation for man. However, remember one of the titles of the Lord
Jesus is the “Word” [Greek: logos] as mentioned in John 1: 1 which
says, “In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then we later read in the
chapter that “the Word became flesh, and
dwelt among us,..” (1: 14). The Apostle Paul wrote that the Lord Jesus
Christ is “God manifested in the flesh”
(1 Tim. 3: 16). Concerning His pre-existence, “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was
born, I am’” (John 8: 58). The “I am”
statement mentioned here by Christ, is the memorial name of God as first
mentioned to Moses in Exodus 3: 14-15. Each one of these Scripture passages
refers to the Lord Jesus’ pre-existence before all things existed as we know
it. So it is safe to also conclude that God
the Son also had no beginning, except in the case of His humanity. However,
His humanity that He took upon Himself in no way defines His actual existence
or beginning.
I remember a number of years ago,
attending a small Bible study group that a friend of mine was leading. He gave
a real interesting answer to the question of God’s existence that coincides
well with the question of God’s existence answered here in this study. His
quote is as follows:
“When asked the question, “Does God exist?” I usually surprise people when I answer “No.” To say that God merely exists, puts Him on the same plain as everything and everyone in external existence. It gives Him a beginning, a life span and ending. It confines Him to space and time. In short, it puts God in a box. The One True God cannot be put in a box, because He is the Box. God does not merely exist, “HE” is Existence! Everyone and everything else exists from Him. (Col. 1:16-18; Acts 17:28; Ps. 100:3).”[2]
It is
important to keep in mind that the word “origin” can only apply to what is
already created, never to an Uncreated Being such as God. However, we owe our
existence to Him. This is made evident by such Scripture as Genesis
1:26-27; 2:7; Psalm 100:3; 139:14; Acts
17:28, etc. The Lord God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Originator of all
things (See Gen. 1:1-31; 2:1-22; Col. 1:15-19, etc). Again, God owes His Origin
and Existence to no one.
[1] A.W.
Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, (HarperSanFrancisco/HarperCollins
Publishers, 1961),
pgs. 26-27.
[2] This
quote is taken from my old friend, Preston Slade from a small Bible Study group
he lead at the “Worship Centre,” (an evangelical Pentecostal Church) back in 2001
and 2002. The Scripture references in brackets has been added by me in Preston's quote here.
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