God created man in his image, God didn't create more gods. His image is universally recognized as an ability to love, hate, or experience any myriad of emotions and the ability for cognizant thought. i.e., the ability to determine right from wrong or good and bad. God didn't create beings with the ability to only love him, but with the ability to choose. Most theologians agree that the purpose for this is saints that have dominion over the angels, as the majority of angels don't have the ability to choose between good and evil.
Celestial beings have been recorded in the earliest of cave drawings.
God hasn't appeared to anyone in any form since Christ.
As for God not being present in modern days, I presume you have no children or grandkids, as science has never been able to create even a single celled life form from the elements. Let alone a vibrant living ecosystem with the intricacies of our earth. Despite humanities best efforts to screw it up.