Sept 19th | Is God, God?
In Rom 1 Paul says, in essence, that although we knew God, we neither put Him in the place of honor nor humbled ourselves before him…and as a result became stupid and lost. Paul learned first-hand in Ephesus (Acts 19) and elsewhere how the human tendency is to replace God with other gods of our own making – idols. He also saw the deceptive and destructive power of the idols in our lives. In ancient times and in some current religions the gods and idols were/are physically represented by tokens, statutes, temples, etc. Ours are potentially more dangerous because they are invisible – idols of the heart.
The Christian faith is a monotheistic faith – believing in one and only one God…the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…the God of King David…and the father of the Only Son, Jesus. And God is a jealous God…for God reason…all things are created and sustained by Him. His is the Center…the One…well, God.
Our God is holy and pure…and as such requires that no other gods are honored or served in any fashion. In fact, as is replete in the Old Testament, He requires that all gods and anything associated with those gods be utterly destroyed. Utterly.
Here’s the problem: We serve other gods. Any substitute for God…anything we turn to for the belonging, security, love and provision that God is intended to be looked to for, is a god/idol in our life. And God wants those gods destroyed – utterly removed from our lives as gods.
This weeks message was designed to explain what we must do to become spiritually healthy, but to open our eyes to the unfortunate and scary reality of the numerous gods that we honor and serve with our trust and dependence. The solution, we will see, is Jesus, but can we truly embrace Jesus if we haven’t a clue about the depraved situation…the enormous need that we have…as people surrounded and too often overwhelmed by God-substitutes?
As you go about your week, or as you think about your life consider this question:
Who is the master of this pattern of thought, feeling or behavior?
These areas might offer some clues:
Things that entice
In response to things we fear
Things we trust
