Articles
‘Designer’ Gods
by Gordon Enger
One day as I was pondering my beliefs and considering what
others believed, the thought struck me that our Gods are mirror
images of our own likes and dislikes. If I think something
is good, my God says it is good. If I think something is bad,
my God thinks it is very bad. My God pretty much agrees with
me on everything. The way that I view things is largely the
way he sees them. It’s a good thing to have a God that
thinks like me. I can get very comfortable with my God because
we see eye to eye on nearly everything. What a wonderful blessing
to have such an agreeable God.
This must be true since there are so many differing views
of what God expects from us. Some folks worship on Sunday while
others keep the Sabbath. Some folks really make a big deal
of Easter, while others think the feast days established by
God in the Scripture, are important. There are those who think
that if you do not celebrate Christmas you must surely not
be a Christian. Why, Christmas is the time of Christ’s
birth, isn’t it? If you don’t want to celebrate
his birth, you must be a heathen. Then there are those who
think the Spirit takes precedence over the Word of God. Others
aren’t worshipping God if they are not singing the same
chorus over and over. If they are not swaying back and forth
or bouncing up and down, it is not considered worship. I have
to raise my hands to worship God. No, you must be very liturgical
in order to please God. If you are sick, you are living in
sin. God wants you to be healthy and while we’re at it,
let’s throw in wealthy. No, poverty is a sign of holiness.
Take communion every Sunday. No, just do it once a quarter
or maybe twice a year. What about the Passover feast being
the time to take the bread and the wine to remember the Messiah’s
death?
Do you see what I mean? This could go on forever. I have
to be busy doing things to please my God. God is interested
in my activity level, and there are so many things to do. I
get brownie points for doing things. I need to do everything
in my power to get the message out to the world. No, God knows
who will and who will not be saved so don’t waste your
time. It’s all in God’s hands. It’s real
important to have a purpose for your life so why don’t
you be a greeter at our church. How about cooking meals for
the weekly dinner? You need to be a part of something to give
your life meaning, so don’t just sit there, do something.
Are you tired yet? Do you feel worn out? Just thinking of all
this stuff is wearing me out.
Several times, I have had discussions with relatively new
Christians who have said that some doctrinal teaching didn’t
make sense to them in light of what they had been reading in
the Bible. In every one of these conversations, I have agreed
with the new believer. I couldn’t find that particular
teaching in the Scripture either. There is an old song that
expresses the thought that children have to be taught to hate.
It says, “You have to be carefully, carefully taught.” (Note-Hate
does come naturally because of our sin nature). I think though,
the idea of being carefully, carefully taught has application
in regard to our doctrinal beliefs. We are carefully, carefully
taught to think like our pastor or to parrot the particular
denominational teachings with which we are affiliated. It seems
as though the real way to God’s truth is by being cloned
as our pastor.
Have you noticed that there is no room in the average church
for holding to a position not advocated by that particular
church? There is no place for open and honest discussion relating
to what the Bible does or does not teach. You are required
to sit every Sunday and listen to the Word as presented and
believed by the pastor. He speaks for God, so don’t you
dare consider another opinion.
It seems to me that God can speak for himself. Of course,
the main problem is that people are too lazy to find out exactly
what God does have to say to them so they rely on God’s
salesman to clue them in. Unfortunately, God’s salesman
went to a training school to learn what God’s agenda
was. It is in those places where real truth is found and dispensed.
Only someone who has spent the classroom time can really know
about God and his purpose for each of us.
Can one understand truth without all the outside influences?
Is it possible to study to show yourself approved or is that
verse in Paul’s writings to Timothy an oxymoron? Do Scriptures
agree with each other, or are there conflicting views among
the authors? Does Paul agree or disagree with Christ? Are the
Old Testament and the law superfluous?
I can think of at least one group of people who strongly
considered whether or not the things they were being taught
was truth. The Bereans were more noble than the others because
they studied and searched the Scriptures to see if what Paul
was telling them was truth or error. They aren’t criticized
for doing so, therefore I must conclude that is what God wants
for us as well. I seriously doubt that Paul taught anything
close to what theologians teach us that he taught. The concept
of the law being eliminated cannot be found in the Old Testament.
Quite the contrary, it is abundantly clear in Old Testament
Scripture that the law is God’s truth and will stand.
It is very clear in the Old Testament concerning what is and
what is not food. You, along with the Bereans, cannot find
any Old Testament Scripture saying otherwise. Why is it then,
theologians teach these things which were not found by the
Bereans and cannot be found today? I believe it is because
they were carefully, carefully taught.
What does God want from us? Are we following the vain traditions
of men? Are we doing works of the flesh? Is God only pleased
with the things done in and for the organized church? How can
we know what is truth in this age of diversity? Should we keep
the commandments?
God is consistent “…I am the Lord: I change
not.” (Malachi 3:6). I think it is safe to say what God
wants from us has not changed from the beginning. Micah 6:8
summarizes for us what God is looking for. “He has
showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require
of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly
with your God.” To act justly and to love mercy
are instructions relating to our relationships with others.
How do you walk humbly with your God? Jesus said in Matthew
22:37, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind” Obviously,
you cannot love him this way without knowing him.
Is it possible to really know God? I think that it is not
only possible, but required. It is also a requirement that
God know you. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord,
Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he
who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will
say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy
in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform
many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘ I
never knew you. Away from me, you who are lawless.’” (have
done away with the law) (Matthew 7:21-23). The important message
here is that a personal connection with God is necessary if
you are to meet God’s expectations.
How then do you come to know God/Jesus? You must first have
faith that Christ is the Lamb of God sacrifice spoken about
throughout the Scriptures. It is he who took upon himself the
death penalty for your sin. (Breaking the law). We know that
without faith it is impossible to please God. With faith having
been established, there must be a sincere desire to come to
know God. “But if from there you seek the Lord your
God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart
and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29). How
is it that you seek God? The only place I know where you will
find God is in his Words to us. You must read the Scriptures
with an open mind and an earnest desire to understand what
he is telling us. “All Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training
in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16). As you
read the accounts of Christ’s words in the gospels, you
will begin to understand what God wants from us. Be careful
to not let other men’s explanations influence you but
let the Word speak for itself. Ask for wisdom as you read.
You also seek God by resolving to change as God shows you
new things in his instructions to us. To change, is to repent
of past misunderstandings and behavior based on false teachings.
It means you must choose to believe and act upon what God is
telling you rather than deciding for yourself what is right.
Don’t argue with God by watering down his commandments
or rationalizing disobedience to those commandments.
You have been taught that Christ came to do away with the
commandments by ‘nailing them to the cross’. This
is an untruth. Don’t believe it! Consider what Christ
himself had to say about that. “Now a man came up
to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I
do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about
what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One
who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” (Matthew
19:16-17). “Do not think that I have come to abolish
the Law or the Prophets: I have not come to abolish them but
to fulfill them.” (The word fulfill here means to
perfect) (Matthew 5:17).
Christ kept the commandments by keeping them in their full
spiritual intent, not just their letter. When you continue
in Matthew chapter 5, you will see that he advised us to do
the same. He explained that to hate was the same as murder,
to lust is synonymous with adultery. Murder and adultery were
not ‘hung on the cross’, but rather, Christ came
to show the intent of these and all the other commandments.
God is not interested in us keeping a set of do’s and
don’ts with our intellect by token compliance, but to
adhere to the spirit of God’s rules in order to have
life abundantly.
When you truly love God and man, you will also keep the commandments.
The spiritual essence of the commandments is to love God and
man. They can be summarized thusly, “Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’.
(Matthew 22:37-39). Christ was showing how the first set
of commandments are about loving God while the second set are
showing us how to love one another.
Can we claim to worship God without obeying him? Certainly
not! Christ said, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord,
Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). Obedience
to God is loving him and is the basis for our worship. It is
impossible to worship while disobeying him. The commandments
are to be kept not just for their letter but in their spirit
as Christ taught.
Following is a selection of other verses to reinforce the
importance of obeying God by keeping his commandments.
“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John
14:15) Compare this with something God said right
in the middle of the ten commandments. “Showing love
to a thousand generations, of those who love me and keep my
commandments.” (Exodus 20:6).
“If you obey my commands, you will remain in my
love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and
remain in his love.” (John 15:10).
“This is love for God: to obey his commands.” (I
John 5:3)
“…and receive from him anything we ask,
because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” (I
John 3:22)
“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is
the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my
Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (John
14:21-22).
“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.
My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make
our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey
my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong
to the Father who sent me.” (John 14:23-24). What
are the words of the Father? His commandments.
Have you, in the past, noticed the importance of obeying
God’s commandments? Christ will make himself known to
those who are obedient. Obedience keeps us in Christ’s
love. We are loved by the Father through obedience. Isn’t
it interesting that love is associated with obedience? Isn’t
that how we feel about our own children? Why then do we hold
a different standard of relationship with God than with our
children? “Therefore come out from them and be separate,
says the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive
you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and
daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians
6:17-18 quoting Old Testament verses concerning God’s
relationship with Israel.) God’s people have always been
known as Israel. His commandments have always been in effect.
It is their place of residence that has changed from the Ark
to the heart.
It is knowing and obeying God’s commands that prevent
us from worshiping a ‘designer’ god. There is only
one true God. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He
has rules. His rules are the same today for the Israel of God
as they were for the Israel of God in the Old Testament. Christ
came to show us the true intent of God’s commandments
and to be the testator of the renewed covenant that he made
to Israel and to Judah. If this God is not like your god, you
may need to search the Scriptures to learn about him. ‘Designer
gods’ will fail you in the end. Styles change with the
times. The real God is always the same and has never changed.
He will not fail you! |
