God Cannot Be What I Want Him to Be


Exodus 20:4–5 (ESV) “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

 The second commandment deals with graven images. Some would call this idolatry but the specifics of the command make it clear fashioning an idol to represent the true God is in mind here. God is saying to His people "I AM" in this command which means He IS Who He is and that is always the same. Therefore any representation of Him fashioned by mankind is always null and void of the true reality. 

 You cannot make God want you want Him to be.

 No, we may not carve statues out of wood and rock today as we have become civilized, but we do redefine God according to our own whims and fancies. We create a God who fits more with our personality than with His majesty. 

 Some create God to be okay with sin. Particularly their own sin. This was the problem of the Pharisees. They were good with a God who required tithing and the utmost respect for the law, but a God of mercy and justice to the oppressed wasn't in their line of sight. They came after Jesus because He departed from their legalism to lift up the broken and put people's needs ahead of religious practice.

Others want God to wink and nod at their sexual immorality. Whether it be lust or homosexuality or sex outside of marriage, this "God" is fashioned according to the pop-culture trends of society. Do not forget that Jesus himself had the harshest criticisms of the churches in Pergamum and Thyatira which taught God's people to commit sexual immorality. Do not think the Jesus who was forgiving of the woman caught in adultery is okay with sexual promiscuity. He is not and His righteous judgment will come.

Some create God to be the "helper in the sky." This is the God of "wish-fulfillment" who is closely related to any Disney fairy god-mother character you can imagine. This God exists for us, not we for Him. Most Americans are guilty of worshipping God in this image because it fits with American mantry of being the masters of our reality and actualizing our existence according to our own plans. This "God" is not consuming, he is only comforting and helpful. Many will fall away because the true God does not exist FOR us... we exists FOR Him.

Some create God to be escape hatch or emergency exit only. This God is not concerned for how they spend their money or use their time. This God will be there for when things go poorly but rarely impedes on their prosperity and desires. This kind of person rarely thanks God for the good things in life but is ready to question his existence when things do not work out as they should. Again, this "God" is a figment of our imaginations.

The Second Commandment is reminding us that we cannot and must not worship God according to our idea of what we want Him to be. Jesus commands us to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. He IS who He is from everlasting to everlasting. We worship and serve Him by growing in our knowledge of Him and our honor toward Him. In fact, true worship is constantly growing in enjoyment as to Who He really is instead of assuming He is what we want Him to be.

Let us KNOW Him and so WORSHIP Him properly.

Amen.

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