So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12
God created man in His own image. It is sinful for man to try to create God into his own image.(Genesis 1:27; Exodus 20:3-5)
The Greeks, Romans, and Norsemen were classic and barbarian examples of this. Their gods were men with the same foibles and sins that they themselves experienced. Most of today's popular religions are also built upon the foundation of man as god even if they don't raise statues to Zeus, Jupiter, or Thor.
Christians are often just as guilty. It comes from twisting passages such as John 1:14, Hebrews 4:15, and Romans 8:3 to justify our attempt to make our God seem "just like us." Yet each passage goes on to say that while He was just like us in the flesh, He was a Person full of truth that committed no sin. That obviously is not just like us in some aspect!
How then does a Christian try to make God into his own image? The answer is by arguing and trying to barter with Him when something doesn't go our way.
Bullying God doesn't work.
Just ask the Apostle Peter who spent the greater portion of 3 1/2 years trying to make Jesus into his image. It wasn't until Peter reached the point of actually denying Jesus and then coming face-to-face with the resurrected Christ that he realized that he'd been wrong in trying to make Jesus be like himself. From that point forward Jesus no longer had to hear Peter trying to make Him do things Peter's way! Instead, Peter got his marching orders directly from the resurrected Christ.
Check today to see if you have a situation in your life that has made you attempt to bully God. If so, and we all do, you're trying to make God into your own image. Confess this to God and allow His image in you to be revealed. (II Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 3:10-16)
Through all the years of growing in faith I have come to realize that were I to make God in my image, He would be far too small. My brain is simply too limited! What an awesome God we serve!
ReplyDelete