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Vital
Issues: Is God Man-Made? By: Joel Joyce
"You turn things upside down, as if the potter
were thought to be like the clay." Isaiah 29:16
The prophet Isaiah wrote these words to a society
that lived 2700 years ago. He was describing how people
in his day created gods of their own design, with their
hands, just as a potter would mold clay to his own
liking. But they had things backwards; they were
forgetting that God is the potter and man is the clay.
God forms man; man doesn’t form God.
Our society today makes the same mistake. In the
Western world we don’t form god by our hands, but by
our imaginations. We have formed our own opinions about
who God is, what He is like, what gender He is, what
type of lifestyles He approves of, and whom He will
forgive. We have turned things upside down.
Some have made God into a family physician. He is
there when we need Him. Most of the time we can get on
quite well without Him. In fact, we rarely even think
about Him unless we have a problem. But when misfortune
strikes, we want God to hear our call for help and come
to our rescue.
Others have formed God into a watchmaker. He created
the universe, set it in motion and then sat back to
watch it tick away on its own. He is far removed and
doesn’t get involved in our affairs. So we are free to
form our own laws, our own standards of right and wrong,
even our own religion.
Still others have turned God into a loving Santa
Claus who showers us with good things when we are nice.
When we are naughty, however, He isn’t quite as
generous. Perish the thought that He would ever punish
us! He is a loving God. In the end He will forgive
everyone…except the Hitlers and the Stalins.
If we really want to know what God is like and what
He thinks and expects of us, we must be willing to set
aside our opinions and listen to what He has to say
about Himself. We must turn to God’s Word, the Bible.
What does the Bible say about God? Is He interested in
individuals? Can we know Him? Does He expect anything
from us? Will He judge us? Will He forgive us? God’s
word gives clear and definite answers to these important
questions.
First, God is not remote. He is intensely interested
in individuals. The Apostle Paul, one of the main
writers of the New Testament, wrote "I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me." (Galatians 2:20) Paul knew that God loved
him as an individual, not because He loved the human
race and Paul was part of that race. "He loved
me," Paul says, and not only that, "He gave
himself for me." Paul is referring to the death of
Jesus Christ on the cross for his sins. Christ died as a
substitute for sinners, not merely as a martyr.
Further, God does expect something from us. He wants
us, like Paul, to put our faith in the Son of God for
salvation. Many people today think that they will be in
Heaven as long as they don’t commit any heinous
crimes. But the Bible teaches that "all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23).
We have all fallen short of God’s moral standards. We
have all broken His laws, and our sin makes us unfit for
heaven. Only through the death of Christ can we have our
sins forgiven. The Bible says "Whoever believes in
the Son (Jesus Christ) has eternal life, but whoever
rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath
remains on him" (John 3:36).
God also says that He will judge the world. We may
not like thinking about this, but the Bible stated that
"God has appointed a day in which He will judge the
world" (Acts 17:31). Each of us will personally
meet with God one day. We will either meet Him in ours
sins and be judged by Him, or we will meet Him in Heaven
with our sins already forgiven. How we will meet Him,
the, depends on whether we have put our faith in the Son
of God during this life. "Whoever believes in Him
(the Son of God) is not condemned, but whoever does not
believe stands condemned already (John 3:18).
Have you made a "God" of your own liking, a "God" who
resembles a physician, a watchmaker, or a Santa Claus?
If so, then you have turned things upside down. Your
"God" exists only in your imagination. He is not the God
of the Bible, or the God you will meet in eternity. To
be ready to meet the true God you must prepare on His
terms. What does this require? That you trust Christ as
your personal Savior. If you neglect to do this you will
meet God as your Judge and , forever bear the punishment
for your offenses against Him.
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