Everybody is looking for something to worship. Satan will help us to find things to worship. He will direct us to false gods. He presents thousands and thousands of false things for us to worship.
Part of the spiritual battle we face daily is a war of the gods for our affection and worship.
Satan tries to get us to worship him by worship other things.
There are two events in Scripture that show the truth of Satan attempts to get us to worship anything put the One True God.
One is Eve’s temptation in the garden.
Genesis 3:5
God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree, you will learn about good and evil and you will be like God.
Eve is being enticed to make herself her god. Eve would become own god.
The other is Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.
Matthew 4:10
Jesus said to him, “Go away Satan! Scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.’”
Jesus was tempted to worship and serve something other than the Father.
The greatest temptation we have is idolatry.
Idolatry isn’t just one sin of many sins; it’s the one sin that all others come from.
Satan knows it is impossible for a human being to serve two masters.
Jesus says that in Matthew 6:24. He says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Here Jesus makes reference to serving God and money, but you could substitute anything in the place of money - success, sex, position, power, drugs, family or religion.
Paul also expresses concern about even followers of Jesus being drawn away from following Jesus.
In 2 Corinthians 11:3 he says, “I am afraid that your minds will be corrupted and you will abandon your full and pure devotion to Christ - in the same way that Eve was deceived by the snake’s clever lies.”
We have to believe and live based on the truth that God is the only God. This is true based on Who God Is.
First, He is the only real God.
Exodus 3:14-15
God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob - has sent me to you.”
God is I AM. He is not I was, I will be, or I might be. He is I AM!
Other gods are not evil gods or lesser gods. Other gods are no gods. They are fake. They don’t exist. When a person worships and serves any other god but Jesus, he is worshiping and serving nothing.
Second, God is a jealous God.
Exodus 34:14
Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Jealous means one and only, not having any rivals. God wants to be the only one you worship. God wants to be the only one you serve. God will not share your affection with any other god. God is jealous for you.
Third, God is a consuming fire.
Deuteronomy 4:24
For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Hebrews 12:29
For our God is a consuming fire.
God is described as a consuming fire eight times in the Bible.
What is that telling us about God?
Consuming fire signifies that God is passionate about us, He places a high value on us.
We were created to love God and He wants us to love Him like He loves us - passionately.
Jesus tells the church in Laodicea that they have a big problem when it comes to how they are relating to Him.
In Revelation 3:15-16 Jesus says, “I know what you do, that you are not hot or cold! But because you are lukewarm - neither hot, nor cold - I am ready to spit you out of my mouth.”
God wants us to love Him with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and all our strength. Any thing less is unacceptable.
Because of who God is - Real, Jealous, and a Consuming Fire - He demands some things from us.
God demands to be our priority.
Exodus 20:2-3
I am the Lord your God, the One who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves. Do not have any god except Me.
There is no hierarchy - God is to be first and only.
God is not at the top the organization - He is the organization.
God is not the president of the board - He is the board.
Jesus tells the church at Ephesus that He knows they are a right believing, hard working, persevering church. But in Revelation 2:4 Jesus says, “But I have this [one charge to make] against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love you had at first [you have deserted Me, your first love].
Jesus, not being morally upright, being religious, being theologically correct, being devoted to the church, has to be our only priority.
God demands to be exclusive.
Exodus 20:4-5
You shall not make yourselves any idols: any images resembling animals, birds, or fish. You must never bow to an image or worship it in any way, for I, the Lord your God am very possessive. I will not share your affections with any other god!
God will not allow us to share our worship or our affections with any other “god”.
God owns all creation. That includes you.
God created you and He died for you so you could be recreated.
Also God is the only one who can:
Help you
Direct you
Satisfy you
Save you.
Which makes God the only one worthy of your worship and devotion.
God demands to be glorified by His creation.
Isaiah 42:8
I am the Lord; that is My name. I will not give My glory to anyone else or the praise I deserve to idols.
God created you to glorify Him.
Your mind was created to glorify God.
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is pure, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.
Your heart was created to glorify God.
Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
You were created to glorify God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whatever you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
All creation was created to glorify God. Humans are the only part of creation that does not glorify God naturally. We were given a choice. So, when we glorify God it makes Him smile with joy.
In Psalm 106:19-20 we are told that Israel traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass eating bull.
We in the twenty-first century have also traded our glorious God for equally stupid things.
We have traded God for:
A house we constantly upgrade
A promotion that comes with a raise
Acceptance by the popular group
A body that is trim & fit
A perfect adoring family
Religious traditions that makes us feel comfortable & superior
Anything can become an idol.
We need to remember the truth that Paul shares in Romans 5:6-8 that most of us would not even think about dying for a good person (I know my list of who I would die fir is very short). But Jesus came and died while we were still sinners.
We need to get rid of our idols and come to the One True God - Jesus, who loves you and proved it by dying for you.
What are you going to do in response to who God is, what He has done, and what He demands?
With Jesus as My Exclusive Priority Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
No comments:
Post a Comment