Quote from Forum Archives on November 20, 2003, 4:04 pm

Posted by: henkf <henkf@...>

The Living God  (part 1)

 

Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me.

 

This command The Lord God who brought Israel out of Egypt with His mighty acts is the same God who raised Jesus from the dead. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the only true and living God and He demands and deserves our full submission today no less than in other times.

 

Matthew 4:10 ...Away with you, Satan! For it is written, `You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.' This must be stressed because the tendency to idolatry - the tendency to worship false gods - is as prevalent today as it ever was.

Most of the Biblical teaching on idolatry occurs in the O.T. When we read the passages, we usually think of the gods of Egypt, Canaan, Assyria or Babylon.

 

We tend to think that we do not have to worry about these teachings because we do not have this problem in our Western societies. We may not know anyone who worship physical images made of wood, stone or metal, but there are countless people who are devoted to a false god of their own creation.

 

In Rom 1:25, Paul speaks of those who exchange the truth of God for a lie Romans 1:23, 25 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man - and birds and four footed beasts and creeping things... who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

 

This includes false concepts of God as well as carved images of God.

 Examples:

    1. A god who is all law and wrath without any grace is an idol who is a rival to the true living God. (Allah)

    2. A god who is all love without any wrath is likewise an idol and a false god. (god of the moderns)

 

What Does It Mean To "Have a God" In The Sense of the First Command ment? A person's god is simply that to which he gives supreme devotion. That which is first place in his life and thought. In this sense everyone "has a god" whether they call what they serve "God" or not.

 

This is implied in Jesus' statement:   "You cannot serve both God and mammon" (Matt. 6:24)

 

"Mammon" was not an idol that anyone worshipped, it is simply a term that means money or riches. This is the god many people worship, as they dedicate their live to the accumulation of this world's goods. Ephesians 5:5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idol ater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (Col. 3:5)

 

They are not bowing down to an image, but they are serving something above God, even though they may be religious people. Many of the Jews mixed idolatry with worship of Jehovah, so can Christians today.

 

There are other gods. Whatever is on the throne, whatever controls one's life is his idol.

 

1. Personal pleasure or physical desires.

Philippians 3:18-19 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame - who set their mind on earthly things. Context indicates these were some pretending to be Christians.

Romans 16:17-18 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.

 

2 Tim. 3:4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

 

Context: This is in the church, not the world!

 

2. Self

(Belshazzar)  (you shall be as God, independent, in absolute control of your life.)

Daniel 5:23 And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.

Jude 12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves; they are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;

 

3. Family

Isaiah 2:29 Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My habi tation, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?'

 

4. Wealth

Luke 12:18-21 So he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. `And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry." But God said to him, `You fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

 

Some may depend on Work, Investments, Medical technology, or physical fitness to deliver them.

Others live for Drugs, Sports. 

T.V. has been called the "modern family altar".

 

Constant Self-Examination is Essential for All of Us. The Israelites knew that their God was the God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt with mighty signs and wonders, but many of them turned to idols anyway. We know that our God is the living God who raised Jesus from the dead; but we must remember that contemporary idols are very seductive, and we are not immune.

 

These Warnings Are For Today!

Hebrews 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; (and end up serving a false god)

 

1 John 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

 

Who is God of the Bible?  

The God of the Bible is the Living God

Psalms 18:46 The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

 

This may seem like such an obvious statement that it is not worthy of attention. It means more than the fact that God is alive, but that He is active and is able to come to the aid of His people and to act in their defense and to bless them.

 

The fact that God is the living God is one of the most common themes of the Bible.

God is called "the living God" 15x in the O.T. and 15x in the N.T.

This includes God being called "the living Father" in John 6:57.

O.T. 1 Samuel 17:36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.

Jeremiah 10:10 But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, and the nations will not be able to abide His indignation. (context: cp. Jehovah to idols of the nations.

N.T. 2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God...

1 Timothy 4:10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men...

 

Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

 

A Frequent Oath used by O.T. Saints Was: "As The Lord Lives".  (at least 43x) It meant "Just as surely as the Lord lives, so is what I am about to say is sure and true". 1.Saul promised to spare David

1 Samuel 19:6 So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, "As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed."

2.Zedekiah promised to protect Jeremiah

    Jeremiah 38:16 So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, "As the Lord lives, who made our very souls, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life."

 

This Oath Expressed the Belief of God's People that They Believed that Jehovah Alone was the Only True and Living God.

 

God Himself Used This Oath ("As I live") at least 23x.

 

The truth of not only the words of men but also the words of God is staked on His being the living God.

 

One of the main themes of the Bible is the wickedness of idolatry. It is not only wicked but also very foolish. Why should anyone want to forsake the only true God and serve idols? Only Jehovah is the living God; idols are lifeless nothings, things of vanity and emptiness.

 

"Idol" - Eliyl [el-eel'] is used in:

 

1 Chronicles 16:26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

 

The root of this word is uncertain, but there are two main choices. Either it comes from a word which means literally "nothing" or it comes from a word meaning "weak, insuffi cient, feeble." Thus an idol is something feeble or worthless.

 

Strong's Def. = "good for nothing, vain or vanity; no value, thing of nought".

 

Hebel is sometimes used for idols. It means "Vanity, emptiness, something unsubstantial or worthless.

 

It is used in: Jeremiah 2:5 Thus says the Lord: "What injustice have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, have followed idols (hebel), and have become idolaters (habal)? (NKJV) Jeremiah 2:5 Thus saith Jehovah, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? (ASV) 2 Kings 17:15 And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. (NKJV) 2 Kings 17:15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified unto them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the nations that were round about them, concerning whom Jehovah had charged them that they should not do like them. (ASV)

In the N.T., the Teaching is the Same Mataios [mat'-ah-yos]; empty, profitless, or specifically an idol: vain.

Acts 14:15 Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.

 

1 Corinthians 15:17 If Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. James 1:26 If any man thinks himself to be religious, while he bridles not his tongue but deceives his heart, this man's religion is vain.

 

"Eidolon" is the common N.T. word for "Idol". It was used in classical Greek for things that lacked substance or reality. (phantoms, images in mirrors or water or images in the mind. This is the word the LXX uses to translate about 15 Hebrew words and without exception it refers to the images of the pagan gods and the deities represented by them. Idols Are Lifeless Nothings

Jeremiah 10:14 Everyone is dull hearted, without knowledge; every metalsmith is put to shame by the graven image; for his molded image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

Habakkuk 2:18-19 What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, the molded image, a teacher of lies, that the maker of its mold should trust in it, to make mute idols? Woe to him who says to wood, `Awake!' to silent stone, `Arise! It shall teach!' Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and in it there is no breath at all.

Psalms 115:4-7 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell; They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat.

 

(Psalms 135:15-18)

 

1 Corinthians 12:2  You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols...

 

God will bring judgment on Idolaters and heap their bodies on the remains of the worthless Idols as a final and fitting "Offering" to these lifeless nothings.

Leviticus 26:30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you. Ezekiel 6:4-5 Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars.

 

Idolaters Will Be Ashamed

Isaiah 42:17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, who trust in carved images, who say to the molded images, `You are our gods.'

The God of the Bible has demonstrated that he is the living and acting God, He has been. He is and He will be living and active whether we acknowledge it or not. His name and His glory will be vindicated, whether we devote our lives to glorifying Him or not.

 

Nevertheless it is our purpose, our duty, and our privilege as His creatures to honor the Creator and worship Him and glorify Him as the One True God; and we should make it or life's sole aim to do just this. All need to turn from Idolatry, and serve God.

Galatians 4:8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.

1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.

 

We Must Leave All Idols Behind to Serve the Living God.

 

 

 

PART 2 next week

 

 

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.542 / Virus Database: 336 - Release Date: 11/18/2003