Recreating God in the Image of Man

Jeremiah 7: 9-11 " 'Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"-safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.

God is still watching beloved. He is still watching the actions of the people who are called by His name. While many try to walk the walk, God must be so disappointed in what Christianity has come to in modern western civilization. Between prosperity doctrine which sells the pleasures of this world over the sanctity of the Gospel and charlatans pushing fairy tales of gold dust and gemstones is it any wonder sometimes that the world looks upon Christians as being disingenuous? Holy laughter, animal noises, false angelic visitations all are contributing to the disintegration of the fabric of our faith. Schisms in our doctrine are becoming so vast that it is obvious some would prefer to recreate God in the image of man. Keep the warm and fuzzy parts and exclude the portions that convict of sin. In the end though, they are not recreating God; they are merely recreating their religion to suit their own desires. God is "I am" and was never created to begin with. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Man cannot change God. So man changes religion.

Man has every right to change religion since he created it. It is not a creation of God. In fact if you travel through the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, you will see God at odds with the religions of man. The attempts to redefine God and then walk into His house and pretend all is safe. The obvious example is the Pharisees. The Pharisees knew all about religion. They were masters of it. They were so wrapped up in their own self-importance within the religious circles they created, that they could not even notice God when He walked among them as Jesus Christ. In the end, God threatened their religion, so they crucified God. Before that though, Jesus tried to show them the error of their religious ways. One exchange in the Gospel of Matthew shows the Pharisees trying to correct God:

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!" Matthew 15: 1-2

Religion is more concerned with tradition than God. It does not see the deeper truths within God's Word. Jesus explains this in His correction of them here:

Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit." Matthew 15: 14

It was their religion that blinded them. Today many people sit in churches that bear the name of God and are following blind guides that place the religious over the Word of God. Too many denominations have felt the pressure of society and have compromised the Word of God.

The Seven Sons of Sceva had religion. The book of Acts tells us that they were going around trying to cast demons out "in the name of Jesus that Paul preaches." They of course did not know Jesus, or even Paul for that matter. But they thought since using the name of Christ worked so well for Paul, they would do so as well. This was the result:

(One day) the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. Acts 19:15 16

The Seven Sons of Sceva had religion but they did not have relationship. Many religions today are lacking that same relationship. They may have great speakers, motivational programs, self help and a smattering of the Bible but in the end they do not walk in the power of God because they have no relationship with Him.

Simon the Sorcerer had religion. Acts also tells us this story; where a man named Simon was a renowned sorcerer. People were amazed at the magic he would perform. When Phillip came to his region though, many followed him and were baptized. The Bible actually states that Simon also became a believer, was baptized, and began to follow Phillip as well. When he saw the Apostles lay hands on people and they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, Simon would offer to buy the power to do the same. Here was the response from Peter:

Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." Then Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me." Acts 8: 20-24

Many religions lead people's hearts astray. It becomes very me-centric and selfish-focused. It becomes about what God can do for you; instead of how you can glorify God. Notice that even after being confronted with the truth, Simon's concerns are not about his offense to God but rather about making sure nothing happens to him.

In the Old Testament, Israel was in a constant cycle of disobedience and revival with the disobedient side being longer and more pronounced. Such was the time that Jeremiah the Prophet lived. He lived during the last decades that Judah existed before being destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar and carried off into exile in Babylon. Jeremiah's job was to pronounce the coming judgment of the Lord. Our key verses above show that God Himself was not impressed with the religion practiced by Judah.

First, God lists some of the offenses Judah was committing. These were similar to the ten northern tribes of Israel which led to their downfall at the hands of Assyria years earlier. The first four offenses are representative of how we live our lives outside of our church or religion. Stealing, killing, adultery and lying about someone else are all egregious acts and most decidedly ungodly. All four are violations of the Ten Commandments of God. The following two offenses are in direct relation to the spiritual state of Judah. God accuses them of burning incense to Baal following other Gods. This was an ongoing theme for Israel and Judah. They were too easily influenced by surrounding cultures in what they believed and how they behaved. That is even how Israel ended up with mortal Kings to begin with. Initially, Israel was set up as a theocracy; God was their King. When Samuel, the last Judge of Israel, was advanced in age the elders of Israel came to ask for a king:

They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." 1Samuel 8: 5

As all the other nations have. How sad. The outside culture of the world, infecting the people of God. That is where Baal came from. Baal was believed to be the son of El and believed to be the Lord of Heaven in the Canaanite religion. These are the same Canaanites God had repeatedly warned Israel about and sent them to war against. Asherah was another false Goddess, believed to be the consort of El to the Canaanites. Somehow the worship of Asherah also infiltrated the people of God. Israel and Judah would constantly go back and worship these false Gods from their surrounding cultures.

And so it goes today as well. The church, which is supposed to be salt and light to the world, is instead being infiltrated by the world. The names have changed and ways are more subtle but false Gods do not have to be made of wood or stone. They can be anything that we place before God. The world worships money and the pursuit of wealth far above God and thus we see prosperity doctrine borne not out of a love of God but a love of money. The world worships independence and self-reliance above God and thus the feel-good doctrine is borne where there is no hell, nor consequence for sin. In this model that many have bought into, God does not decide what is right and wrong, but man does. The outside culture accepts things that are anathema to God and some factions within the church side with the anathema rather than God. Baal worship is still alive today. Politics is Baal worship. Money is Baal worship. Acceptance of sin is Baal worship. In his final instructions to Timothy, the Apostle Paul instructs us all:

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

The instruction is clear PREACH THE WORD. Not the newest fad. Not the most widely accepted philosophy that draws the most people. Narrow is the gate beloved! The time has come when men are not putting up with sound doctrine. Instead we see sound doctrine mocked and ridiculed and those who profess it are labeled intolerant or bigoted. They have gathered around them a great number of teachers to tell them that everything is all right. That it is ok to reinvent God. They have turned aside from the truth of the Word of God and instead of invested themselves in the myths which man creates to make himself feel better about his perpetually sinful state.

Going back to the key verses from Jeremiah however we see the true offense is not merely the sin issues of how people represent themselves or even the worshipping of false Gods. No; it is that then the people of Judah would come into the house of the Lord, which bears His name, and think that God was going to protect them. Listen, God loves, God protects, and God certainly restores. But God does not tolerate sin and He is a jealous God. One of the first commandments is that we shall have no other God before Him! What the people of Judah were doing is they were behaving like the world, worshipping the idols of the world, and then trying to wrap themselves up with the one true God. But God is not window dressing beloved. God is supposed to be on the inside of you and shine through; not be on the outside of you covering up what lies beneath the surface.

And so it is in some modern day churches. The stain glass is polished, the crosses are hung with care but the building may as well be the whitewashed tomb Jesus referred to the Pharisees as. Clean on the outside. Clean in appearance. All the right things are said but not necessarily done because on the inside there is still a lot of filth. Our righteousness is but filthy rags and you can cover up those rags with as many hallelujahs as you want but they are still filthy on the inside. Only the presence of Jesus Christ can make those rags white as snow. The words of the Prophet Jeremiah ring true today as they did in his time. The audience may have changed from the remnant of Judah to the remnant of Christianity but the message is the same. God is watching. And I am afraid that what He sees sometimes is that we can get it backward. The church has become good at denouncing the behaviors of the world while turning a blind eye to the problems within the church when we should be denouncing the poor behaviors within the church while opening our arms to the hurt and broken people in the world. The Bible is our plumb line, given by God to specifically guide us. We were created in His image and can do nothing without Him.

Reverend Anthony Wade September 1, 2009