Is God a concept or a being? This seems to be the choice we are faced with today. In so many shows and conversations where the fundamental thinking of people is revealed, it seems that people believe in a god of their own making. The Bible states that God is love, but people try to reverse that and say that Love is god; that somehow our notions of love and goodness are the source of that which we call god, and that in essence, we are the source of god. One of my former coworkers made a statement to me that revealed this paradigm to me. He said, “I believe in the Christ concept.” to which I replied, “Christ is not a concept. He is a person.”
In the human discourse, it can be difficult to tell what people really believe. They can say all the right phrases, and behave in all the acceptable ways, and yet at their core not really accept what the Bible clearly teaches. The same book that says, “God is love.”, also says, “God created the heavens and the earth.” A concept cannot exercise volition to create anything of it’s self. Christ did not say that his teachings were the way the truth and the life, but that He was. I don’t know about you, but I find no comfort in worshiping the lifeless idol of humanistic ideology. My hope is anchored in the Holy of Holies with the creator of the universe who is before all and above all that we know or imagine.
Tied to this notion that god can be whatever we make him to be is another perplexing and illogical statement. It goes something like, “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you believe it.” Huh? I may believe that I can walk through walls, but I’ll bloody my nose trying no matter how much I believe it. The idea that all paths lead to God does not square with the Bible in any way. It doesn’t even make sense. I could say that all roads lead to Walmart, and it might seem true, but it is not. I know a great many roads that will not get you there. In the same way, there are a great many roads that may seem to lead heavenward but really do not. Jesus made an exclusive statement when he said, “No man comes to the Father but by me.” It is only when we put our trust in the person of Jesus Christ and believe that God raised him from the dead that we can share in that same resurrection power.
Life as we know it cannot exist on Earth without the power of the sun, but the sun is just a huge ball of energy. The true source of life is the person who created the sun, moon and stars in the first place. He created the first man from the dust of the ground with his own hands and breathed life into him. He is the source of life. Without him life cannot exist – period. Without God, we don't know what love is.
Amen. I think some people have their god as Walmart-that's why they fall into the lie of all roads leading to God. They worship what they can see-or like you said-make Him into their own belief.
ReplyDelete