Our God
I don’t think that Dr. A. W. Tozer ever wrote anything shallow. Really ponder this statement by him –
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
The history of mankind will probably show no people has ever risen above its religion and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.”
Chip Ingram, in his book, “God, as He longs for You to see Him” wrote:
“Nothing in your life will impact your relationship with God, your relationship with people, your self-view, your decisions, and your purpose like the way you think of God. Everything in your life consciously or unconsciously comes back to one thing: Whom do you visualize God to be in your heart? Who we are and what we become cannot be separated from our understanding of God.”
Again, we refer to Tozer — “Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason, the gravest question before the church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at any given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.”
He goes on to say, “We tend by a secret law of the soul, to move forward our mental image of God.”
Tozer applies this concept to both the individual Christian and the church — at large. The way we act as believers and as a church states clearly what we actually think about God.
In 1 Corinthians 11, the apostle Paul is talking about the establishing of the LORD’s Supper or Communion and in verse 28, he wrote, “That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking from the cup.”
The word “examine” is very important because it has to do with what do I really believe about God and have I really taken the time to compare my belief with my behavior? Does the way I live my life portray a high or low view of my God?
Returning to Chip Ingram again, as he comments on what Tozer wrote —
“If Tozer is right, then we need to see God with 20/20 vision. As much as is humanly possible, we must get an accurate, clear picture of who the Creator of the universe is and exactly what He is like. We want to encounter, embrace and know God as He is. And here is the motivation: until you know God as He is, you’ll never become all that He’s created you to be.”
· We need to acknowledge that He alone is God – we are not.
· Our first parents, Adam and Eve, had wonderful fellowship with God – their sin changed that and ultimately it changes us, because all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23
· God still wants an intimate relationship with us and He has made that possible by sending Jesus, His Son to give His life as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. We can be forgiven, accepted and adopted into God’s family.
Romans 6:23; Ephesians 1:6; Galatians 4:5-7
· We need to understand that God loves us and has a plan and purpose for each of us.
Jeremiah 17:11; Jeremiah 1:4-8
· Consider these truths about our God:
— He is all-powerful
— He is all-knowing
— He is ever-present
— He is unchanging
Listen to how the Prophet Isaiah describes our God.
“To whom can you compare Me?
Or who is My equal?” says the Holy One.
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens.
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one; and
Call them each by name.
Because of His great power and mighty strength,
Not one of them is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel?
‘My way is hidden from the LORD
My cause is disregarded by my God’?
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Creator of the end of the earth,
He will not grow tired or weary,
And His understanding no one would fathom.”
Isaiah 40:25-28
Ingram again, “God is not like us. People get tired and weary; God does not. There are things we do not understand; God never has a question come to His mind. He is all-powerful, He is all knowing, He is all-wise. All the best in us is a faint impression of what He is. He’s not like us.”
David was a flawed man. Yet he is referred to as “a man after God’s own heart.” Listen to how he viewed God — “How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like You, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.”
2 Samuel 7:22
He was guilty of a great sin when he committed adultery with Bathsheba. Later, because she got pregnant, he tried to cover his sin but was unsuccessful. So, he arranged for Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, to be killed in battle. The Bible says that “He who covers his sin, will not prosper.”
My great concern as a pastor, watching what is going on in our nation and the world is that people are re-creating God as we wish Him to be, rather than honoring, worshiping, and relating to Him as He is. Folks, God is God. He is all there is. There is no other. He is the Creator and we are His creatures. He is God and He does not change, but He wants to change us so that we can really enjoy Him.
To try to invent a god as we wish him to be so that we are comfortable with him and can do as we please, is a fruitless endeavor with a terribly disappointing end.
How different life is when we receive Jesus Christ as Savior and LORD. Our testimony will be like the Psalmist (16:11) “You (God) will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever.”
My prayer is that each of us will love, honor and serve God for who He is.
God bless you,
Pastor Leonard
