|
|
God Is Not A Man Tomorrow we begin our Vacation Bible School. This year's theme deals with some of the different names of God. In studying various passages in the Bible, we will learn different qualities and characteristics of God. One fact that should never be lost is that we were created to worship and service our Creator. "Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture." (Psalm100.3) From the very beginning God has revealed His will to mankind. In the Garden of Eden, God spoke directly to Adam and Eve, and told them what they could and could not do. Likewise God spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Book of Genesis. At Mount Sinai Moses received the Law from God and revealed it in written form. Unlike the Patriarchal Dispensation which was orally given to the heads of each family, the Mosaic Law was written for man to study. This distinction is brought up in Romans 3.2 as Paul states one advantage the Jew had over the Gentile was the oracles of God committed to them. Jesus stated that He would send the Holy Spirit to reveal the will of the Father. "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come" (John 16.13). What will the Holy Spirit do? He will speak and reveal what He had heard from the Father. The words "heard" and "speak" show that words were used to tell the Holy Spirit what to reveal and words were used by the Holy Spirit. One cannot speak without using words and one cannot hear without words being spoken. These words were written down for our learning. We are told to study and rightly divide the word of God, 2 Timothy 2.15. Because it is the word of God it is important and it is understandable. God sent forth His word to accomplish its purpose, Isaiah 55.11. To argue that one cannot understand the Bible is to argue that God's word is deficient. Each of the Gospels was written to teach us about Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for our sins. The Book of Acts was written to tell us about the beginning of the church on the Day of Pentecost and its subsequent spread throughout the world. Each Epistle was written to a church, or churches, or individual to teach them what to do to please God. Each letter in the Bible was written to reveal to man, God's divine will. However, man still has a problem in understanding and obeying God's will. Why? Partly because of ignorance. A lot of people know nothing or very little about the Bible. To them the Bible is a mystery. They do not read or study it and then blame the Bible for their ignorance. But what about those who do study the Bible and still do not obey God? Let me suggest another problem is that we tend to think that God thinks the way we do. Man reads the Bible and then does something totally different because they think it will be OK with God. How many times have you heard somebody say, "That may be what the Bible says, but I think...." or, "I do not see why that is important." The problem with both statements is the person is thinking the way they think is the way God thinks. Why do many believe that "all good people" will be saved? Despite Mark 16.16; Matthew 28.18-20; Acts 2.38, Acts 22.16 and many other passages, people will still argue that baptism is not essential for salvation. Why? Because they do not see why God would demand such an act of faith. It is not a matter of ignorance of the Bible, but a rejection of it. We have to realize that God does not think like we do. "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent." (Numbers 23.19a) That is a hard fact for many to comprehend. People think that God will look at things the way they do instead of trying to accept what God actually says. This lowers God to our level instead of raising us up to God's way of thinking. I will admit there are some things I would have done differently and some things I may wonder why God said to do it a certain way, but that becomes my problem, not God's. It is this lowering of God that allows man to speak of God in blasphemous terms. They question God's goodness, they use His name in vain, they ridicule His standard of morality, they even challenge God to defy them. Let us remember that God is not a man nor the son of a man. He is our Creator and we are to do His will. Such thinking will get us back on the way to obeying Him. -- Dennis Tucker
|