Another "Another"

We looked last week at the idea of "another Jesus." We saw a variety of possibilities that are termed "Jesus" without being the Jesus of the Bible. So, what about God, the Father? Do we find the same thing with Him? Of course we do. It is the first thing we think of when we think of "idolatry" -- another god. The Bible tells us quite a bit about God ... more than I can list here. But, in spite of all that revelation from God Himself, it seems we're pretty good at manufacturing substitutes and fakes.

The Bible, for instance, tells us that He is "holy, holy, holy" (Isa 6:3; Rev 4:8). Is your God that holy? When we think of "holy" we think first of separation from sin. Is your God separate from sin? Or is He complicit, condoning? "Oh, it's okay; everyone makes mistakes." But holy is more. It is "other." Is your God just like you (Psa 50:21)? We are told that "God is not a man" (Num 23:19), but that tends to be our first evaluation of God ... just like us. That's not God; that's another god. We are told that "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven" (Rom 1:18). How about yours? Is He a God who is angry about unrighteousness and ungodliness, or just a friendly kind of god? Scripture says He intends "to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known" (Rom 9:22). Is your God angry at sin, or is He "okay" with it? "Ah, don't worry, I'll let it go." If the latter, that's not God; that's another god. A constantly repeated claim in Scripture is that God is Sovereign ... really Sovereign. The "only Sovereign" (1 Tim 6:15). He makes light and creates -- actually creates -- calamity (Isa 45:7). He causes people to walk in His statutes (Ezek 36:27). We plan our own plans, but He directs our steps (Prov 16:9). The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord (Prov 21:1). We're talking really, actually Sovereign. If your god is dependent upon Man, stymied by our choices, stopped by our lack of faith, that's another god.

As I said, God's Word lists quite a bit about God. I've just brushed the surface. And we need to be in the Word to see what He says about Himself and to believe what He says about Himself. But since He is God and we are not, since He is holy and we are not, since He is above all and we are not, since He is infinite and we are finite, it is necessarily true that we won't understand Him fully. It is understandable that we would have misguided notions about Him. The problem is that too many of our misguided notions are not misguided, but blind -- missing or ignoring what He has revealed about Himself. That other version of God we have that ignores what He has told us is not God. That's another god. In biblical terms, that's idolatry. "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry" (1 Cor 10:14).