"I believe the Bible. I believe in the God of the Bible. Try me. I'll show you."
God's Word: I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. (Isa 45:5)
Us: Yes, indeed, we believe in one God. Mind you, we aren't arrogant. We aren't exclusive. We believe all religions point to the same place and all religions are equally valid. Allah and Krishna and whatever other gods are out there are equally valid for their followers. Even the Jesus of the Latter Day Saints who doesn't at all fit the description of the biblical Jesus. Because we are inclusive.
God's Word: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. (Rom 1:18-19)
Us: There, see? We're fully on board with that. God is not a god of wrath. A wrathful God is a petty God and we believe in the God of the Bible who is above all that petty wrath over ungodliness, unrighteousness, or even merely misrepresenting Him. No, this text isn't about the wrath of God being revealed, but about the love of God.
God's Word: Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. (Psa 115:3) ... which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. (1 Tim 6:15)
Us: Clear as a bell. God does whatever He pleases, and He it pleases Him to surrender some of His sovereignty to us, His creatures. We, too, are sovereigns, at least of our own lives. We're not exactly sure why He stresses the "only Sovereign" there. Clearly He's not, since He made us sovereigns as well. Probably just a translation error.
God's Word: [I am] the One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.
(Isa 45:7)
Us: We're not quite sure what to do with this text. We know God forms light, but in what sense does He create darkness? We know He causes well-being, but in no way is it possible that He can create calamity. So apparently it's some obscure metaphor, some odd arrangement of words, because one thing we know about God is He only does nice things. If that's not true, we're not sure we believe in this God who causes calamity.
These are just a few examples of plain Scriptures that say straightforward things about God. We give lipservice to taking God at His Word, but when it comes to some of it, we're not so sure. Will we let God be God, or will we overlay our own version and require Him to conform?
2 comments:
Far too often we try to create God in our image. And if that is the case, it isn't a God worth worshipping. Same with all those people that say Christianity needs to keep up with the times. If we can edit our theology, then it really is just a man made religion and is no more true than any other religion.
It's much easier to worship a god that doesn't expect more from us than we already do, and who doesn't make us uncomfortable. It's clear that YHWH must only do things which we can understand and approve of for Him to actually be a good God.
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