God greatest gift of love

GOD'S GREATEST GIFT OF LOVE

The most famous passage in the Bible is John 3:16:

”For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus Christ is not only God’s best way of speaking to us. He is also God’s greatest gift of love! We have mentioned God’s plan of love for man. What is that plan? The Bible reveals that Jesus Christ is, Himself, the way to come back to God. Shortly before His death for all people, Jesus said,

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).

In His prayer to the Father He said,

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3).

LET'S SUM UP

This study of the Bible has led us closer to knowing "the only true God." The apostle John summed up God’s nature in the simplest and best way:

God is love (1 John 4:8).

The proof of God’s continuing love fills all the creation, all of history, and all of our lives. Yes, there is suffering in the world. But never forget that it came when man rejected the One who alone gives life, peace, joy and purpose. Because of the lies of God’s enemy, we left what God’s great love had planned for us. Yet that is not the end of the story, praise God! For God’s compassion still calls us back to enjoy all the fullest blessings of eternal life.

God calls us through His prophets, and especially through His own Son. We take their warnings of judgment seriously, and we "turn to God in repentance" (Acts 20:21). We know that the way to life is through faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:16; 14:6; 17:2; Acts 20:21). Who is this Jesus? When He is called "the Son of God," what does this really mean? What has He done that makes the way to God so open for us? The next course explores the good news about Jesus Christ. We look forward to hearing from you, and continuing our studies of Scripture together as soon as possible. May God bless and keep you in His loving care!

How our hearts praise You for your goodness, O LORD! Thank You for being so merciful toward us. Thank you for life that You continue to give, including the time You have given us for this study together. As You so freely give to us, may we freely share with others the things that we receive and learn. Our request is that You will allow us to continue our studies of Your word, so that we can truly know Your greatest gift of love, Jesus Christ.

God's mercy

GOD HAS SPOKEN OF MERCY

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ”The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression [wrongdoing] and sin…” (Exodus 34:6-7).

God showed a part of His glory to Moses on the mountain of Sinai. While doing so, God spoke these words of love to describe Himself. According to Exodus 34:7 God then went on to speak about His just punishment for all who remained guilty. He was not denying the fact that He is angry with sin. But it is important for us to see what God, in revealing Himself, chose to speak of first. He spoke of His "love" before He spoke of His anger. Is this love only for very good people? No. This love is "forgiving" toward those who have rebelled against Him. Here is hope for all of us who have fallen into sin. The God who has spoken has spoken first of how much His mercy and compassion reach out to us even in our sin!

LOVE FROM THE BEGINNING

It was not only in words that God spoke first of love. He has done so in actions from the very beginning. The creation itself was an act of pure love! When God saw all that He had made, He knew that it was "very good" (Genesis 1:31). God’s making of the world reminds us of a man building a home in preparation for the coming of his beloved family. Instead of leaving it in darkness, He gave it light. Instead of leaving it shapeless, He formed it with strong building materials. He gave it the firmness of dry land, and the lively freshness of water. Instead of emptiness, He filled it with all kinds of living things. Instead of dullness, He gave each thing its own beauty and wonder. Instead of want and hunger, He provided all that life needed, including enjoyable food.

When all was ready, God created the people to live in this beautiful home (Genesis 1:26-28). He gave to man breath and a fleshly body, as He had given the animals. But the gift of life for man went far beyond animal life. The Creator made man in His own "image" or "likeness" (Genesis 1:26-27). Man’s heart can respond to God and to others in a far higher way than animals can. In keeping with this high position, God appointed man ruler over all the earth and its creatures (Genesis 1:26).

God was not forced to do any of this. It was because of His own loving nature that He created people and "blessed them" (Genesis 1:27-28).

LOVE'S GIFTS OF FAMILY AND FRIENDSHIP

In all the creation of the world there was only one thing said to be "not good." At first the man was alone (Genesis 2:18). Yet there was a loving reason even in letting the man know loneliness. For the man would then treasure his wife and family to come. In answer to the man’s need, God used a part from the side of the man to make a woman. She became his wife, his friend and his helper (Genesis 2:18-25). God made each as a living gift to the other!

Added to that, God gave to the couple a share in giving new life. From the joy of their unity would come the gift of children. Say a special prayer of thanks to God the next time your heart is moved by a lovely wedding. When you next hold a new born baby in your arms, remember who gave the priceless gift of life!

Adding blessing upon blessing, God gave to the human family His own personal friendship. He spoke with them. He came to their garden in the cool of the day to be with them (Genesis 3:8).

The universe and earth are much larger than these tiny creatures—these humans. Yet God chose to give His special attention to them. Like King David, we can only wonder at such love for humans.

… what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor (Psalm 8:4-5).    

ANGER COULD NOT HIDE LOVE

Some might think that God’s love ended when the man and woman sinned. It is true that sin has turned this world into a place of hardship and suffering. It is not true that these things ended God’s love. Think back to each time when God showed His just anger against sin. You will find in each case that God made sure His continuing care for people was known.

In Genesis 3, God was about to punish Adam and Eve for their sin. First, though, He gave the promise of hope. He assured them that the woman’s offspring would crush their enemy (3:15). Before the couple were driven out of their garden home, God Himself made clothes for them (3:21). Later God helped Eve to give birth to her child (4:1). When that child had grown God spoke to him to help him overcome sin (4:6).

The next great example of judgment was the flood (Genesis 6). Wickedness had almost completely taken over the earth. Only one God-fearing family was left! It actually became necessary to wash the earth clean. Yet even this was an act of love. It was a fresh start, so that good could again be known on earth. God removed that evil generation to warn future generations (2 Peter 3). Even those wicked people of that time received warning. For years God used Noah as "a preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2:5). They refused to listen. So, in the words of Jesus Christ, "the flood came and swept them all away" (Matthew 24:39). The rainbow that God set in the clouds immediately after this reminded the world of His mercy. It assured the earth that no such flood would happen again. The seasons would remain steady (Genesis 8:22; 9:8-17). Many centuries later the apostle Paul pointed at the dependable seasons and regular crops. He said that these were God’s "testimony" proving that "He did good" (Acts 14:17).  

WHY DO WE SUFFER IN THIS WORLD?

There are, of course, times when crops do fail for a while. Jobs become hard to find. Families lack what they need. How are we to understand these in the light of God’s love? First, let us remember that the world God made was not a world of want, disease or death. He made it a place of plenty, health and life. Man’s sin, and Satan’s rule through that sin, brought into the world the suffering we see. Even for God’s own people, this is a place of "groaning" (Romans 8:22-23).

The question this world should really be asking is this: "Why should we expect anything except pain and death?" For this world is full of rebellion against its Creator.

To reject the Giver of all life should mean the loss of all life. Yet the God of great mercy keeps on letting people live on His earth. He gives them many blessings.

He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:45).

He gives us time to learn and to turn to Him, before it is too late. Yet many are so thoughtless and so thankless that they use this time to continue sinning. They "show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience." They fail to see that

"… God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance" (Romans 2:4).

ERV: God has been kind to you. He has been very patient, waiting for you to change. But you think nothing of his kindness. Maybe you don't understand that God is kind to you so that you will decide to change your lives. 🙏 

GOD USES GOOD TIMES AND BAD TIMES

When many blessings do not turn people back to God, He may try another way. He may use even the curses and sorrows that are already at work in the earth because of sin. An example of this was given by the prophet Jeremiah. His people enjoyed seasons of plenty. Yet these good times did not turn their hearts to God (Jeremiah 5:24). Later came their times of great trouble, war and famine. God tried through these to show His people the result of their sin.

Your sins have kept you from enjoying the good things from the LORD (Jeremiah 5:25).

Still they would not listen. Finally their capital city, Jerusalem, was destroyed. Many of them were killed or made slaves.

In the book called Lamentations, Jeremiah tells of his tears as he watched his people starve and die in Jerusalem. Yet he knew how much God had tried to win them back. God had tried by means of both good times and bad times.

So, even in great sorrow, Jeremiah could still say,

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23).

ERV: We are still alive because the LORD's faithful love never ends. Every morning he shows it in new ways! LORD, you are so very true and loyal!   

THE LORD DISCIPLINES THOSE HE LOVES

According to Matthew 5:22,29-30 and Luke 12:4-5, the suffering in our earthly bodies is small compared to the fire of hell. Therefore God’s feelings of mercy ("compassions") may at times move Him even to use earthly pain to try to keep us from far greater eternal pain.

God does not have to make up special pain just for us. In this world, which has left God, pain is already with us! But God can sometimes use that pain to help us. When a doctor cuts into the body to remove a diseased part, does this mean that the doctor is uncaring and unwise? Just the opposite is true. He cuts because he cares and wishes to heal. He knows that the pain of this cut is far better than the suffering and death of the spreading disease.

In the same way, God sends "judgments" even before the final judgment. Is this because He is uncaring? It is because He cares so much! As the prophet Isaiah said,

When your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants [people] of the world learn righteousness (Isaiah 26:9b).

In fact, it can be said that the more God cares, the more He corrects us.

The Lord disciplines the one he loves… [Our fathers] disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness (Hebrews 12:6,10).

Life’s trials tend to make unbelievers more bitter and hard-hearted. But believers keep trusting in the great truth that "His love endures forever" (Psalm 136). Therefore they let themselves be "trained" by the pain of correction. In this way they reap the "harvest of righteousness and peace" (Hebrews 12:11).

IS HELL PART OF GOD'S PLAN OF LOVE?

Hell is clearly described in the Bible. If we reject the teaching about hell, we must reject the teaching about heaven. For we learn of both from the same place—God’s word. However we must also believe God’s word when it reveals that hell was not actually made for man. Matthew 25:41 calls it "the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." It was made for the terrible and powerful enemies of God (Revelation 20:10). The same passages show that condemned people will go there. But they will go there against God’s wish. God has spoken very clearly on this matter:

”I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live” (Ezekiel 18:32).

God our Savior… desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

[The Lord] is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish [die], but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

So in a sense we may answer, "No, hell is not part of God’s plan of love for man."

God’s love wants to keep people away from hell. Yes, God’s mercy has even planned for all to be able to come back to Him. The cost of that plan is greater than we can measure! But those who reject God’s plan have chosen God’s enemy. They must then go to the place God prepared for that enemy. So in another sense we may say that even hell comes from the loving God.

Love for justice, love for truth, love for His own people—this is the love which causes God finally to remove all His enemies. If these enemies continue to have their way creation will forever remain a place of disorder, suffering and death. It is the God of love who has set hell as the end to all active rebellion. Ending all rebellion will allow the return of complete order, peace and goodness for saved humans. This is what God had planned from before the creation—that people should live with Him in the joy-filled, perfect, eternal Home (Ephesians 1; Revelation 21,22).  

Speaking with one voice 03

21-03 SPEAKING WITH ONE VOICE
By: Lisa Bevere

The dynamic of foreign languages was birthed at the tower of Babel when God scattered a disobedient people who were on the verge of achieving the impossible:

The impossible would have been possible because of two factors: a united people and a shared language. The people’s outright disobedience would have been hailed a success. God put an end to their nonsense by confusing😟 the languages and💡 scattering the people to the four corners of the earth. gen.11:7

Our human existence began with one language, and I believe it will end with one language: the language of God-wonder. Scripture tells of the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:2  , "…And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing🔔 them speak in his own language."

Multitudes gather when heaven finds voice on earth. When we have something to say, God finds a⚠ way for others to 🔊hear it. No one was left out. When we speak 😀His words by the power🔥 of His Spirit, astonishing things happen. I long for this unified expression of God-wonder. Even more powerful than a common earthly language is the collective power of saying the same thing. On the day of Pentecost the declarations of heaven invaded earth and all who were present knew it.

psalm 19:14
Our God Most High is triumphant. His glorious love 💖and wondrous 🍔mercy know no bounds. I am hungry for something so much more! I believe we are yet again on the threshold of heaven finding a collective voice on earth.
The Lord came and stood, and He called as at other times, “Samuel, Samuel.” Then Samuel said, “🙏Speak, for Your servant listens.”
1 Samuel 3:10 MEV

Whether you believe in speaking in tongues or not, a bigger question is on the table. Will we use our 😇words in a way that 🎯unites the Church so we can glorify God? Let’s declare His flawless works and allow a ⛅unifying work of His Spirit to begin! Commitments to 😊unity will not work unless all the participants are aligned with a higher cause. Let’s glorify Him.


Pray for the Holy Spirit to speak words of 🌷unity through you.

Ask the Holy Spirit to 😇direct your path to those who need words of hope.

Pray the power of God’s Spirit will give you a👑 boldness to speak of His mighty works.

Living in Spirit baptism 02

🔥21-02 LIVING IN CONTINUAL SPIRIT BAPTISM 🔥
By: George O. Wood

When praying for the baptism in the Spirit as a young person, I would hear people use Luke 11:9–13 to teach about it—ask, seek, knock. But I misunderstood these verses. I really didn’t think 😟the Holy Spirit wanted to have anything to do with me. I felt that I not only had to ask, but I had to beat the door down.

In reality, this passage reminds us that Spirit baptism is not something we ask for once. It should be something we ask for and expect to receive 🌹 repeatedly. This is why Jesus used the progressive present tense. Go 🙏on asking, go on 🙏seeking, go on knocking. There is never any time in your life where you should simply come to rest and say, “I’ve received all the Spirit of God I’ll ever need.”

We never have enough 🎯of God’s Spirit. Yes, we have enough to serve God capably today, but we must replenish ⚠the supply of His presence in succeeding days. Jesus gave us a pattern to follow—ask, seek and knock. If you’re not filled to the level of your need for the Spirit today, then ask, seek and knock. And go on 😊asking, seeking and knocking, until you’re full and satisfied for that moment. Then, there will come 🙌another moment where you’ll need more 😊of the Spirit. It’s right to say, “Father, You promised the Spirit. You promised the baptism in the Spirit. I’m here to ask.”

Don’t treat the baptism in the Spirit as something that happens only 💡 once. Exercise the🍞 gift. Paul said to Timothy about his ministry in 2 Timothy 1:6, “Stir 🔥up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands” (KJV). The NIV says “fan into🔥 flame.” The word for “stir up” is a Greek word that represents a hot coal, an ember, a spark. A charcoal fire needs to be 🔥 fanned into flame. This is the word Paul used.

Do not be drunk with wine, for that is reckless living. But be 💕filled with the Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 MEV

When He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
John 20:22 MEV

When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was 💒 shaken. And they were all 🔥filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with 🍓boldness.
Acts 4:31 MEV

There will be times when we need the wind⛅ of the Spirit of God to rekindle a gift 🌷for ministry. This is true with the baptism in the Spirit as well. Kindle, rekindle, keep being filled with the Spirit so that this blessed experience is a 😀regular expression of your relationship with Christ.


By faith🙌, stir up the gift of God inside you as you pray. Hear🔔 what the Spirit has to say about you and agree with Him.

Ask for more of the Holy Spirit to 🎯fill you, transform💡 you and flow out of you.

21 century pentecostal 01

A 21st CENTURY PENTECOST 🔥
By: Billy Wilson.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2 changed the Church, and the Church changed the world. The same has happened since the ⚠renewal of Pentecostal experience 100 years ago. Six hundred fourteen million people, or over thirty percent of all adherents to Christianity, are now Spirit Empowered (Charismatic/Pentecostal) according to the most recent Pew Forum survey.

Growth rates in this Empowered movement between 1910 and 2010 were nearly four 👍times the growth rate of Christianity and the world’s population. Harvey Cox, a Harvard University professor, says that Spirit Empowered Christianity is “the fastest growing Christian movement on earth.”

The immediate presence of God is longed for by this generation. As we face world problems and overwhelming human difficulties, God’s power 💕will sustain us. Not only can we survive☕ these tumultuous days on planet earth, we can be empowered 🔥to help others find the comfort we know in Him.

and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called to Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.”
1 Samuel 3:3‭-‬4 MEV

First Samuel 3 gives an account of Samuel’s calling. The high priest Eli was old. His eyes were growing dim and his spiritual 😟perception was dull. The seven–pronged golden candlestick that was meant to burn day and🌷 night in the Holy Place of the tabernacle was burning out. The flame on the candlestick needed to be tended ⚠or it would go out, resulting in a deep, cold darkness in the place meant for God’s presence. Just before the fire burned out––before the candle grew cold, before the flame flickered for the last time––God🔊 CALLED!🙌🙌

“Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel misperceived the call as coming from Eli, from man. But the call 🔊continued until finally Samuel 🙌answered God’s voice and became a fiery prophet to his generation. The fire continued to 🔥burn!🔥🔥

Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming 🔥fire on the top of the mountain to the eyes of the children of Israel.
Exodus 24:17 MEV
exodus 25:31
hebrews 12:28

God is calling for a new 🙌generation to experience His 🔥fire. The candle burns low in many parts of the world and the place meant for blazing 💖 passion has become darkened and cold.
Samuel, or Johnny, Benny or Kathryn or Sue, Mark or Victoria or Hans or Amir, or Pablo etc —God is 🔊calling! Awaken to experience 🍓His fire and reach the world in the 21st century. Catch the fire 🔥and spread the fire 🔥🔥

 🙏🙏🙏

Pray for 🙏awakening across the globe so that the fire 🔥will not go out!

Ask for a renewed 💖passion in your heart for the 🔔people and things of⚠ God.

Pray for spiritual ears to 💡be open to God’s call, and that many will follow Him.

The Day of Judgment

GOD HAS SPOKEN OF JUDGMENT

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth (Romans 1:18).

ERV: God’s anger is shown from heaven. God is angry with all the evil and wrong things that people do against God. They have the truth, but by their evil lives they hide the truth.

You may remember that Romans 1:19-20 told us that God reveals Himself through nature. We see in verse 18 that something else is also "being revealed"—the wrath or anger of God. This anger is against all of man’s sinful ways. Some, of course, doubt that God is really angry. They do not see or feel all His anger right now. Paul goes on in the second chapter of Romans to explain that there will come "the day of God’s wrath" when God’s anger and judgment will be fully revealed. Until then, it is being stored up (Romans 2:5).

"THE DAY OF JUDGMENT"

Many of God’s prophets gave this same warning. Jesus spoke often of "the day of judgment" (Matthew 11:22,24; 12:36; etc.). He spoke often of the unending pain and fire of "hell" (Matthew 5:22,29; 25:41,46; Mark 9:43-49; etc.).

In fact, every time this "hell" is mentioned in the New Testament (except for James 3:6), it is from the lips of Jesus Himself.

He knew that terrible punishment was waiting for sinful people. That is why He gave such strong warning—even to His own followers.

I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! (Luke 12:4-5)

Jesus Himself will have a part in judging us (John 5:22,27; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:31).

ERV: God has decided a day when He will judge all the people in the world. He will be fair. He will use a man to do this. God chose this man long ago. And God has proved this to every person; God proved it by raising the man from death!

How can we be sure that the day of judgment is coming? This verse says that the proof is Christ’s resurrection!

There were many eyewitnesses who saw Jesus alive after His death. His victory over death is well known, proving to all people that death is not the end. All will one day be resurrected from death (John 5:29). And if all will be raised, they all will meet God. Then they will answer to God for the choices they made on earth! 

WHY GOD IS ANGRY

Looking closely again at Romans chapter one, we find these reasons for God’s anger:

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him… (1:21).

[They] exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things (1:23).

… they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator… (1:25).

ERV for Romans 1:23, 25: They gave up the glory of God who lives forever. People traded that glory for the worship of idols made to look like earthly people. People traded God’s glory for things that look like birds, animals, and snakes… Those people traded the truth of God for a lie. Those people worshiped and served things that were made. But people did not worship and serve the God who made those things…

We humans treat the very things made by God as if those things can take God’s place! So the things that were meant to help us know and honor God (1:20), are used against God. They become weapons to destroy knowledge about God. Instead of honoring God, people try to cover up and hide ("suppress") the truth about God (1:18). They turn from God’s truth and accept the lie (1:25). 

MAKING A MORE PLEASING GOD

This lie, of course, comes from Satan. Remember that the spiritual struggle is about who should be worshiped (Matthew 4 and John 4). People, following Satan’s lie, take their love away from God. They give their worship to His enemy, the devil. Consider what happened at Sinai. God Himself spoke His Ten Commandments to the whole nation. The second commandment was this:

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God… (Exodus 20:4).

However, the people grew tired of waiting at Mount Sinai. A God who could not be seen, and who took as much time as He wanted, did not please them. So they made a statue in the shape of a calf. They called it the ‘god’ who brought them out of Egypt. Aaron made an altar for offering gifts to it. He then announced, "Tomorrow will be a festival to the LORD (YHWH)" (Exodus 32:5).

They thought this worship would be for the true God, YHWH. But they wanted Him in a form that they could see and feel. (Such a god would also let them worship and live as they pleased.) They would worship the LORD through this image. 

THE WORSHIP OF DEMONS

Look at the result. They showed disrespect for God by breaking His commandments. They had seen the awesome power of God on Sinai. Yet they made the almighty Spirit seem like a brute beast.

They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox [cow] that eats grass (Psalm 106:20).

Far from worshiping God, they dishonored Him and insulted Him! In His anger, He had 3000 of the rebels killed and to the rest He made this promise:

In the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them (Exodus 32:34).

If their worship failed to honor the Lord, then who actually was honored by it? God gave the answer in Moses’ song (Deuteronomy 32).

They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons that were no gods… They have made me jealous with what is no god (Deuteronomy 32:16-17,21).

Here God showed what really happened in the worship of idols. The idol itself was "no god" at all. It was a lie. Standing behind that lie was Satan and his helpers, the evil spirits called "demons." Therefore, sacrifices given to the false gods actually went to demons.

The New Testament also spoke of this fact in 1 Corinthians 10:19-20.

What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.

It is wrong to think that God accepts all kinds of worship. Without knowing it, many give their worship to demons. They become partners ("participants") with demons.

1 Timothy 4:1 reveals that those who leave the true teachings of Christ are following false teachings from demons. Peter foretold that "many" would be fooled by false leaders who had once been Christians (2 Peter 2:1-2). Sadly, much of this has already come true. It explains why there are so many divided groups, and differing teachings, among those using the Lord’s name. Jesus warned that "many" use His name but disobey what He commanded. "On that Day" (the Judgment Day), Jesus will say to them,

”I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:15-23).  

 

MAN AS HIS OWN GOD

Are we to think that the only idols Satan uses are carved images? Scripture says that he offers many other kinds of "gods" to us. He will even put us and our desires into the place of God, if we let him! It is quite simple. Just get us to think mainly of what we can see.

Man’s fleshly eye sees that, among all the animals, he is the highest and wisest. That seems to make man the most important. What can compare with man’s great mind? What is to hold man back from fulfilling his own desires? As Paul said of some, "their god is their stomach" (Philippians 3:19). They are "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:4). Who can doubt that the idols of many today include pleasures, sex, money, careers, security, success and fame? They seek these things far more seriously than they seek the true God.

For the wicked [evil person] boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy [hungry] for gain curses and renounces [turn from] the Lord. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ”There is no God” (Psalm 10:3-4).

Selfish desires and "pride" take the place God should have in their hearts. As Colossians 3:5 says, "Covetousness [greed]…is idolatry." Selfish people want more and more. They do not care when they hurt others. They think there is no Judge to punish them, so they take advantage of others. They are like the Babylonians of old, "guilty men, whose own strength is their god" (Habakkuk 1:11). To such proud people God says,

… you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those who slay [kill] you (Ezekiel 28:9).

GOD MADE IN MAN'S IMAGE

Satan finds it hard to trick most of us into thinking that there is no God above us. The evidence for God is just too strong. So Satan works on changing truth about God. Satan wants God to be made in the image or likeness of man (instead of man being "in the image of God"). Some feel that God may be as weak as they are. They think God has little power to help them or make their lives better. Others, having been treated badly, view God as that kind of person. They think that God hates them and seeks their ruin. Others want a God who will never punish anyone. They make God out to be only soft and gentle, without any anger. Then there are those who think that God shares their dishonest ways. They do not keep their promises, and they feel that God may not keep His word. Although He has promised terrible punishment for sins (Revelation 21:8), they think He may let them off. Many on earth escape justice by hiding or by using gifts and bribes. They think they can also bargain with God, or hide from Him. To such people God has made these replies:

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe (Deuteronomy 10:17).

ERV for Deuteronomy 10:17b: To the LORD every person is the same. The LORD does not accept money to change His mind.

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind (Numbers 23:19).

You thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you (Psalm 50:21).

When we make God seem like us, we open the way for false worship. The "God" we claim to worship may become quite different from the true God who has shown Himself. Our "God" turns into a lie. Worship given to this lie goes to "the father of lies." 

 

SERIOUSLY SEEKING GOD

The prophet Isaiah spoke out against lies about God. He could do this because God had shown His glory to Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-4).

I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up… And one [angel] called to another and said: ”Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:1,3).

God is "holy"—so pure that He is far above all that is wrong or false. God’s eyes are "purer than see at evil" (Habakkuk 1:13). Seeing God’s power and purity, Isaiah realized that he and his people would be destroyed (Isaiah 6:5). Isaiah himself stayed alive there only because God acted quickly to save him, taking his sins away (Isaiah 6:7). Only those whom God makes holy can live with Him.

Strive [work] for… the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

All of us fall short of God’s holiness and glory (Romans 3:10,23). So many tell lies, live lies, and follow lies that the Bible now calls Satan "the god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4).

The whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19).

All who love worldly things above God make themselves enemies of God (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15). Thus most people—whether they realize it or not—are on Satan’s side and must share the defeat and punishment that God plans for all His enemies.

That is why Jesus warns us:

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matthew 7:13-14).

How foolish to think that we cannot be among the "many" on the wide road to ruin! How foolish to think that we will enter that small gate by chance or by accident! There must be "every effort," that is, serious seeking for God’s way:

Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able (Luke 13:24).

Strive for… the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

This explains why the Bereans eagerly searched the Scriptures every day to learn God’s truth (Acts 17:11). We too should seek God’s way to holiness just as seriously. For God has spoken, showing that each of us must answer to Him, the Judge over all creation.

Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

LET'S SUM UP

The book of Hebrews sums up this subject best:

Our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29; quoting Deuteronomy 4:24).

ERV: Because our God is like a fire that can destroy.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:30-31).

God cannot stand lies, for He is completely honest, pure and holy. God’s majesty rejects all false worship. False worship and service ends up going to demons. God’s firm justice cannot let rebellion go on unpunished. He has spoken clearly of His anger. He has given warning that there will be final and full judgment against all His enemies. That is not an empty threat. It is time for us to take the coming judgment very seriously.

Almighty God and Judge of all, You have every right to be angry when we choose to follow your enemies. Teach us to have healthy fear of your just anger. Help us to respect You, to believe your warnings, and to find your "narrow door" that leads to life…