Practical Polytheism or Practical Idolatry?
Happy New Year to Everyone! I hope you started 2009 off with a meaningful "unhurried time" with the Lord. I must admit that mine came later than usual since we stayed up to see in the New Year, but it was great to spend that time with the Lord this morning and to begin reading through the Bible again.
As I read Genesis 3, the Lord spoke to me about something I have been reading in the book "The Forgotten Ways" by Alan Hirsch, which my son, John, recommended to me at Thanksgiving. In the book Alan Hirsch introduces a new way of looking at our disobedience to God. He says that it really amounts to practical polytheism. In other words we have more than one god. Jesus is not really Lord, because we obey different gods at different times when we think it is appropriate. That is what Adam and Eve did in Genesis 3. Eve listened to the serpent or Satan, who was using the serpent. At that moment she decided that God was not the Lord of her life. She rejected His command, and she bowed to Satan as her god. Therefore, she had two gods at that point. Adam did the same when he listened to Eve instead of God. If you don't like using that explanation, you at least have to admit that she became a practical idolater, because she bowed to the false god, Satan, and Adam bowed to the false god, Eve. Either way, it was a serious sin.
How often do we do that same thing today? At school we listen to the school god, and we go by his rules. At work we listen to the god of our workplace, and we bow to his rules. When we decide to do things on our own, we become our own god. When we listen to our children or our friends, they become gods to us. So we have many gods, or we are idolaters, trying to worship God and these other gods at the same time. You know how God feels about that from reading about Israel in the Old Testament. What we must do in 2009 is accept Jesus as Lord of all. We must not bow our knees to other gods, or we must not worship any idols, even self. What He says must be the final word. Then, we will be Monotheists. We will worship and serve One God, and that God is Jesus Christ. My memory verse for today is Matthew 1:23, which tells us that Jesus is "Immanuel." That means "God with us." He is God, and He came to show us the fullness of God in human flesh. He is the Only One worthy of our worship and obedience. Jesus is Lord!
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 4-6 and Matthew 2.
As I read Genesis 3, the Lord spoke to me about something I have been reading in the book "The Forgotten Ways" by Alan Hirsch, which my son, John, recommended to me at Thanksgiving. In the book Alan Hirsch introduces a new way of looking at our disobedience to God. He says that it really amounts to practical polytheism. In other words we have more than one god. Jesus is not really Lord, because we obey different gods at different times when we think it is appropriate. That is what Adam and Eve did in Genesis 3. Eve listened to the serpent or Satan, who was using the serpent. At that moment she decided that God was not the Lord of her life. She rejected His command, and she bowed to Satan as her god. Therefore, she had two gods at that point. Adam did the same when he listened to Eve instead of God. If you don't like using that explanation, you at least have to admit that she became a practical idolater, because she bowed to the false god, Satan, and Adam bowed to the false god, Eve. Either way, it was a serious sin.
How often do we do that same thing today? At school we listen to the school god, and we go by his rules. At work we listen to the god of our workplace, and we bow to his rules. When we decide to do things on our own, we become our own god. When we listen to our children or our friends, they become gods to us. So we have many gods, or we are idolaters, trying to worship God and these other gods at the same time. You know how God feels about that from reading about Israel in the Old Testament. What we must do in 2009 is accept Jesus as Lord of all. We must not bow our knees to other gods, or we must not worship any idols, even self. What He says must be the final word. Then, we will be Monotheists. We will worship and serve One God, and that God is Jesus Christ. My memory verse for today is Matthew 1:23, which tells us that Jesus is "Immanuel." That means "God with us." He is God, and He came to show us the fullness of God in human flesh. He is the Only One worthy of our worship and obedience. Jesus is Lord!
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 4-6 and Matthew 2.