-The God We Make Versus the God Who Is
Reading: Isaiah 46:8-10, Romans 1:18-23
Isaiah 46:8-10 calls Israel to remember and stand firm, declaring that God alone announces the end from the beginning and that his purposes will stand. Romans 1:18-23 describes how humanity, though given knowledge of God through creation, suppresses that truth and exchanges the glory of the immortal God for images and idols of their own making.
The sermon warned of what it called a "God of your own making" -- a domesticated, manageable deity who fits neatly into personal preferences, cultural assumptions, and political leanings. The people of Jerusalem reduced the Son of God to a category they could control. When we selectively embrace only the attributes of God that comfort us while ignoring his holiness and wrath, we are guilty of the same error. The God of Scripture is both perfectly gracious and perfectly wrathful at all times. He cannot be edited. He will not be managed. Worship the God who is, not the one you wish he were.
Reflection Question: Which attributes of God do you tend to emphasize, and which do you tend to avoid? Why?
Practical Application: Spend time today reading a passage that presents an aspect of God's character that makes you uncomfortable. Ask God to help you receive the fullness of who he is rather than a version you have constructed.
Isaiah 46:8-10 calls Israel to remember and stand firm, declaring that God alone announces the end from the beginning and that his purposes will stand. Romans 1:18-23 describes how humanity, though given knowledge of God through creation, suppresses that truth and exchanges the glory of the immortal God for images and idols of their own making.
The sermon warned of what it called a "God of your own making" -- a domesticated, manageable deity who fits neatly into personal preferences, cultural assumptions, and political leanings. The people of Jerusalem reduced the Son of God to a category they could control. When we selectively embrace only the attributes of God that comfort us while ignoring his holiness and wrath, we are guilty of the same error. The God of Scripture is both perfectly gracious and perfectly wrathful at all times. He cannot be edited. He will not be managed. Worship the God who is, not the one you wish he were.
Reflection Question: Which attributes of God do you tend to emphasize, and which do you tend to avoid? Why?
Practical Application: Spend time today reading a passage that presents an aspect of God's character that makes you uncomfortable. Ask God to help you receive the fullness of who he is rather than a version you have constructed.
Posted in Thousand Hills Daily Devotional