God

“God!”  What do you think of?  Most think of a Being who created all and now rules all.  Some think of God as the Father of Jesus – some think of a pro-creation Being while others think of Father as the head of Jesus.  God is often considered as a mystical or even magical Being.  God is considered in a number of ways and far too often any idea about God limits Him or boxes Him to fit our ideas or needs.  Often men, including Christians, practice a form of idolatry.  We embrace some attributes of God and either ignore or reject other attributes.

At Mount Sinai, while Moses was away, Aaron made a golden calf image to remind the people of God – and God was NOT happy!  God chased Moses down the mountain to deal with the issue.  So, what was Aaron thinking?  He and the people were used to having tangible expressions of gods as learned from the Egyptians and following that history, he felt the people needed the same; especially with Moses being gone.  So, to depict the truths of God’s power and worth, they made an ox (the strongest thing known) of gold – of immense value.  They erected an idol to point them to God and God declared it an act of idolatry.  Why?  It ignored or demeaned who He actually was.

While using the strongest and most valuable things known – the ox and gold – they both fell woefully short of even remotely depicting God’s strength and value.  Furthermore, God is spirit – how did the golden calf in any way point to or depict that attribute?

And what about other attributes such as God being eternal (no beginning or ending) and infinite – or being loving, merciful and gracious or just, angry and longsuffering or holy, triune and all wise?  How do you capture any of those or any combination of those in an image?  Aaron’s golden calf image poorly pointed to just two attributes and miserably failed to point to many, many others.  Thus the golden image was idolatry – presenting God as limited and God was NOT happy!

Often we do the same with God: we focus on two or three attributes and thus practice some form of idolatry.  For example, the world and some Christians mark God only as love and in doing so embrace all sorts of things that offend God.  While God is love (I John 4:8), He is also the other attributes previously mentioned all at the same time.  Some people, Christians too, note God as all-knowing and all-powerful and thus find Him less than good when He allows a baby to die or a person to experience a life-altering event.  Again, God being all-wise, just and sinless is not in their thinking; only that God knew and failed.

In fact, most Christians have a short or limited view of God and thus practice a form of idolatry – boxing God or limiting God.  I think Job was guilty of doing such.

This is God’s description of Job: “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (1:8).  I’m calling Job a Christian – even a good Christian.  Yet Job, as good as he was, had God in a box – He did not have a right or full take on God and was thus practicing some level of idolatry.  Why do I say such?  Consider: And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.  So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly. (1:4-6) Job saw God as a rewarder of good and a disciplinarian.  He feared that God would punish His children for stepping over a line as God was just waiting to deal sinners.

So, God in His wisdom and grace allowed for Job to be taken into a very deep valley to open his eyes to God in a greater way (why pain and suffering for sinners?  School!  Romans 5:1-5, James 1:2-3).

After the burden lifted, Job declared: I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.  Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me. “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (42:1-6)

God allowed for a painful and difficult time to envelope Job’s life in order that Job would have a greater view of God.  Job’s God was much larger and more wonderful than he’d ever dreamed.

We must guard against a limited view of God or the boxing of God, but rather hold a belief that if God allows grief, pain and troubles, He is up to good and He is good!  Don’t let a limited view of God color your response.  “In everything give thanks!”  I Thessalonians 5:18.