A Change of gods

 By Tim Naab

Since the beginning of time, man has always believed in a supreme being. No culture has ever been found that did not worship or recognize a supreme being. These supreme beings were referred to as “god” or “gods”. We find it amusing that these “ignorant” people, who conceived of a god or gods, would create an image of this being from wood and stone. It is easy for us to look at them and condemn their attempt to create a god from earthly materials. But yet these “ignorant” people set these images in places of honor and bowed down to them. They were honored and revered. These people placed their trust in these images and worshipped them by placing their trust and confidence in their ability to bless them. This was the reason for these images of god, to bless man and provide for all their wants and desires. It was not about whom this god was but how this god would bless this flesh. The sad thing is man has not changed! Man still holds the belief in a supreme being. The only difference between these “ignorant” people and us is that our images are not created from wood and stone but in our minds. Man has now become so intelligent, that he no longer needs a material image of god. The concept of god in the mind of man is no less an image than the wood and stone of other “ignorant” cultures. Man still places his confidence in this mental image and gives it a place of honor in their life. The image of god is still there only to bless the man and see to his every desire. It is an image formed that fits the lifestyle of the individual, one that will accept the man as he is and over look his short comings. Some men have “chosen” to place their faith in this belief and then call themselves, Muslims, Hindu, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Buddhist, and even Christians. The Bible says, “They profess that they know God; BUT IN WORKS THEY DENY HIM, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate”. (Titus 1:16). “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, NEITHER KNOWTH HIM:…” (John 14:17). ”Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.” (Jeremiah 5:4) ”And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true…..” (1 John 5:20). ”Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.” (Ecclesiastes 8:17). “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.” (Isaiah 43:10) ”Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:” 1 Thessalonians 4:5 “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)

Man carries his image of god into his religion and serves this same image that they had prior to their “conversion”. Scripture says you can NOT know God prior to the new birth. Which means the image of god you had is not God but a concept of a god or Supreme Being. When God reveals himself to a man 2 things will be evident; 1. They will know God, 2. They will know themselves.

 "OUR wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other. For, in the first place, no man can survey himself without forthwith turning his thoughts towards the God in whom he lives and moves; because it is perfectly obvious, that the endowments which we possess cannot possibly be from ourselves; nay, that our very being is nothing else than subsistence in God alone." (Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, chapter 1)

Paul said, about himself, ”This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15) O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24) "False spiritual experiences have a tendency to cause pride, which is the devil's special sin.

"He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil." (1 Tim 3:6) Pride is the inevitable result of false spiritual experiences, even though they are often covered with a disguise of great humility. False experience is enamored with self and grows on self. It lives by showing itself in one way or another. A person can have great love for God, and be proud of the greatness of his love. He can be very humble, and very proud indeed of his humility. But the emotions and experiences that come from God's grace are exactly opposite. God's true working in the heart causes humility. They do not cause any kind of showiness or self-exaltation. That sense of the awesome, holy, glorious beauty of Christ kills pride and humbles the soul. The light of God's loveliness, and that alone, shows the soul its own ugliness. When a person really grasps this, he inevitably begins a process of making God bigger and bigger, and himself smaller and smaller." (Jonathan Edwards; How to Know if You are a Real Christian)

The unsaved man has conceived of a god that is in subjection to their desires, a god that is not sovereign, a god formed in THEIR image. THIS IS NOT GOD. Man is not injured and in need of healing, he is dead in need of raising. Unless God reveals himself to a man, he CAN NOT be known. Check yourself. Is the god you believed in before your “conversion” the same god you now serve? If so, then you are serving an image of god, nothing less than an idol. No more a god than the wood and stone images of the “ignorant” people. Just because you call this image God or Jesus does not make it so. If you respond, “yes it is the same god, I just know him in a better way”, wrong answer! If you say, “I know him in my spirit now not just in my mind”, wrong answer! ”For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:11)

You can not be a new creation and have an old creation concept of God. A new creation will have a new nature and mind, it will be able to see the old creation and realize the difference. If there is no recognition of the difference, then there is no difference and you are still dead in your sin. Stop trying to use fanciful spiritual language to convince yourself you are ok with God. Be honest and look at yourself. Compare the difference. If the only difference you see is that you stopped cursing, or drinking, or doing drugs, and started going to church, then all you are seeing is how your flesh has improved. What of God? What in God has changed in your concept as a new creation. If the only difference is that now I have made him Lord, or I realized He was always there trying to pull me in, or I realized he always loved me, then again all you see is how your flesh has improved. Noah was not saved FROM the flood, Lot was not saved FROM Sodom and Gomorrah, the children of Israel were not saved FROM the death angel in Egypt and the redeemed were not saved FROM hell. Noah, Lot, the children of Israel and the redeemed, were not saved TO be in heaven with God. Neither were any of these saved BY the ark, nor BY the angels, nor BY the blood on the door posts, nor BY your decision. None were saved FOR there own sake…….ALL that are saved are saved FROM GOD, TO GOD, BY GOD, FOR GOD. Saved FROM His WRATH, TO His PRESENCE, BY His WILL, FOR His GLORY. This is not a time to play religious word games, it is a time to take a close look at yourself. The problem is, most will not. Pride will cause most to believe they are ok with God. Many will look at this article and say, “this isn’t for me”. My hope and prayer is that some will read this and realize that they do not know God and in so doing will know Him.

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