In Competition with GOD
I have seen a god.
Back in 1968, I studied in Israel with Wheaton College and we visited Baalbaak, in the heart of Lebanon. We were astounded by the acres of ruins all dedicated to the ancient god, Baal. And at the end of the tour we saw him for ourselves: he was chiseled out of stone and standing about 4 feet high, sporting a smirk on his face. He had nothing to say.
Idolatry, as it was seen in ancient times, seems far removed from those of us who live in the 20th century. But let's remember that the Hindus have 330,000,000 gods, and the Japanese worship their ancestors. Idolatry, that is, worshipping some god other than Jehovah, takes place all over the world. And, as we shall see, it also takes place within our own hearts. We too are idolaters, though of a different kind. Indeed, "Our mind," said the great theologian, Calvin, "is an idol factory, manufacturing as many different gods as the heart desires."
On Mount Sinai, God made it clear to Moses that He was not amused by the proliferation of gods. Indeed, such idols were not to be tolerated. The God of Moses is a jealous God who will have no rivals. "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:2,3).
Why this command? Was God afraid of the competition? Was He threatened because someone else might steal His glory? There are at least three reasons for this command.
The Nature of God
God has, what could be called, intrinsic existence. Every other being or thing in the universe is caused; the entire creation is dependent on God. Study the universe how we will, and it does not have within itself the cause for its own existence. It is unthinkable that the universe could have come from nothing. Nor can we believe it has always existed, since its supply of energy is decreasing, leading us to believe that it must have had a beginning.
God had no beginning, but is self-existent. He has within Himself the reason and the source of His own existence. His source of energy is not being depleted. When He said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM," (Exodus 3:14) He in effect was saying, "I exist because I exist."
It follows that God has intrinsic worth. He is in and of Himself, wholly worthy and of infinite value. He is the source of His own existence, and all else that exists. There is no other being upon which He is dependent. That is why it is impossible for God to be jealous or to sin by being prideful.
But, you say, "I'm valuable too." Yes, but our value is derived. We are valuable because we are God's creation; our worth is inherited, it is conferred. It's wrong for us to be jealous, because that assumes that we have certain inherent rights that belong to us. Jealousy is sin precisely because we have no such inherent rights. We have nothing that we did not receive, therefore it is not, strictly speaking, ours. But God has every right to be insistent that His honor be guarded and that the allegiance of His creatures be undivided. The difference is that of Creator and creature.
What I've said about jealously also applies to pride. Again, we must say that pride is wrong for us because it seeks recognition and power that we do not deserve. But God can seek recognition and power simply because He is altogether worthy. Because He is the cause of His own existence, He need not pass on our worship to a being that is higher than Himself. To put it clearly: idolatry violates the unique and deserved position of God.
No wonder He said, "You shall have no other gods before Me."
The Nature of Man
Man is in rebellion against God. It all began with Lucifer, who said, "I will be like the Most High." He began to challenge God's supremacy. A drop of Lucifer's rebellion has fallen on every human heart. Consequently, we as a race, are also in rebellion against God. We share in that tragedy called sin.
When Satan appeared to Adam and Eve in the Garden, the bait He used was, "You will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). He was inviting Adam and Eve to be one with God. Ever since The Fall, man who was created in the image of God, desires to take God's place, not as creator but as an independent being. Our sin makes us desire to put ourselves on the throne and take God's place. It causes us to stand against God.
Please note this: when man ceases to worship the true God, he does not cease worshipping. He just changes the object of his worship. He faces a dilemma: on the one hand he desires God, for he was created in God's image, but on the other hand, he resents God's intrusion into his life. He wants a God who is predictable, a God he can understand and eventually control. He wants a God whom he can see, touch and feel. He wants a God who is obligated towards him because of the rituals he (man) performs. The clay pot would like to give instructions to the potter.
When Julian Huxly was on television some time ago, he said, "We accepted Darwinianism without proof because we didn't want God to interfere with our sexual morals." There you have it; an admission that the evolutionary view of reality was accepted, not so much because of the evidence, but because of the desire to escape the conclusions of living in a universe with a personal, but supreme, God. Man has always tried to escape from God, and yet he remains "incurably religious."
In Habakkuk 1, we find that the Chaldeans used nets to capture "fish," that is, the Hebrew armies. It goes on to say, they "burn incense to their fishing net" (Habakkuk 1:16). Very interesting! Rather than give all the glory to God, they could see no farther than their "net." Man would rather thank his government, his parents, his employer, or even the sweat of his own brow, rather than God from whom all blessings flow.
Every sin has its origin in breaking this first commandment. Indeed, it is not possible to violate any of the other commandments without breaking this one first. Sin is not just committing adultery, lying or killing; these are the result of breaking the first and greatest commandment.
This commandment can not only be stated negatively, but positively. A scribe who disputed with Christ asked, "What commandment is the foremost of all?" Jesus answered, "The foremost is, Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:28-30).
Here then is our great failure. We do not love the Lord our God with all that is within us. We see sin primarily as a violation of the other commandments. Let me repeat: it is because we do not keep the first commandment that we break all the others. Every person who believes he is a "good person" and "ought to go to heaven," should ponder this command. We cannot make it to the finish line, since we have already stumbled at the starting line.
The Nature of Idolatry
An idol is anything that competes for our allegiance; it is whatever we exalt above God. Idolatry insults God because we try to find meaning somewhere, other than in our Creator. The contrast between God and idols is thus described: "But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man's hands. They have mouths, but they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see; They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell; They have hands, but they cannot feel; They have feet, but they cannot walk; They cannot make a sound with their throat. Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them" (Psalm 115:3-8).
Just think of how God must feel when people forsake Him for idols that cannot answer prayer or supply so much as one loaf of bread. When we turn our back on God and embrace idols, we insult the Almighty. The origin of idolatry is given in Romans 1:21-32. "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over..." What follows is a litany of sexual sins along with thirty-two other evils too numerous to mention. Idolatry is not a primitive form of religion that has been refined throughout the centuries; idolatry follows a turning away from the true and living God.
In our culture, we worship at the shrine of the goddess of “pleasure”. But as we have noticed, she makes horrendous demands: she destroys our truthfulness, purity of character, and faithfulness. All of these must be sacrificed to her. The result is disconnected relationships, an inability to express genuine love, destroyed marriages, and like the ancient god Molech, she demands human sacrifice too. So 1.5 million babies are aborted each year to mop up after the mess left in the wake of this goddess. Give yourself to her and she will demand that you pay with your life.
There is the goddess of “materialism”. She will demand: anxiety, the sacrifice of relationships, and an obsession with greed. This goddess will insist that you give her every waking moment. She is however, very subtle; those who are ensnared by her often are unaware of it. She exists under the rubric, "You have to earn a living..." Or we say, "It's mine because I worked for it."
Then there is the "pride of life" which lies at the heart of all sinful choices. Here again, this idol exists largely undetected until revealed to us by God. We can serve ourselves, but be convinced that we are really serving God. Remember the mind can rationalize anything the heart wants to do. Pride makes keeping the first commandment difficult, perhaps impossible.
A Tough Decision that Pleases God
Everyone has a god. Either it is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, or it will be some idol of the mind or heart. But a god we will have. If you want to discover your god, simply ask yourself two questions. First, what occupies my thoughts during my free time? And second, whom do I wish to please? That will soon help you see whether you have elevated something else in your mind above God.
Every god demands obedience. Whether it be the idols of Baal that demanded child sacrifice, or whether it is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, submission is expected. Paul wrote that in light of the mercies of God his readers should, "present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." (Romans 12:1). God does not demand a dead sacrifice (as the lambs in Old Testament times), but rather He desires that we be a "living sacrifice".
Obedience always results in slavery. Once we choose our god, we will be enslaved to him. The false gods bring about slavery of the worst sort. The true God invites us to a kind of slavery that brings about a true freedom. That's why Paul began his letter to the Romans, "Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle…" (Romans 1:1).
To be a slave of Christ means that we are free from sin's grasp; we are free to live fulfilling the purpose for which we were created. To bow before any other god is to feel the crushing weight of sin's power.
Here, now, we come to a choice: will we, or will we not, with the help of the Holy Spirit, decide to love God and pluck up our idols by the roots? Are we willing to have our idols exposed so that we might repent and find mercy? Do we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength?
Someone has written:
“The dearest idol I have known
What ever that idol be
Help me to tear it from the throne
And worship only Thee.”
Yes, Lord!
Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer
