Creation is God making the universe and all that is within it. Idolatry is man’s feeble attempt to make God.
This idea is becoming lost more and more in both society and even Christianity. Sometimes a person will find a deity other than God to worship that is merely a man-made god, an idol crafted from human hands, or we find some “thing” to worship. It can be something as simple as our careers, other people, sports, hobbies, speakers, singers, musicians, or any secular thing that we set before God.
If we could be honest, idolatry comes when our desires become greater than God’s will. It basically happens every time we sin. We set ourselves above God. I have seen the dark power of idolatry. I’ve seen it destroy marriages, friendships, careers, and lives. Our addictions, our pleasures, and our desires become relentless masters when at the forefront of our lives ahead of the will of God.
The Bible speaks of a great apostasy coming, where people will corrupt or stray from their faith. This is also rooted in idolatry. Today many are leaving their faith, and still others are picking and choosing what parts of our faith to believe. We are giving the final say on our lives to ourselves and not to God.
There was a Pew Research study done in the last few years where Christians were polled about Christmas and the resurrection. People believed that Jesus was born, but the numbers got less when asked if Mary was a virgin, if Gabriel came to her, if the angels worshiped, and in looking at the resurrection, some “Christians” didn’t believe Jesus actually rose from the dead.
Practically, when we pick and choose what parts of the Bible we are going to believe and not believe, we are literally changing its message. We are literally declaring that we know more than God and that our limited human experience precedes both His knowledge and will.
The reminder today is this: We are not here to find or fashion a god for our lives. If you are a Christian today, you didn’t “find” God. God made Himself known to you. There’s nothing we can change or invent to make who He is. In the times we live in, holding to the truth of God, believing His Word, and living that out matters. He is unchanging and this idea brings a deeper meaning to the famous words of Jesus.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
It is His way, His truth, and His life. There is nothing we can add or ignore to make this ours and when we try, we will never gain anything for ourselves. We will only lose something. His will is enough and it is how we are called to live and in an age of idols, we are called to worship the one true God.
