Acts 17:23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
Rousseau said, “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.”
While Paul walked the streets of Athens, which was a pluralistic society, he saw the smorgasbord of gods to choose from, and this moved his spirit to share the object/person of his worship and faith who was and is the Lord God of all creation. Acts. 17:16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. The Apostle Paul recognized the deep-seated need for mankind to know God, and Paul also saw that the Athenians had created their version of who God was, which resulted in thousands of gods of no effect. The difficulty in trying to save ourselves is the inability to recognize and acknowledge that the quality of our faith does not save us – it is only the object of our faith who saves us, and He is Christ the Lord.
Multiple gods are still the issue residing in people’s lives today. Of the many gods to choose from, which one have you married your soul to? Has the god of syncretism which can accommodate the trends of the moment become the way of life you are now making your eternal choices from? What cultural god have you become one with? Some have chosen the god of political evangelicalism, which is leading many away from Christ, and establishing a hero worship of men who wrap themselves in the stained flags of their party’s moralism rather than the Gospel of Christ. Others have chosen the god of the markets and fame attaining great wealth and social status, which has become the altar where they worship.
The lust for other things is where many have put their spiritual trust and desires for fulfilment, only to discover that things are just things with no reward for life. These things only choke out the important issues of the heart. Mark 4:19 But the worries and cares of the world [the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures, and the deceitfulness and the false security or glamour of wealth or fame, and the passionate desires for all the other things creep in and choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful. We have not changed much since the Apostle Paul walked the streets of Athens. We have become better at hiding our idols because some of our idols are invisible like control and power. The subtlety of slipping away and walking on a different path at first can be a slight deviation of direction, but later on, the path is nowhere near the one that the Lord had asked us to take. We can easily misjudge how narrow the Lord’s path is until we have floundered our way on the highway of worldly disappointments. Suddenly, we hear the death knell, and our eyes are opened to the mess we are walking in.
No matter the amount of centuries there have been people on earth, the combined knowledge of all human endeavour cannot save our souls. To acknowledge our need for a Saviour means we have finally acknowledged that we are unsavable by ourselves and of ourselves. We are utterly undone, flawed, and sinful. There is no saving our eternal souls by ourselves. Our salvation, redemption, and eternal future are only as secure as our faith in Christ. Only God can save. Isa. 43:11 I, only I, am the LORD, And there is no saviour besides Me. The Godhead’s love for us has given us a Saviour in Christ, and this is the Lord’s idea, not ours. There is no other name under heaven in whom we can be saved. Acts 4:11 Jesus is “’ the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
The distractions of other gods will always be a temptation to all humanity including those who profess to walk with the Lord. If the Lord Jesus was tempted by the devil to take His eyes off God the Father and bow down and worship Satan, then this same temptation will be something we too will need to overcome. The object of our worship cannot be something made by human hands or demonic invention, because the object that has been created has within it the limitations of what humanity can do. However, when we put our trust and worship in the Saviour whom the God of Heaven provided for us, then there is no limit to the fulfilment that can come upon and within us. God is limitless and therefore, so is our life in Him. The fulfilment of life is only as limited as the love and faithfulness we give to God. James 4:8a Come close to God, and God will come close to you.
What are the distractions in your life right now? What is the biggest problem you are facing at this time? If this problem were solved, what situation would be next in line to move up to the number one spot of distractions? There will always be something to draw us away from the worship of the Lord Jesus, who should be the entity of our attention. Whether the object of your worship is worry, anxiety, or the lust of other things, these cannot heal the broken heart you are living with. We all need the living God and Saviour to keep us clean and full of the Holy Spirit’s life so that we may live in the presence of All Mighty God. Lord, help us see your wonder and greatness so that we may bow down to your majesty and live in your peace.
Thank you
Thank you, Norm.
One idol that seems so prevalent in today’s church culture is the inability to take God at His Word. Living through the lens of our own understanding and not even wanting more of Him, just more from Him.
Proverbs 3:5-7
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; *fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
*fear the Lord: hold Him as your highest goal, being with Him, knowing Him…this automatically exposes how evil, evil is.
As you say, Roxana, there seems to be a lacklustre desire to know God. Even Paul, after years of ministry, knew there was more. Phil. 3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Thanks Norm,
Some believe today that Christ achieved a limited atonement on the cross.
They say that God didn’t anticipate some of the current problems facing mankind and they have to fill the perceived gap by changing the wording and meaning of God’s attributes and the new covenant, where, they say, the bible doesn’t define their particular brand of sin.
However, on the contrary, the work of the cross has covered every possible contingency that man can encounter. God cannot be limited. He never changes. He is always the same, the Thrice Holy God.
All and every situation we encounter on earth has been dealt with through Christ crucified and when we remain subjective to that objective and stick like glue to faith in His blood and body, the Holy Spirit will work for us as we live daily for God. Christ receives the glory and the Godhead is eternally pleased with our faith in Him because without faith it is impossible to please God.
Those who move away from the foot of the cross are going to have a bad time of it. For Christians, the good fight of faith is maintaining a steadfast allegiance to the Lamb, God the Son who never changes.
As you have written, we can do nothing ourselves to save ourselves.
We are saved from sin, not in sin, so we no longer live therein.
No two ways about it Norm, sin is the problem.
Yes, Helen, sin is the problem. The Word of God will always be contemporary to whatever sin moves, grows, or is invented. God anticipated every iniquity that evil man could ever invent and take part in. The blood of Jesus covers ALL sins.