Idolatry 1

Intro

what is an Idol?

eidolon- eikownos- idols and images

what purpose does an idol serve?

what idols and how many do you have in your life?

the truth is we are all tempted to have a lot of them

1 John 5

truth and life come from God

the line about idols almost seems out of place here

anything that replaces God for those things is an idol

if you are looking for truth from people or things that have come from people, you are replacing God in your life

1 Corinthians 10

what does it say about you that you do the same things as some other people that don’t have faith

most of those things are harmless

you aren’t hurting anyone by being at the same party as the people that you know are immoral

you aren’t causing anyone physical pain by wanting to dress the same way as everyone else and have the same things as other people

but are all the things that we could do helpful?

or are those me putting my social status where God ought to be?

Genesis 11

what were the people looking for at the top of that tower?

what were they after?

is there anything wrong with people being industrious or improving the quality of their lives by gathering together and working together?

their motivation was to make their selves like God in the heavens

they took what could be a good thing and made their selves the ultimate thing instead

Romans 1

God is revealed and has been since the beginning

we can dig all we want into the existence that we have but if you have any reason at all, it should lead you to faith

you can wrestle all you want with theories of the modern age but I promise there is nothing new under the sun

people have said they have figured it out from the beginning how to explain that there is no God, that’s what Paul is getting at

the truth is, it makes your existence simpler and unburdens your morality to say that there is no God

the easier thing to do is to worship the creature rather than the creator

are any created things necessarily bad?

we can’t make what is a good thing the ultimate thing in our lives and expect there not to be consequences

Application

Idolatry for us is not praying to a statue and sacrificing our firstborn on the 43rd day

it is us making a good thing our ultimate thing

there is only one thing worth devoting your whole life to

its not your boyfriend or girlfriend or even your wife or husband

its not your job or the money that comes with it or even what that money could potentially provide

its not a game or a story or an ideal you want to live out

God is the only thing that gives fulfillment and life

all the created things were created for good but its easy for you to make them evil