Protect Your Perspective

Intro.

I think everybody has things which they look for in other people that they like. Characteristics which they deem to be important to being a “good person”.

What do think the most important thing about a person is?

Loyalty?

Honesty?

Intellect?

Drive?

Discipline?

“What comes to mind when we think of God is the most important thing about us,” said A.W. Tozer. In his book The Knowledge of the Holy, he begins the book by with the chapter “Thinking Rightly About God,” and this was the first line of the book.

What do you think of his statement?

How important is it how you think of God?

Israel’s History

Exodus 20:3 ASV

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

From the very beginning, Israel was given law from God that they should restrain from worshiping and other gods at all. We often treat this verse as if it were to say, “Don’t put Me in second place!” Yet, what the Most High God is actually saying is, “Have nothing else other than me which you worship!”

Yet, it did not take long for Israel to seriously drop the ball and forsake the command of God. only 12 chapters after this command was given, while Moses was on the mountain and the smoke of God’s very presence was visible to them, they commissioned Aaron to make for them an idol to worship, seeming to carry with them the tendencies of their enslavers.

What was wrong with their perspective of God as they created a gold calf and said “this is your god who brought out of Egypt?”

Reducing God to something physical — They thought of God so lowly as to make His “image” an animal, something even further beneath Him than if they made a human figure!

They wanted to have a physical representation, lacking the faith in God who is unseen by human eyes.

Leviticus 10:1–3 CSB

1 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his own firepan, put fire in it, placed incense on it, and presented unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do. 2 Then fire came from the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has spoken: I will demonstrate my holiness to those who are near me, and I will reveal my glory before all the people.” And Aaron remained silent.

The problem here? Nadab and Abihu had such a low view of God that they disregarded His desired sacrifices and gave what they wanted instead! They made their offering to God more about what they wanted to give.

Malachi 1:8–10 CSB

8 “When you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not wrong? Bring it to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Armies. 9 “And now plead for God’s favor. Will he be gracious to us? Since this has come from your hands, will he show any of you favor?” asks the Lord of Armies. 10 “I wish one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle a useless fire on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Armies, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

Now, this verse does not contain any blatant idolatry, but what was wrong with their view of God here?

They didn’t consider God worthy of their best. Their idolatrized view of God was that God was less than Who He is in reality!

You see, mankind has a bad habit of recreating God in his own image — and when we worship God according to our own desires and distorted views, we very easily end up worshiping an idol and using the Bible to justify it! We see in the Scriptures over and over again, that when God’s people abandon the truth about Who He is, when they do not learn from Him what is true of Him, they fall into delusion and destruction if repentance doesn’t happen.

Israel and Judah both went into exile for their idolatries and multitudes of other sins which would not have been among them had they feared the Lord and known Who He is in truth.

A Look Around

This very same thing plagues the modern person’s view of God! In our day, some view God as only fluff and sugar while others view God as hateful and constantly angry! Modern delusions of God have led many so-called churches to embrace the sins of our culture and act as if God will never punish anyone!

How do you think our culture has gotten to this point?

Lack of theology from the pulpit?

Lack of leadership?

Trying to appeal to what the congregation wants rather than needs?

Yes to all, but it is rooted in the modern believer having an incorrect idea of Who and What God is, and not living according to what is true.

Proverbs 1:7 CSB

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.

If we are to be people who know God in truth, we must begin with fear of God! That is, showing Him awe, reverence, the due respect that is owed Him — if we do not begin there we will be fools who hate to learn the truth.

Inventory

How are we doing in our views of God? Do our views of God reflect our own biases more than the Truth of the Almighty?

Take time to really consider that, and pray for the Lord to show us where we have err in our thinking. Then, when we are corrected let’s be reverent enough toward God to accept His reality. Not all of it will be comfy, but the clearer and truer our view of God is, the more we will be able to align in His will.

“The heaviest obligation of the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until it is once more worthy of Him — and her.” — A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy.