We have lived to see the day when the people who spend millions to save two stranded whales will eagerly spend hundreds of millions to kill unborn human beings. How did we get to the place we are today? The book of Romans shedsgreat light on current conditions; the first chapter is most relevant in comprehending present-day atrocities.
Humanizing God
In the beginning God made man in His image, and ever since the Fall man has tried to return the favor! Sinful man tries to re-make God into his image rather than being conformed to the image of Christ. This is the underlying problem inRomans chapter one. When they “knew God” they refused to “glorify God as God.” Their downward spiral accelerated as “they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image made like to corruptible man.” Here it is in black and white—men who want to bring God down to the human level. This is the terrible sin of humanizing God.
Behind this fiendish ploy is the “god of this world” who attempted to dethrone God. Satan tried to displace God as the center of the universe. Of course we know he failed in his initial attempt to dislodge God as universal Sovereign. Later in the wilderness temptation, Satan attempted to overtake the ruling throne as he spoke to Christ, “All these things will I give you if you will fall down and worship me” (Matt. 4:9). A conspiracy is still underway. Satan’s attempts to dethroneGod have not ceased. Now fallen man has teamed up with the Enemy in a joint effort to get God off the throne. The major strategy in this ill-fated attempt is to create lies to replace the truth. One example is evolution, nothing more than a way to get rid of God, or at least get Him down to where we can handle Him! Evolution removes God from the picture totally,while theistic evolution removes Him from being a major player. Either is an attempt to dethrone God.
The attack on the Bible is but another attempt to dethrone God. We have all heard the basic argument that the Bible is not totally reliable, and therefore we have no ultimate authority. This theory surmises that God is not perfect, if He exists at all. Denying Christ’s miraculous birth and His miracles is nothing other than a form of humanizing God.
Another way to humanize God is to strip Him of His unappealing attributes. Today’s preaching, in many cases,cautiously avoids those aspects of God’s perfect character which bring guilt to imperfect people. In so doing, “God” is reduced to a passive, non-threatening deity.
We have heard scores of sermons on the Second Coming. Many sermons have been preached on the second birth. But when was the last time you heard a message on the second death? The whole notion of God as a judge who plummets lost people into eternal darkness is seldom heard. In fact, popular preaching is more therapeutic than prophetic. I wonder if when average people hear the word “God” they have mental images of a giant smiling face?
Much of the reams of gospel music being pumped out glorifies God, but a good deal of it is so devoid of Scriptural content it could be sung in the Mormon Tabernacle or a bar and no one would be offended—except the Lord!
Humans are forbidden to trifle with God’s glory. When the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant they thought they had Israel’s God in a box. So they set the Ark beside their god Dagon. Early on the second day Dagon was found fallen over, broken in pieces. Horrible plagues came upon the Philistines. They had had enough of Israel’s God, so they sent the Ark back. Upon receiving it, the Israelites peeked in the Ark and 50,000 were slain. When God’s glory is present disruptions and the unexpected are likely to occur. Paul warned the Corinthians of the harsh consequences—even death—that follow when we come to the Lord’s table in an unworthy manner. Do most today actually want God’s glory —andHis righteous demands and the discomfort it is likely to cause?
Jesus said, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul,” rather He warned, “Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28). Eliminating the fear of God is but another way to make God more tolerable. How many church members have been taught to have no fear of God whatsoever? When Paul preached to Felix he did not open his witness with “God has a wonderful plan for your life!” He reasoned with him of sin,righteousness, and judgment to come. And the Bible says that Felix trembled. When we eliminate the fear of God and mask the sterner aspects of truth, conviction of sin becomes a very rare commodity.
Man also attempts to bring God down to the human level by calling Him a liar. For example, God said He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. But because they don’t believe God means what He says many don’t bother to seek Him. Only one step further is bold disobedience and flagrant rebellion. How many disregard the command, “Be ye not unequally yoked” and go ahead and marry an unsaved person? They think God twas kidding when He said people reap what they sow. They really don’t believe that everyone of us will stand at the judgment seat and give account of our deeds both good and evil. “Honor thy father and mother…that thou mayest live long on the earth” (Eph. 6:2-3). How many children think God is telling us a fable? They really don’t believe their lives will be cut off prematurely. They believe God is lying.
Numbers 23 states, “God is not a man, that he should lie” (v. 19). Psalm 50 clearly shows how rampant sin results when wicked men humanize God. They speak deceitfully, slander, steal, and commit adultery, all because in their hearts they think they can get away with it. But God sets them straight: “These things hast thou done and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee” (v. 21).
Deifying Man
Humanizing God naturally paves the way toward the second sin of deifying man. After exchanging the glory of God for the image of man, the object of worship is no longer God, but man himself. Romans 1:25 states “Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.” Fallen man (by nature an enemy of God) seeks to bring God down to the human level and exalt man to God’s level. The pop song sums it up, “Everybody’s gotta serve somebody”— and if not God, then man himself.
Gloria Steinham said, “By the year 2,000 we will have taught our children to believe in themselves, not God.” Self exaltation is not new. It’s as old as the devil. Our entire culture is permeated with the belief in the godhood of man. “I am captain of my fate. I am the master of my soul.” Walk through the checkout line in your grocery store and there it is staring you in the face: SELF magazine. It’s message is clear: Do anything and everything to please yourself. Restrictions don’t apply when you’re a god in quest of self-fulfillment.
Man’s arrogance and fateful pride is capsuled in the Humanist Manifesto. Notice this excerpt: “We can discover no divine purpose of providence for the human species….No deity will save us; we must save ourselves….Promises of immortal salvation or fear of eternal damnation are both illusory and harmful.” The Humanist Manifesto II goes even further: “The next century can and should be the humanist century. Using technology wisely, we can control our environment, conquer poverty, markedly reduce disease, extend our life-span, significantly modify our behavior, alter the course of human evolution and cultural development, unlock vast new powers, and provide humankind with unparalleled opportunity for achieving an abundant and meaningful life.” What is this other than an attempt to deify man?
Unhappily, this trash is not limited to atheists and self-acclaimed liberals. Alas, this terrible sin is fast becoming an established article of faith among professing Christians. The ultimate evil is no longer sin but a lack of success or happiness. One media evangelist believes we are “little gods” on our way to sovereignty! The pastor of the CrystalCathedral believes the worst thing you could ever do is tell a man he is a sinner. Self-worship will not allow for true guilt before our Holy God. The self-esteem cult would do away with the need for repentance and humility.
What tremendous pride! Pride is not just thinking we are better than others; it is thinking we are better than we are.
The truth is we are not good people who happen to do some bad things; we are sinners through and through! But a society that deifies man doesn’t believe this.
The deification of man is clearly seen in some groups where spiritual heroes are elevated to an unhealthy plane. Let one of these “giants” fall and watch the cynicism and fallout among the followers. The reason so many are wiped out is that they were worshipping the man, not God. Calvin said, “If the worship of God is not central in church services, the church will become a personality cult.” This is certainly worthy of serious consideration in our day of big man/small God theology.
Nebuchadnezzar was guilty of this dreaded sin. “The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” (Dan. 4:30). But God abased this man and sent him to eat grass with the cattle of the field. Nebuchadnezzar is not alone. He is now joined by an innumerable host of senseless fools grazing on barren pastures of falsehood while utterly deceiving themselves. All man’s attempts to exalt himself will ultimately fail, for “a man’s pride shall bring him low” (Prov. 29:23).
Minimizing Sin
Because the vision of God has faded, sin does not appear exceedingly sinful. With a low view of God sin is not really black, merely a pale gray. Of course the normalization of sin follows a weakened image of God. Note carefully the words of Romans 1:29-32:
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder,debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affections, implacable,unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Having brought God down and propped man up, it is only natural to trivialize sin. But how is sin minimized? “Well,nobody is perfect.” What better way to minimize sin than by rationalizing? With wisecracks and jokes about sin abounding in the pulpit, people are reassured that sin is normal and to be accepted. Shortcomings, failures, mistakes,temperament weaknesses, and other catch words serve to blunt the severity of sin. “Mid-life crisis” is the new name for adultery. “Sibling rivalry” sure sounds better than selfishness and jealousy. In such an atmosphere it is not surprising that a group has now organized a new publication, The Christian Movie-Goers Guide. Now you may find out in advance the number of times God’s name is used in vain and how often four-letter words and immorality appear in each film. After getting the facts, you can make an intelligent choice on what films to see. This non-judgmental approach suggests that each individual must determine how much sin it takes to offend him. But the real issue is not whether it offends us, but whether it offends God? How God must be grieved at such a sorry spectacle!
One lady requested prayer that she might get victory over her “little sins.” I wonder how little those sins were whenJesus bore their judgment on Calvary?
Another technique for minimizing sin is by underestimating the blackness of the human heart. That mighty prophet, A.W. Tozer, stated publicly just prior to his death that he had seen a lot of terrible things in his long life of sixty three years. But the most wicked thing that he ever saw was his own heart! Jesus said man’s problem was within—”for from within, out of the heart of man proceeds….” The problem is not what a man does; the problem is he is a sinner.
Oswald Chambers said, “Sin is not primarily wrong doing, it’s wrong being.”
Another way of minimizing sin is by downplaying sin’s consequences. W. C. Fields, famous comedian of the last century, was found one day by a close associate pouring over the Scriptures. Taken back by the intensity of his huckster friend, he asked Fields what he was doing reading the Bible. Fields responded, “Looking for loopholes.”Sin and its consequences are not taken seriously when men lower their view of God and enshrine themselves. Responsibility and accountability are not emphasized in a man-centered theology. The whole concept of “God our judge” is dismissed and replaced with a “God our servant.” Jesus becomes a type of bell-boy or Santa Claus who is loaded with goodies. The benefits of Christianity are repeatedly emphasized with precious little reference to the judgment seat.
Obedience, holiness, fruit bearing, hot-heartedness, and spiritual reality become optional or secondary instead of primary.
Downplaying sin’s consequences brings the church to the spiritual temperature of of lukewarm, neither hot or cold,and to the threat of being spewed from God’s mouth! Comfortable truth alone will put the church in a spiritual stupor from which there may be no recovery once God disengages Himself. Laodicea was totally unaware of its sorry state. It has been said that “Truly it is an evil to be full of faults, but it is a still greater evil to be full of faults and to be unwilling to recognize them.”
The terrible truth is that the three-fold sin of society is not limited to the lost. In times of declension it filters through into the Redeemed! Having recently heard exiled Romanian pastor Josef Tson, there is little doubt in my mind that this three-pronged sin is at the root of the wholesale decline of our culture. The problem is not a strong humanism but a weak evangelicalism! All our ills can ultimately be traced to a sub-normal concept of God.
Preachers must communicate the biblical vision of God to a guilty generation. This will only be possible if other books are closed and the Book is opened on bended knee so intimate knowledge of the Holy can be integrated into the prophet’s soul. Multitudes are slipping blindly into eternal damnation while the church sleeps.
It’s time to rouse ourselves and gaze into eternity to see the high and lofty one. Of course it will be shocking. It will be dreadful. But sooner or later this sin must be judged. If not dealt with here, it will be dealt with there. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10).
