Romantic view of God is not always feasible
In Church these days, we have a very romantic view of God. Oh yes, He is full of love, mercy, grace and hope, but this is also a God of war (Exodus 15:3), of judgment, and of wrath. It is because we have continued to paint a romantic picture of a God that just blesses and loves that we sit with a church and a world that is constantly scourged by hell’s fire. Let us be honest, the fear of the Lord has been rapidly fading so with sit with all kinds of immoral behaviour, devilish practices and deceptive teachings in the church!
Where is the fear of God anymore in the churches? There is no more fear because of this romantic notion that God will not discipline or punish. And so we treat grace like a safety net, and we think our rebellion against truth will go unnoticed. We have this romantic idea of once-saved-always-saved. We no longer really preach repentance, or the need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
We just want the goodness of God, and so we treat Him no longer with the reverence due unto Him. He has become our buddy, yet we show so little respect, and He has become our Santa Claus and our bank manager. Yet He is God!
The following Scripture should make us think long and hard about our romantic view of God:
Isaiah 45:7: I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.’ (NKJV)
Isaiah 45:7: I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. (KJV)
Isaiah 45:7: Amplified Bible: The One forming light and creating darkness, causing peace and creating disaster; I am the Lord who does all these things.
Towards the end of 2018, The Lord stirred my spirit to be awakened to the greatness of God. For the Lord at the time spoke about how even those who follow and worship Him have forgotten who this great and almighty God is. He is great in His fullness, yet also a holy and pure God who will not tolerate sin and who will not tolerate wickedness. It says in “1 Peter 1:16 Be holy, because I am holy." In Revelations 22 the Lord said: “10 And he saith unto me, seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. 11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.”
Up to the end of man’s time, wickedness, evil and immorality will continue. Yet God will never condone it. Never. It is not His nature. We have a choice every day to follow God’s holy and perfect will, or to rebel. And if we do, make no mistake, we play with fire. Oh yes, His Blood has paid for our sins, but if we keep on sinning and advocating wickedness or engage in any form of evil intentionally it becomes iniquity. To those who thought they were doing the will of God in the New Testament, Jesus said the following in “Matthew 7:23: And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Thus, these were those who said they followed Jesus yet entertained sinful and wicked ways, thus they were workers of iniquity. God said to them to depart from Him and that He never knew them. What a dose of reality! We have to depart from our romantic notions of God and know He is mighty in truth and purity, and the ways of the impure shall never be tolerated.
God is Sovereign. His will shall be done. No one can dictate to God how to run His Kingdom. This is made clear in Isaiah “46:10: Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things which have not [yet] been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will do all that pleases Me and fulfills My purpose.” God upholds all and His purposes shall be done. His way might not always please us or might not always be understandable, but it shall be done as God ordains and as God desires.
Of God’s wrath we read in Romans 1: 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonour their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the ]men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”
Read Romans 1 carefully. God gave up those who rebelled to uncleanness. Not the world. God Himself. In His Sovereign will He allows man to follow his path and his free will, yet we must realise such a path is dangerous and only leads to calamity and disaster. Indeed, those who rebelled against God did not like to retain God in their knowledge and so we read in Romans 1 that God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting. God did this, not the devil!
The Bible clearly says it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of a living God (Hebrews 10:31). It also says in “Matthew 10: 8 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The reality is that we have become too comfortable with God. Too blasé. Too nonchalant. He is mighty. He gives life and takes life. He is the bringer of light and of darkness.
He is not a wicked God. But He is just. He is good, but the Bible makes it clear He shall not be mocked (Galatians 6:7). And so Isaiah 45 makes it also so clear that He created darkness and the light, and He alone makes pace and creates calamity, and yes even evil for the devil was once an angel created by God who rebelled. Evil is not merely an abstract thought or conception. Evil is the devil. Evil is also the absence of God in people’s lives. We are urged to pray that God keeps us from evil, which is only possible when we follow His will, stay obedient, and adhere to the morals and values of the eternal Kingdom.
Despite our rebellious ways, thank the Lord He is merciful and gracious and slow to anger (Psalm 103:8)! Hebrews 13:8 states clearly God is still the same today, tomorrow and yesterday. The God who smote Egypt with 10 horrible plagues, including killing all the firstborn is still the same God whom we serve today. This is the same God that struck Sodom and Gomorrah with calamity in the form of fire raining down from the heavens. This is the same God who sent an angel to kill 185 000 Assyrians. This is the same God who allowed His people to be captured by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. This is the same God who opened the earth during the time of the Korah rebellion, and who ordered so many to die who chose to follow the Golden Calf.
There has been so much talk about if God strikes people with sickness and the earth with calamity. Let us again remember God is not cruel or unjust. The devil is of such a manner. Yet God is holy, and anything unholy, impure and untrue cannot be tolerated by Him or in the Kingdom. Sickness for example is simply part of a corrupt world of spiritual immorality and depravity. The more we are connected to such a world and less with God, the more we are tainted by such sickness. In God, we are called to be united, for in God we find our rest, hope and peace. Mankind was called to be custodians of this earth, so the reason for the earth falling apart is as a result of man not obeying God and simply doing as man pleases. Mankind has for the last 2000 years lived out more than a mandate of John 10:10 (to steal, to destroy and to kill) than the Great Commission. Reality is man is sowing what he reaps, and God in His Sovereignty allows all to happen, even allowing the devil to taunt Job.
You see, we have forgotten our place when it comes to our relationship with Him. Yes, we are children of the Most High – sons and daughters – and we are called His friends, and yes, we are redeemed and there is no condemnation for those in the Lord (Romans 8:1), but the Lord needs to remind us, once again, He is not man and that we have forgotten our place. We may be His adopted sons and daughters, but He is God. We may be co-heirs of the Kingdom, but He remains eternal and the King. Moses, the beloved prophet, erred once when he struck the rock twice. He forgot his place. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, questioned the Lord and was struck mute until the birth of the son. He forgot His place. The Pharaoh thought himself great and glorious, and so thought Nebuchadnezzar as well. The empires of Persia, Babylon, Assyria, Rome and Greece deemed themselves invincible. They had all forgotten their place.
For it says in the Book of “Jude: 11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.” Cain, Balaam and Korah all forgot their place when it comes to God. Saul, the first king of Israel, disobeyed the Lord’s command to slay the entire nation of the Amalekites. His kingdom was torn from his grasp. He had forgotten his place. When it comes to God, arrogance, pride and our ego has no place for then we forget our place. He is a holy God. A pure God. A God who is an all-consuming fire.
We must not forget our place when it comes to God. He shall not be mocked. He shall not tolerate our iniquities, our idolatry, our witchcraft, our rebellion and our foolish arrogance. He shall not be lied to. He shall not be ridiculed. He shall not be made a fool. He sees all. Knows all. To Him belongs all power and glory. He shall be feared. Respected. Revered. Is He is not ALL wisdom? From the beginning when there was no beginning, at the end when there is no end? How then do we reason with Him, or try to logically determine His ways, for indeed is His ways and thoughts not so much higher than ours? We may walk by Spirit, yet He is the Lord. Period.
God is Love. God is full of grace and mercy, but He remains a just and holy God. So we need to draw closer to God in union and to draw closer to the fire of His presence that burns in the Holy of Holies. For then we shall truly know who God is. Not some romantic notion or an idea, but a mighty God who is jealous over His people. A mighty God who shall not be provoked to jealousy, and a mighty God who will always seek a Bride that is pure – without spot or wrinkle.
