SIN OF WHICH WE MUST REPENT IF WE TRULY WANT GOD TO HEAL OUR LAND
(Part 2) By David Maddox
The second sin is a product of the first and is even more dangerous than the first. If confronted with it – nearly every Believer would argue that it is not true in their lives – they are not guilty. But it is true and we are guilty because we have allowed the first sin to infect our thinking about God. Before identifying the sin I want to deal with what will be going through some minds now. Believers have been taught in error that sin is not a “big deal” once you get saved. Jesus has paid for all sin so if you confess it – or even – are sorry for it – you’re OK. That is one of Satan’s best lies. God’s command is to “turn from your evil ways” (2 Chronicles 7:14) – not simply say you’re sorry until the next time when you do it again and repeat the circle. Don’t ever forget that even sin forgiven does not free you and your loved ones from the consequences of that sin. There is no such promise in the Bible and lots of examples of consequences Believers were required to experience even after sin was forgiven – again a truth not taught today. For me I don’t have to go beyond Isaiah 59:1-2 to know I don’t want to sin intentionally or at all if I can avoid it (I understand that being sinless is impossible [1 John 1:8] but what then is your heart toward sin). Believer consider this consequence of sin – “Behold the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or His ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” Are you willing to be separated from God for any period of time? Is it acceptable to you to go through a period when your prayers will not even be heard? Not me Brother! That is why I am so thankful for the presence of the Holy Spirit who “convicts of sin” – and if I am abiding in Him that happens immediately so that immediately I can “turn from my wicked way”.
So what then is the second sin and why is it so dangerous? The second sin is recreating God in our image rather than accepting Biblical truth of who He is. The danger of this sin is obvious. If you serve and worship a God you have made in your image you are serving and worshiping an idol at best. Before you ignore this let me give you one simple example that proves the point. Years ago during a Sunday morning worship service at the church where we were then members the worship leader got excited and stopped everything to say something like, “If Jesus appeared here right now – today – and walked down that center aisle (pointing at the aisle) we would all stand and applaud.” I can’t honestly remember what I did, but I was shocked that a worship leader had such a low and unbiblical view of the Lord in that moment (emotion over reality). Nowhere in Scripture did Believers encounter God and stand to applaud. Look at the reaction of the twenty-four elders in Revelation and you can see what would really happen. The twenty-four elders (symbols for all Believers throughout all of history) fell down before Him and worshiped and cast their crowns before the Throne (Revelation 4-5). Think about what it means if the God of your creation does not merit such worship in His presence? It would mean that you and He are if not co-equals – then you are close for your initial response is the same as you would have given to a famous American visiting your church.
As I begin to explore this sin of imagination – much began to be clear about why we are where we are in the American church. A God of our creation can be made to do or allow anything we want which makes us in fact God. Let me try and explain what Satan has caused us to do. The resurrected Jesus declared, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). Does that statement describe your God – one with “all authority in heaven and on earth”? If it does then that authority extends to you and you must obey Him regardless of whether you agree with Him. The verses that follow are commands this God of all authority gave to ALL His followers then and forever. They include go and tell and make disciples – to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and to teach others to obey His commandments (Matthew 28:19-20). Would that describe you life as a Believer or does your God not put such requirements on ALL of His people?
How have we fallen into this sin of imagination? Consider – everyone is comfortable with the God of love, “who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8). This God who “so loved the world . . . gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This God declared His three year earthly ministry to be, “to proclaim good news to the poor . . . to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). If that is all there is to God then it would support our God of imagination who loves and forgives – heals and simply abounds in grace and mercy – gladly ignoring our sin and loving us no matter what we do or believe.
But God in the flesh was only here with that ministry for 33 years over two thousand year ago. He declared who He was in eternity and told His disciples clearly – but they like most of us were not ready to accept Jesus as God no longer in the flesh with only a ministry of only sacrifice and love – grace and mercy. Jesus gave a brief view of the truth to His three closest disciples (Peter, James and John) when He allowed them to accompany Him to what we call “the Mount of Transfiguration” where He was glorified to reflect what He always was (something they did not yet understand) – and spoke with Elijah and Moses who also appeared in glorified bodies discussing “His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem (His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension). The three disciples, like many of us, responded in fear and foolishness at a revelation of who Jesus really was. (Luke 9:28-36). For me one of the most critical parts of the exchange that followed was when Jesus turned to Peter, James and John and said, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead” (Matthew 17:9). Jesus knew that it would be critical for His disciples (and all Believers in the future) to understand and proclaim the truth of who He was as God after His earthly ministry was completed and He had reassumed all that He had put off to be God in the flesh. If they failed to understand or believe this truth then Satan would be able to cause a God of imagination to arise among His followers who was solely what His earthly ministry reflected without the glory and authority and power that had been His throughout all of eternity (Colossians 1:15-20). It would not be Him.
In what we call “The High Priestly Prayer” (John 17) which Jesus prayed in the presence of the disciples immediately before His arrest and crucifixion He first declared that He had accomplished “the work You (the Father) gave Me to do” and asked, “Father, glorify Me in Your Own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed” (John 17:4-5). The Father answered Jesus’ prayer as evidenced by the resurrection and His ability to declare before the ascension, “All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (Matthew 28:18). So here is a question to help you as you seek the truth of whether you have been deceived into creating a God of imagination rather than truly worshiping the God of the Bible. Does (and more importantly has) your God the right to rebuke you declare as He did Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man”? (Matthew 16:23) If not – or more importantly if it has not happened – then I would really be concerned for in Jesus last message to the Church (all Believers) He declared, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19). Seek God for the truth of who He is and worship that God – the God of the Bible – not one that fits your desires and imagination.
About David Maddox – After a legal career in both Texas and Arizona that spanned over 40 years as a civil litigator, God called David to leave his law practice and work full time as Discipleship Director for Time to Revive. That call is really the fruit of decades of prayer for revival and teaching God’s Word, writing discipleship materials and seeking to make disciples. David married Janet Whitehead in 1976 and they minister together from their Phoenix home. God has blessed them with four children and thus far seven grandchildren.
