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"Strange gods"
"Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel" Joshua 24:23.
In forming man, God placed within each of us the instinct to serve and worship the Creator God. Most however, have chosen self as their "god" serving and worshiping self only.
"...that which may be known of God is manifest in them... even his eternal power and Godhead... Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God... and their foolish heart was darkened... and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator" Romans 1:19-25.
There is however, an even stranger "god" that men serve. This "god" is a great abomination before the Almighty, it is so because this "god" sits upon the altar of most church's today proclaiming itself to be God, yet is nothing more than an abstract image of the true God.
The Worship of Abstract (strange) gods.
Abstract from Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Etymology - Latin: to drag away, to pull
...having only intrinsic form with little or no attempt at pictorial representation or narrative content.
In the book of Romans chapter 1, Paul said they, "...changed the glory of the uncorruptible God..." they "...changed the truth of God into a lie..." (See notes on vs. 23) Again Paul says, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel" Galatians 1:6.
This strange "god" is an abstract "god" a mere shadow of the true God, yet a "god" who is worshipped and served in church every Sunday. This "god" has been distorted, perverted, and diluted from his original form as God the Creator. Men who claim to be preachers and teachers have changed the Living God unto another, a "strange god" by perverting the Word of God through there interpretations without the leading of the Holy Spirit. Unholy hands touching that which is holy! They make no personal sacrifice to know Him, and as Jesus said, "...hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves" Matthew 23:15.
Paul warns us, "Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines" (Hebrews 13:9). "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (II Corinthians 11:3). And again "...but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" Galatians 1:6-9.
If you have ever look at an abstract painting, you would notice that as the word implies, it drags or pulls away from the original idea. Sometimes you really have to study the painting to see what the artist was trying to replicate. So it is with men's carnel ideas of God, they have so drug and pulled from the original Word, that it is difficult to see Truth in the church anymore. Men have changed the uncorruptible God unto another "god" and now worship and serve him.
This strange "god" will not save a man from his sin, nor will it give him hope of eternity, yet this strange "god" is excepted, even expected in the church today because he demands nothing from them. Men's eyes are blinded to this diluted "god" because they prefer the easy life of sin to the disciplined life of holiness. But "...for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" II Thessalonians 2:11-12.
This laodicean church age is in great danger because she has blasphemed the living God, she is a part of that great falling away spoken of in II Thessalonians 2:3. She must repent, even as Joshua said, "...put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God...".
My heart breaks as I write these words, because men and women who have known and served the Living God are being caught up with this strange abstract "god". Jesus said the reason is, "because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." But there is hope for those who will turn back to Christ, "...he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" Matthew 24:12-13.
Do not be deceived brethren, God is not mocked, whatsoever you sow that you will also reap. Fight the good fight beloved, take hold of eternal life and serve the Lord God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. The shaking is here now, if you can be shaken loose from Christ, you will be. (Hebrews 12:27-29) So hold fast to Christ your saviour!
Hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end;
Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown;
Hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering;
Hold fast the form of sound words;
Hold fast that which is good;
Hold fast to eternal life;
Hold fast till I come!
Romans 1:23
And changed - This does not mean that they literally "transmuted" God himself; but that in their views they exchanged him; or they changed him "as an object of worship" for idols. They produced, of course, no real change in the glory of the infinite God, but the change was in themselves. They forsook him of whom they had knowledge Rom_1:21, and offered the homage which was due to him, to idols.
The glory - The majesty, the honor, etc. This word stands opposed here to the "degrading" nature of their worship. Instead of adoring a Being clothed with majesty and honor, they bowed down to reptiles, etc. They exchanged a glorious object of worship for what was degrading and humiliating. The glory of God, in such places as this, means his essential honor, his majesty, the concentration and expression of his perfections, as the glory of the sun, 1Co_15:41 means his shining, or his splendor; compare Jer_2:11; Psa_106:20.
The uncorruptible God - The word "uncorruptible" is here applied to God in opposition to "man." God is unchanging, indestructible, immortal. The word conveys also the idea that God is eternal. As he is incorruptible, he is the proper object of worship. In all the changes of life, man may come to him, assured that he is the same. When man decays by age or infirmities, he may come to God, assured that he undergoes no such change, but is the same yesterday, today, and forever; compare 1Ti_1:17.
Into an image - An image is a representation or likeness of anything, whether made by painting, or from wood, stone, etc. Thus, the word is applied to "idols," as being "images" or "representations" of heavenly objects; 2Ch_33:7; Dan_3:1; Rev_11:4, etc. See instances of this among the Jews described in Isa_40:18-26, and Eze_8:10.
To corruptible man - This stands opposed to the "incorruptible" God. Many of the images or idols of the ancients were in the forms of men and women. Many of their gods were heroes and benefactors, who were deified, and to whom temples, altars, and statues were erected. Such were Jupiter, and Hercules, and Romulus, etc. The worship of these heroes thus constituted no small part of their idolatry, and their images would be of course representations of them in human form. It was proof of great degradation, that they thus adored human beings with like passions as themselves; and attempted to displace the true God from the throne, and to substitute in his place an idol in the likeness of men.
— Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible |
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