HAVE WE MADE GOD IN OUR IMAGE?
Few things in life make a father prouder than when his son resembles him. There is a feeling of connection and ownership when others see your expressions and physical features in your son’s face. Sometimes the son isn’t so excited to resemble “Dad” but I think ol’ Dad is reassured that, yes, this is my son.
Sometimes the resemblance is unmistakable. Take for instance the famous face of someone like Kirk Douglas. That prominent chin and those twinkling eyes that made him a star are easily visible in the face of his son, Michael Douglas. There is no doubt that they are father and son.
Another famous face is that of Martin Sheen. His serious countenance and square face are easily recognizable in his son Charlie. Martin definitely passed on his genes to his son, and not only to Charlie but to Emilio as well.
What about this face? (Mine) Can you see in this face the features of this face (my son’s)? Do you recognize these two faces as being related? Some people say that there is a striking resemblance while others say that they see the Peters family in my son.
As many fathers like to say, all the good looks, expressions and characteristics come from me. The other stuff is from his mother.
We like it if our sons resemble us. What about God? Do we imagine God in a way that expresses our interests or needs? If we are judgmental we may see God as the great judge of all. If we are hyped up on peace we see God as a God of peace overall. If we love everybody then God is of course above all a loving God. How do we see God? Does that help us create a sense of ownership of our God?
Like it or not we all tend to put God in a box. That box is our parameter for understanding God. Yet God is so great that he doesn’t fit into our box. If we can’t adjust to that concept we end up creating an idol that we call God but is not God at all, at least not fully God. We run the risk of missing the character of God altogether. So let us ask the question: Have we made God in our image?
1. There is only One God
God is a jealous God. He doesn’t like sharing the position of God with other wannabes. What Judah was doing in creating and worshiping idols insulted the LORD. He can’t remain silent; he must speak out and tell his people about Himself. This is what he does in Isaiah 44:6:
“This is what the LORD says – Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and the last; apart from me there is no God” (44:6).
The LORD says a number of things about himself to reveal his true nature to Judah. What we end up seeing is a multi-faceted God who is many things to his people. We can only touch briefly on these names.
First, God gives his name, Yahweh. That is the most holy name of God, the personal name of the covenant God.
Then he gives one of his titles, the King of Israel. This stresses his understanding that even when the great David was on the throne, the real King of Israel was still God.
Thirdly, the LORD calls himself the Redeemer. He delivered his people from bondage and sin. When Jews thought of redemption they immediately thought of their slavery in Egypt and how God purchased their freedom.
These names Isaiah had employed before in speaking of God. This next one is new. The LORD Almighty can be translated the ‘Yahweh of Armies’ or the ‘LORD of hosts.’ What it means is that Yahweh has at his disposal all armies, earthly and heavenly. It reveals that God has the resources to carry out anything he desires or decrees.
If we could meditate on those names alone we would wrestle for a lifetime with all that they mean. But the LORD goes on and gives us more. He says he is the first and the last. The first and the last…mysterious, inspiring and captivating descriptions.
The LORD is first in that he does not derive his life from anywhere else. He is self-existing and self-sufficient. He is eternally present and the eternal “I AM.”
He is the last in that he remains at the end of all things supreme and totally fulfilled. He is so complete that no one can add or take away anything from him. He is the beginning and the end; the Creator and the Judge; the full revelation and the final authority. The LORD says, “…apart from me there is no God.”
There is one God. He is unique in this: there are no other gods. Then what do we do with Jesus? He claims to be the Son of God. Are there two Gods in the Christian faith? Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). So uniquely one but in two persons, the Son being the expression of the Father in the flesh, a true resemblance. That is why Jesus can say, “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End…I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star” (Rev. 22: 12-13, 16). It is still true…apart from him there is no other God.
What an awesome God! “Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it,” says the LORD. Dumb idols made of rock cannot speak. That is so plain to see…or is it? The Jews were cutting rock into shapes and saying “this is God.”
What the LORD wanted Judah to do was stand as a witness that there is only One God. “You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one” (44:8). We have yet another metaphor for our God – He is the Rock. There is nothing else reliable to rest upon. The Rock is a symbol of refuge, trustworthiness and changeless integrity. Did you know that Moses wrote the first rock song? In Deuteronomy 32 God is called “the Rock” several times and Moses croons at one point, “For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede” (32:31). This hard rock song belts out the fact that God is a great foundation to build on and a matchless Savior. Who is like our God? Other rock songs sing the same tune: “He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken” (Ps 62:6).
Later on Paul will speak of the wandering Israelites in the wilderness and speak of the rock this way: “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:3-4).
This is very offensive stuff in our times. We are not allowed, as the LORD commands us, to speak of only one God. Our society proclaims there are many ways to find God, to know God, to come to God. But God doesn’t agree with this premise. He said he is the Only God. And Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). There is only One God.
2. The gods I want
Why then were the Jews making images out of rock, wood and other precious items and calling them gods? One reason stands out: people want gods they can control. As Pascal said, “God made man in his own image, and man returned the compliment.”
What are idols? “All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame” (44:9). Idols are nothing. But those who worship them reverse creation. God turned the chaos in Genesis 1 into his wonderful creation crowning it with the creation of humankind. When people make idols they form gods in their own likeness and turn creation back into chaos.
In verses 10-13 we see that idols reflect the frailty of their makers. They create gods out of stone and wood and then build houses for them as we see in v. 13. How ridiculous. A man sweats and tires himself out creating a god that cannot move, speak or protect himself from the elements. Then he worships this thing. Would the true God need a house or require food? Does he have the same limitations as a man? To be the image of God means that we are his servants; to make God in our image means that he is our servant (Allen Ross).
Ultimately an idol is in reality bound to creation. What that means is described in verses 14-20: It is lunacy to make an idol out of wood, from a tree that the idol maker could not create. Both the maker and the idol are unable to rise above the status of being created. An idol made of wood, though beautifully carved, is of no greater substance than the ashes it could become in a fire (Ross). God is above creation. He who worships an idol has a deluded heart; he feeds on ashes (v. 20).
The truth about idols is this: What you can produce by your own intelligence and your own power is no more powerful than you yourself. If you cannot deliver yourself from your difficulty, how do you expect something you have made with your own hands to be able to do it?
What are our idols today? We don’t take a piece of wood and fashion it into our own image and worship it. Idols have different meanings today. What do you hold dearer than God? Is there something that controls your life other than God? What drives us further from God? Consider these possible modern day idols or, shall we say, values:
I – Individualism: This idol has been predominant in our society for a few decades. I do what I want when I want and when I feel like it. My ideas and thoughts and judgments are significant; I will consider what God has to say but ultimately it’s my choice. The result is a lifestyle of your own choosing. Sex before marriage, homosexuality, and adultery are all on the rise because “no one can tell me what to do.” Respect for human life is on the decline because of our “right to choose.”
D – Deeds: A lot of people still believe that if you do good things and live a good life God will welcome you to heaven when you die. Never mind about accepting Jesus and living your life based on his example. God is good so he won’t hold your beliefs against you as long as you are good enough.
O – Opulence: Money is what drives us and opens up the doors of opportunity and pleasure in our world. How many of our decisions are based on money as opposed to what God wants? If we have the money we think we can do anything? Do we take the job that pays more or that pays less but uses our giftedness? What controls our investments: Retiring with a nest egg or dying with treasures in heaven?
L – Leisure: Are you entertained? If it’s not fun then we don’t want to do it. Do you want to learn about God’s Word or do you want to do something more fun? If we are not entertained we wonder if it was worthwhile. We have become “fun addicts” so that if you are not enjoying yourself it’s pointless (I-D-O-L adapted from Troy Borst).
Are these the gods we want?
3. Only the God who saves is worthy of praise!
Isaiah returns to the truth about God in v. 21 and points out that there is one thing only God can really do: Save us!
“Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you” (44:21).
First we see the basis for God’s faithfulness in saving his people: He made us. Man makes an idol and worships it; God makes man to worship Him. Man does not make God; God makes man. It’s so simple even a child knows this.
Because he has made us for this grand purpose of worship he will not forget us. Everything he does for us directs our hearts towards his glory. He wants us to love him because he first loved us.
One of the greatest things he has done for us is that he has forgiven us. “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you” (44:22). Think of the darkest, cloudiest day that you can remember. The dreariness of a rainy day can drive you downwards. God has swept away those clouds with his powerful arm and revealed blue skies and golden, sun-drenched fields. That is the imagery Isaiah uses to paint the removal of sin. To take advantage of this great forgiveness all a person has to do is return to the LORD with humble hearts and repent of their wandering ways. Cry out to the LORD and he will save you with his abundant forgiveness.
Then we will see the glory of the LORD in all of creation. “Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel” (44:23).
The ironic thing here is that the very wood that a man takes and shapes into an idol yearns to break out in praise of the true God. Man subjects creation to a position it does not belong in, the position of god. All creation, even in its fallen and sinful state, sings praise to God – that is its purpose.
Only the God who saves is worthy of praise. That is the ultimate test of God. Take the test and see: Can your job save you from a meaningless existence? Can your bank account save you from spiritual bankruptcy? Can pleasure save you from growing old? Can your personal ambition save you from obscurity? Can any of your gods save you from eternal death? Only Yahweh in all of history has proven that he can save his people, and that through Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
Have we put God into a box that reflects our own understanding of Him? Do we know the Jesus of the Bible?
People have tried to discover the historical Jesus, as if the gospels did not give us a true picture, and have come up with some scary conclusions. Historian Charlotte Allen observed that those who have offered portraits of the “historical Jesus” always come up with a Jesus who bears an uncanny resemblance to themselves. In idolatry, we therefore primarily worship ourselves and dream of other little gods that will meet our needs (Scott Grant).
The god I want? If we were honest, the god we want is one that will give us what we want. It is the projection of my desires. Broken down to its grim reality, our gods would give us money, sex, or power, or all three.
N. T. Wright says that Isaiah gives us “the God whom we didn’t want…but who, amazingly wanted us.” Though our idols reflect the beauty of man, they are nothing in comparison to the “glory of the LORD.” And remember what happened to those arms: They were spread out and nailed to a piece of wood, displaying for all the world to see the beauty – the glory – of the LORD. This, says Wright, is “a very different god, a dangerous god, a subversive god, a god who comes to us like a blind beggar with wounds in his hands, a god who comes to us in wind and fire, in bread and wine, in flesh and blood: a god who says to us, ‘You did not choose me; I chose you’ (John 15:16).
AMEN
