There is a quality in humankind that propels us to worship a god. There is something in us that causes us to worship something or someone. Even the most primitive people from the beginning of time felt a need to worship a tree, a flower, a star, the sun, or anything else. We hear some people say that they are not a religious person. Everybody is religious in the sense that we have a need to worship something. Even the atheist worships something if it is nothing else them himself. There is something in our lives which we worship. Whatever is the closest to your heart is your God. It may be money, possessions, power, fame, fortune, influence, popularity, children, houses, or whatever. Everybody worships something. But the question becomes what god are you worshipping? Basically, there are only 2 gods. There is the god or gods whom we make of our own. Then there is the God who made us. Which God are you worshiping? Are you worshiping the god you have made or are you worshiping the God who made you?
That is our subject for today. Which God is your God? Our text is found in Exodus 32; 1-14. This text presents the contrast between gods in a very compelling way. The people of Israel have left Egypt some time ago. They had seen God do his miracle at the Red Sea. They had seen God provide water for their thirst and food for their hunger. God had revealed to them who he was and had laid down some rules, regulations, and practices which they were to obey. The key part of these instructions was the 10 Commandments which God gave them through Moses at a holy mountain in the wilderness. Now Moses has gone up into the mountain to receive further instructions and to have God engrave his commandments on tablets of stone. Moses was having a conference with God. He had been gone for over a month. But no doubt Moses was in no hurry to come down from that mountain top experience with God. If you could spend a month communicating with God would you want to come back down again?
But anyway the people grew impatient from waiting for Moses to return. So they said to Aaron who was Moses’ brother, “Come, and make us gods who shall go before us, for we don’t know what has become of this fellow Moses.” Aaron gave into the people and made a golden calf from the gold the people gave him. Then the people said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” Then Aaron built an altar before the golden calf and proclaimed a feast day to the Lord. The people rose up early the next day, bringing offerings before the altar and sat down to eat and drink. What are some lessons we can learn from this story of the golden calf?
First of all, they had violated the first two of the Ten Commandments which said you shall have no other gods before me and you shall not make for yourself an idol. The golden calf was made by their hands and was worshiped as god or at least was a representation of God. In either way, they were violating two of the greatest of the Ten Commandments. Here we see the distinction between a god we make and a God who made us. The people were worshiping a god whom they had made while Moses was communing with a God who had made them. That’s a choice we must make. Who is your God? No matter who you are you have a god. Ask yourself now what is the closest thing to you? Whatever that is, that thing becomes your god. The question is which God is your God? Is it the god we have made ourselves or is it the God who has made us? Now the basic truth is that we have many gods. Many things are close to our hearts: our homes, our possessions, our money, our children, our jobs, and so on. But the commandment says that you shall have no other gods before God. The God who made you must come first in our lives. There are many things we value in our lives. But we must view those things from the perspective that only God deserves our worship. God must come first. . Are you worshiping the god you have made or are you worshiping the God who made you?
The people of Israel looked at the golden calf as a representation of the God who had brought them out of Egypt. But nobody or nothing can represent God but God himself. To represent someone or something comes as close as you can to becoming that person or thing. That’s why God forbade the use of any idols or objects to represent him. The temptation is to worship the idol or the object instead of God. Some people fall into the habit of elevating and almost worshiping something or someone we see as representing God. Some people almost worship some priest, some minister, some pastor, or some spiritual leader. We put that thing or person on a pedestal. Then when that person or thing lets us down we blame God for it. But only God himself is to be worshiped. . Are you worshiping the god you have made or are you worshiping the God who made you?
Some people even worship the church. But the church is not God. The church presents God to us but the church is not God. Many people put the church before God. Some people even put the church building before God. But neither the church nor the building it is in is God. Nothing comes before God. Only God himself is to be worshiped.
Some people even worship the Bible. The Bible is the word of God to us. But the Bible is not God. God used the Bible to reveal himself to us. But the Bible is not God. The Bible can’t tell you everything about God. Do you think that a book, even the Bible can tell you everything about God? God is greater than any book, even the Bible. The Bible tells you all you need to know about God now. But God does not reveal everything about himself in the Bible. All we need to know about God is in the Bible. But the Bible doesn’t tell us everything about God. As great as the Bible is, it can’t tell you all about God. How dare we limit the revelation of God to a book? God is greater than all the books in the world. Even John said that at the end of his gospel. He said, ”Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” God is greater than the Bible. Some folks want to contain or restrict God to the Bible. God is greater than the Bible.
Only God is worthy to be worshiped. We can make a God out of anything. But the God we need to worship and serve is the God who made us. Which God are you worshiping? Which God is your God? Is it the god you have made or is it the God who has made us? Now briefly, let us look at a few reasons why we need to worship the God who made us. For one thing, the God who made us is also the God who made himself. God is the self-existent One. Nobody or nothing got God started. God got himself started. Before the earth or heavens were created, God was God. God has always been God. God will always be God. God is alpha and omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. If you want to go crazy, try to figure out how God got started. Why worship a god whom you started when you can worship a God who got himself started? The first verse in the Bible says, in the beginning, God. God was there before the beginning.
Secondly, we can see the god we made, but the God who made us sees everything about us. Those people of Israel could see the golden calf which they had made. They wanted to see something that they could worship. But the God who made them saw what they were doing. God told Moses up in the mountain what the people down in the valley were doing. God sees us, but we dare not look upon him. The Bible says that nobody can see God and live. We can’t see God because he is too holy to be seen. Maybe in the next life, we will see God. The book of John says that we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. But for now, God is too mighty, too powerful, too wonderful, and too holy to be seen.
But God sees us. He sees and knows all about us. If his eye is on the sparrow, we know he watches us. It can be bewildering to realize that God sees and knows everything about us. We can run, but we can’t hide from God. God sees everything we do. It’s like the children’s song which says, be careful little hands what you do, for the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little hands what you do. Psalm 139 says that God discerns our going out and our lying down. God is familiar with all our ways. God has us under divine surveillance 24 hours a day. When you go into a store you are on a surveillance camera. But when you go outside the store the camera can’t see you. But God sees us everywhere we go and sees everything we do.
Another thing we have to consider is that the god we make is chosen by us. We chose whatever god we want. We can make a god out of anything or anyone we chose. But the God who made us has chosen us. Those people chose to make a god or the representation of a god out of the golden calf. They chose the golden calf. But God had chosen Israel to be his people. God had chosen them to be a great nation. But when God saw what the people had done he threatened to destroy them and start another nation through Moses. God is the one who chooses us. You did not become a child of God just by accident. God had chosen you to be his follower. We have the option of following him. But God had already chosen us. We are saved by faith. But even the faith we have comes from God. It is all done by God’s grace.
For some reason, God has chosen us. Some of us have family members who couldn’t care less about the church, or things about God. Some of us have friends and relatives who never darken the doors of anybody’s church. But here you are Sunday after Sunday worshiping God. Here you are Sunday after Sunday praising God. Here you are Sunday by Sunday singing the hymns of God. Here you are in the name of the Lord. Some of you may be here by a winding path. Some of you may have taken some detour along the way. Some of you may have gotten lost along the way. But somehow here you are. It is not by accident that you are here this morning. God had his hands on you. God had chosen you to be his own. God chooses those he wants to follow him. It’s up to us to accept his call upon our lives. We chose the gods we make, but the God who made us has chosen us.
Finally, the god we make can only take us so far. But the God who made us will take us all the way. That golden calf the people made could not take them through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Only the God who made them and who led them by a cloud by day and a fire by night could take them where he wanted them to go. The god we make cannot last forever. The gods we make are limited. They cannot take us very far. You can lose your money. You can lose your home. You can lose your children or those whom you love dearly. You can lose all of those things, but God will never lose you. He will be with you all the way to the end. You can depend on God. The gods we make can only do so much for us. They are here today and gone tomorrow. But the God who made us will never leave us or forsake us. Many people living today are just a paycheck from being cast out into the street. There are many homeless people out there who never thought they would be in such a situation. For many of them the gods they trusted in disappointed them and forsook them. The things they had depended upon had failed. But the God who made us will see about us. The God who made us will never fail.
When Moses came down from the mountain he destroyed the golden calf by throwing it in the fire. All of our golden calves will do us no good in the end. All of those things that we made gods will be destroyed in the end. The gods we make only last for a little while. But the God who made us will be with us for eternity. God was angry with the people for making a god or the representation of a god out of the golden calf. God wanted to destroy them, but Moses interceded for them. Moses pleaded for them and God changed his mind and let them live. God is angry with us when we fail to serve him as we should. God is angry with us when we make false gods our gods. God is angry with us when we break his commandments.
But because of Jesus Christ who intercedes for us, God changes his mind and gives us another chance. All of us live by the grace of God. We serve a merciful God. God is patient and kind. God puts up with our mess time and time again. But God will never give up on us because he sees us in Jesus Christ. It is only because of Jesus that we have come this far. God overlooks our sin and sees that they are covered by the blood of Jesus.
God will see us through no matter what. We have come this far leaning on the Lord. He will never leave us alone. The gods will make will fail. But the God who made us will never fail. The only thing we can really depend on in life is the God who made us. God will make a way for us somehow. Which God is your god? Is the god you have made your God? Or is the God who made you your God?
Joshua much later on told the people that they ought to choose the God who had made them. Joshua said choose you this day whom you shall serve. But for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Much later still Elijah told the people at Mt Carmel, “why do you waver between two opinions. If Baal is god follow him, but if the Lord God is your God follow him. Which God is your God?. If the god you have made is your god, then follow him. Go for it. Go all out for the god you have made. But if the God who made you is your God, then follow him. But as far as I am concerned, I’m going to make the God who made me my God. I’d rather worship, follow, and serve the God who made me. I’d rather make him my God.. Are you worshiping the god you have made or are you worshiping the God who made you?
My God is a mighty God. My God is a righteous God. My God is a holy God. My God is my rock. My God is my shield. My God is my refuge, My God is my salvation. My God is my stronghold. My God is my light. My God is my peace. My God is my helper. There was a song called My Girl. But this morning I’m talking about my God. Be not dismayed whatever betide. My God will take care of you. Beneath his wings of love abide. My God will take care of you. Through days of toil and when your heart does faint. My God will take care of you. When dangers fierce your path assail, my God will take care of you. No matter what may be the test, my God will take care of you. Lean weary one upon his breast. My God will take care of you. I’m talking about my God. You may have a god that you made.
But let me introduce you to the God who made me. Let me tell you what my God has done for me. My God lifted me. My God leads me. My God holds me fast. My God keeps me singing. My God brought me out. My God satisfies. My God remembers me. My God hears my prayer. My God delivers me. My God wipes the tears from my eyes. I’m talking about my God. Is he your God too? Is he your God too?
If he is your God, why not serve him. If he is your God, why not love him. If he is your God, why not follow him. If he is your God, why not praise him. If he is your God, why not glorify him. If he is your God, why not worship him. If he is your God why not give to him. If he is your God, why not sanctify him. If he is your God why not crown him King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Which god is your God?. Are you worshiping the god you have made or are you worshiping the God who made you?
