DO WE REALLY NEED GOD?
Jeremiah 2:13
Introduction:
Our need of God is pervasive, complete, entire, and yet we so easily fall into the trap of believing we do not need Him. It would be no challenge to document the truth that the world believes it does not need God. Many would claim that we live in an atheistic or at best agnostic culture. The truth is we live in a culture that chases many gods and neglects Jehovah God. It is God’s desire that the unredeemed sinner seek Him and come to believe in Him.
Jeremiah, though, delivered his prophetic message to a
people who were very acquainted with God. In chapter One it is established that God knows, supplies, and sustains His people. Sadly, Judah found itself in a situation of being delivered by God, loved by God, married to God – but chasing after gods which they had fashioned with their own hands. It is Judah’s attitude of self-sufficiency that God condemns and punishes in this prophecy. The attitude of Judah rivals many today. Do we really need God? Couldn’t we provide a nice life for ourselves, be relatively happy, seek out advice and help when needed – all without God? Couldn’t we be fairly good people, even church-going people, try to do the right things, provide good community examples – but still not be so concentrated on God? A grave danger that Christians face is Self- sufficiency verses God-dependency.
I. WHY DO WE NEED GOD?
A. He is the source of spiritual life. (“…They have forsaken me, the spring of living water…”) Water is a symbol for life – for that which sin has taken away from us. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus brought God’s message of living water!John 4:10-11. This woman was living in self-suffciency, without the life of God within her. She recognized her own need and was filled with great joy to believe in the Lord. John 7:38 “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." Revelation 7:17 “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." We need God because He is the source of spiritual life. And also because…
B. He fixes our broken lives. (“… have dug their own
cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water…”)
It is our belief that we can make it without God that
leads to brokenness. Romans 3:9-23 – our lives without God.1 John 1:5-9
C. That is why we need God – He does what we cannot do, and He undoes what we have done to ourselves.
II. HOW TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR NEED FOR GOD:
A. Trust. God hurts over our rejection of him. Jeremiah 2:5-8. We can trust a God who loves us so deeply and who offers us so much. Jeremiah 39:18 “I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD.'"
B. Humility. Know our true status – we are unable to save ourselves, we are unable to pursue righteousness
on our own. We are in need of God’s help. Confess our real sins. Six times in chapter 3 alone, God calls His people to return to him. Jeremiah 24:7 “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.” Revelation 2:4-5 “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”
C. Commitment. Marriage symbol is significant in the prophecy. Jeremiah 3:20 “But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O
house of Israel," declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 31:32 “It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, " declares the LORD.”
Backsliding – going back to wicked ways! Jeremiah 2:19; 3:12, 22; 15:6. Our commitment to Christ calls us to consistency, determination, and never giving up our faith!
Conclusion:
1. We must be careful that we do not conclude in our
hearts that we do not need God. We Need Him because He is the giver of life. We need Him because he fixes our broken lives. That is why we need God – He does what we cannot do, and He undoes what we have done to ourselves.
2. Psalm 85:1-9 – our prayer to God!
