Less Than God

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Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
1 John 5:21 (NKJV)

In the fourth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel we find the account of Jesus’ temptation. He has just spent forty days in the Judean wilderness, is weak from fasting, and Satan tries three times to induce Jesus to sin. In each case, Jesus is able to withstand the temptation by turning to the source of truth—to the Scriptures—as His defense. Of particular concern to us, however, should be the fact that Satan also used the word of God as one of his weapons!

...and [Satan] said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ “
Matthew 4:6 (NKJV)

Here we see the problem with telling a “half-truth” and how easily a partial truth can be twisted, because there is no denying that what Satan quoted is absolutely true! Jesus, however, quickly countered the deception of Satan’s argument by going back to the whole truth and taking the entirety of God’s word into account. Would we be able to do the same? Hence this episode should impress upon each of us the vital importance of knowing our Bibles, because if we don’t, then we are guaranteed to be deceived:

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1

Granted, we are not perfect, so we’ll occasionally get it wrong, but we are fools if we conclude that our efforts to internalize the truths of Scripture are somehow unnecessary. Simply coming to the cross and then ignoring the privilege and responsibility we have to read His word, all on the basis of the fact that we know we’re going to make mistakes, would be like jumping into a tank of hungry sharks with your fingers crossed, all on the basis of the fact that you know you’re going to die someday. You may survive the ordeal, but you’re opening yourself up to a lot of needless pain and suffering in the process.

And in case you need proof, just go back to where it all started.

The Art of Deception

There is clearly something special about mankind. For as the only part of creation to have been made in God’s image, there is something unique about our nature that distinguishes us from the
rocks, the trees, the fish, and the animals. Indeed, God fashioned us after Himself and made us greater than the animals, though in His likeness we are still less than divine.

One of the ways that Adam & Eve were initially “less than” God was their inability to discern between good and evil. Their naiveté didn’t seem to bother them at first, but Satan tricked them
into perceiving this difference as an arbitrary, unfair limitation that had been imposed by God. Satan planted the seeds of doubt by suggesting to Eve that God was holding out on her and Adam, then seduced them with the promise that they would become “like God” once they ate from the tree:

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’"

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:1-5 (NKJV)

Here again we see how easily the truth can be manipulated under false pretenses, because Satan is technically correct. By eating from the forbidden tree, Adam & Eve would gain an attribute that made them more like God; the problem is that he conveniently neglected to mention the far greater responsibility that they would bear. Because once their eyes were opened, a holy God would have no choice but to hold them accountable for their actions:

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
John 9:41

Thus, even though Satan told Adam & Eve something that was true in part, he deceived them by virtue of concealing the rest of the story—just as He tried to do with Christ. Satan lured them with the apparent privileges to be won, and led them to focus upon what had been withheld from them rather than their many blessings. So Adam & Eve chose to believe the lie, seized what had been forbidden, and willingly ate from the Tree. In the process, they unwittingly despised the precious gift of innocence that they didn’t even realize was already theirs!

Now in passing, compare this picture of their futile attempt to attain equality with God, to the portrait of Jesus that we find in Paul’s letter to the Philippians:

Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11

What a magnificent contrast! On one hand we have Adam, striving to take hold of those things that would make him God’s equal (as if it were even possible), and on the other hand is the very
Son of God who voluntarily sets aside His rightful glory to live—and to die—as a man. And herein is the very essence of redemption: Adam’s aspiration to put himself in God’s place led to separation from God, and so God came down to put Himself in our place. It was the only way to bridge the gulf that Adam had created.

In their willing act of treason, then, Adam & Eve fell from their blameless condition and brought sin and its consequences upon both themselves and their future generations. For although they had been led to believe that their rebellion would bring them freedom and equality with God, all it did was enslave them to a new master. They failed to understand (until it was too late) that obedience was never optional, and that their only choice was whom to obey—once again, a minor detail that Satan forgot to mention. Nevertheless, the consequences of their decision were instant and irrevocable. They succumbed to the very first “hostile takeover,” and in doing so subjected all of creation—their entire “organization,” so to speak—to a new CEO who had anything but their best interest in mind.

The devil was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
John 8:44 (NKJV)

Indeed, the reality of Satan’s authority is the one thing that came through loud and clear in the wake of 9/11—evil is real. Granted, God still defines the parameters within which Satan can operate (remember Job?) but on account of what transpired in Eden the created order now falls under his domain. Turn again to the record of Jesus’ temptation, where Satan makes the bold declaration that the kingdoms of the world belong to him:

Again, the devil took [Jesus] to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Matthew 4:8-9

How does Jesus respond? He does not refute Satan’s claim, but simply rebukes Satan for trying to entice Him into worshipping anyone other than God.

For this reason, we need to be mindful of the fact that Satan is indeed the current “prince of this world” until the King of Kings returns to take back what is rightfully His. Or to follow the analogy,
the current CEO has a limited tenure, and on the appointed day the Chairman of the Board will take control away from Satan and appoint His choice for CEO: the Lord Jesus Christ. Until then, all of creation—including all of mankind—remains alienated from God by definition. Because the moment Adam and Eve rebelled against their Creator, they unwittingly put Satan in charge.

And it all started with a lie.

Ignorance is Bliss?

Maybe all of this is old news to you. Satan lied to Adam, he blew it, and we’re all paying for it. Then later on Satan lied to Jesus, He withstood the test, and we’re saved because of it. Basic stuff,
right? But remember where this discussion started…swimming with sharks.

The original point was simply this: if we are content to remain Biblically illiterate, relying on nothing more than John 3:16 and “God is love” to get us through this life on earth, we are opening ourselves up to a lot of self-inflicted heartache. Why? Because just like Adam & Eve, we will be sitting ducks for the father of lies, finding ourselves easily led down paths of sin and destruction that will result in untold pain and grief for ourselves…as well as our children. And we all, as children of Adam, are living proof.

Do not be fooled! Even though we have ultimately been forgiven of our guilt as God’s children, our sin still has consequences. So we need to realize that while our sin may seem trivial and personal, it often touches our families, our friends, our church, and even our children in ways we could never predict:

For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Exodus 20:5-6 (NKJV)

Furthermore, as those who profess to follow Christ, our missteps may very well have the tragic effect of causing those around us—especially our children—to doubt not only our integrity, but His as well:

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
Mark 9:42 (NKJV)

In short, if we are to have any hope of living victoriously in Christ, we need to be diligently filling our hearts and minds with the truth of God’s Word. Because while it’s fairly easy to refute cultural
notions which contradict the Word of God, it is much more difficult to spot errors if they are cloaked in Scripture. It’s not that we’ll be perfect, but as we strive to apprehend the whole counsel of God, we’ll be better able to distinguish God’s voice from those that are trying to deceive us.

Quite frankly, the health of the church hangs in the balance, for as we have drawn progressively nearer to the culture, our acceptance of subtle half-truths has rendered us powerless to resist even blatant lies: hence the church is slowly imploding. For although each deception has had a ring of truth to it, collectively they have brought untold grief upon the Body of Christ by taking us down paths of division, distraction…and even idolatry.

The Descent into Idolatry

For most Christians, the word idolatry tends to evoke images of golden calves, or statues carved of wood and stone. Maybe the Greek and Roman gods come to mind. Or thinking about the 21st
century, you might envision the Wicca religion or some other cultic form of earth worship. Still, idolatry is not usually something that comes to the forefront of our minds when we consider the sins that most Christians struggle with on a daily basis.

Why is this? Have we really become strong enough to withstand the allure of idols? Are we somehow “past” this sin in the 21st century? Given the scandals that make headlines when Christians fall today (adultery, pedophilia, perjury, etc.) it would certainly seem like we have more trouble with some of the other commandments further down the list! Apparently, though, this is not God’s perspective. Our Creator understood the inclination of our hearts towards idolatry, and as such He used two of the Ten Commandments to deal with this cardinal sin—the first two, no less. So in all likelihood, we have a bigger problem with idolatry than we realize.

Israel and Judah were clearly susceptible to worshipping idols, as they repeatedly “played the harlot” with the gods of their neighbors:

And they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers, and played the harlot after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.
1 Chronicles 5:25 (NKJV)

Whether it was Baal and Asherah of the Canaanites, Molech of the Ammonites, Chemosh of the Moabites, or Bel & Nebo of the Babylonians, the Israelites never managed to resist the appeal of
foreign gods for very long. And just as we skim over the litany of “begats” in Genesis and Chronicles, we gloss over the names of these foreign gods from another time. To modern Christians, they have become little more than footnotes to the Biblical narrative—distant and seemingly irrelevant.

Or are they?

Baal, Bel & Dagon (of the Philistines) were ancient gods of fertility and the harvest. To societies whose economies revolved around agriculture, it was important to please these gods because a plentiful harvest ensured their survival and prosperity. Molech & Chemosh were ancient gods of war, and in a violent world you wanted these guys on your side too. Asherah was the goddess of love, whose worship involved all sorts of sexual perversion, and Nebo was the god of science and astrology. Furthermore, the worship of all these gods was typified by two rituals: sex and child sacrifice.

Still seem so distant? The names have changed, but human nature has not. Whether it’s economic power and security, military might, technology and progress, obsession with sex and pleasure, or even abortion—our modern-day child sacrifice ritual of “choice”—Satan is still using the same tactics to lead people away from God. He has merely changed the packaging to appeal to a more “sophisticated” audience.

Even beyond the “standard” temptations that the world offers, though, there is a more subtle form of idolatry plaguing the church today—we have embraced a “God” of our own design. This kind of
idolatry is the hardest to recognize because by all appearances the center of worship is in fact God, yet whenever we begin to worship aspects of God, rather than God in all of His fullness, we’re engaging in idolatry. And unfortunately, that’s exactly what the American Church is doing today.

Over time, we’ve come to accept a portrait of God that falls short of His glory. It certainly has elements of truth to it, but as we’ve seen, anything less than the whole truth is just asking for trouble. As a result, we have come to erroneous conclusions about God, about faith, and even about salvation—just to name a few. And this is why this form of idolatry is so insidious! Because as soon as you start to worship attributes of God—like His love or His grace—rather than God Himself, you are guaranteed to make mistakes on almost everything else. It’s simply unavoidable.

So we need to be sure we’re getting “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” when it comes to the character and nature of God. Otherwise, how can we expect to be those worshipers whom God desires?

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
John 4:23-24

Indeed, revival will not come to this country until the Body of Christ comes to grips with the fact that idolatry is slowly crippling us just like a spreading cancer. September 11th briefly alerted us to
the fact that something is seriously wrong, but since we failed to understand the severity of our condition, we readily accepted spiritual pain killers and brushed it off. Our spirits were eased, we went back to normal, and the tragedy is that we are setting ourselves up for even worse pain in the future…because the cancer is still there.

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