IS YOUR GOD PHILOSOPHICAL OR REAL?

Know ye that the LORD He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves... – Ps 100:3

“God” is the name we humans give to the Creator of the Universe. But it’s important we know too that “God” is also a philosophically essential construct of the human mind. Man is a thinking creature, and every man has an idea of what “God” is like... or should be like.

This shouldn’t be an issue, as long as we don’t mix up the weak constructs of our finite minds with the real GOD in Heaven.

Do we make this distinction in reality? Unfortunately, no. Even among Christians, not only do we conflate these two ‘God’s, (the one in our minds, and the One up in Heaven), we often insist on dealing with the former and reject/ignore the later.

As an example, think of the lying ‘God’ that the Positive Confession preacher preaches about, (“God can call something white, even though it’s black”). Or what about the not-so-omnipotent God (limited by human ‘freewill’) that some modern theologians are talking about now? And let’s not forget the silliest of them all, the “God” of the Atheist , who – because HE doesn’t fit their definition of what a ‘God’ should be like, thus doesn’t exist!

But beyond the open realms of intellectual discuss, we too sometimes have our personal Gods: made out of our own construct. We all have our picture of what God is like. These pictures are shaped by a combination of our cultures, upbringing, education, mindset and other factors.

From the hard-hearted God that rules His children with pain and torture, to the sweet, happy-go-lucky God that would never really judge sinners in Hell forever, etc. we may be worshipping the true God, yet relating with Him based on the mental ‘God’ we have in our minds.

Here’s Paul’s message to each of us guilty of this: “Though God has overlooked those times of ignorance, He now commands everyone everywhere to repent,” (Act 17:30 ISV).

The REAL God has revealed Himself and His character in the Bible. Whenever you read it and stumble upon an aspect of His nature that doesn’t line up with the image in your mind, have the courage, as Paul says, to REPENT (i.e. change your mind).

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN