Letting God be God              1

"thou shalt have no other gods before me" Ex. 20:3

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We must begin in the beginning. We must begin with God. Those who start any other way get off to a "false start." The Bible begins with the words, "In the beginning God…" We must start here; we must start with God. The New Testament also begins where all good things begin. It opens with the pronouncement, "In the beginning was the Word….and the Word was God." We must begin with God. We must begin with God's Word.

The very first bed-rock conviction that the Christian life is built upon is this: God's Word is first, and God's Word is final. The foundation of our faith in none other than the eternal, infallible, and immutable word of God. Do I not build upon the foundation of my faith? No, faith cannot stand on faith. Faith needs something more solid and more enduring. It is true that we are saved through faith, and that we are to live by faith, yet there is a difference between living "by" something and building "on" something. Romans 10:17 says "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." It is a popular idea of our day found in the "self help" section of every book store, but it is false. Faith is not the bed-rock foundation, since faith itself must have a foundation. That foundation is the Word of God.

But, is not our foundation Jesus Christ? Are we not supposed to build our lives upon him? Is not Christ the foundation that supports the Bible? Yes, Jesus is both the founder, and the foundation of the Bible.He is more than that. He is the Eternal Word incarnate and personified. What do we know of Jesus Christ apart from the Bible? Nothing. Everything we know about Christ is found in the Bible. Anything beyond that is without validity or authority. John said, "the Word was God" (Jn. 1:1).

Why is all this important? It is important because, many claim to be believers in Christ, and to be followers of him, who stand upon their feelings about God, or their personal experience, actions, or intentions and that is not good enough.

Jesus told a story in Luke 6 about two men who built their houses upon the sand and a rock respectively. One house survived the ravages of the awful storm because it was built on a strong and sure foundation of the rock. The other house was lost, because it was built upon sand. The rock is the Word of God. Our faith stands and falls on what God's Word says. This brings us to the heart of the our first conviction. God's Word is First, and God's Word is Final. This is the first axiom of the life built upon the rock.

Every question of life, every decision, every behavior, and every belief finds its answer, strength, reason or explaination in "What does God say about it?" We should seek God's answer first. The second principle is that once we have determined what God has said about the subject, His word is final. To say that God's word is first is to accept Him as the holy author. To say that God's word is final is to accept Him as the highest authority.

The Christian life is one which has come under God's rightful authority. The unbeliever has a real problem with authority. If a man refuses to accept Christ's claim of authority, he is not in Christ at all, but still in his sins and in a state of emnity and rebellion against God.

Faith accepts God's authority. Man has a problem with authority. He likes to have it, but not be under it. The words "nobody is going to tell me what to do," have been spoken an uncountable number of times, and is the very spirit of man. Jesus told a story in Luke 19:14 which clearly described human nature as it related to the coming of Christ into this world. "We will not have his man to reign over us." That was the problem with the Pharisees. But if the truth were known, it is the story of every son of Adam and every daughter of Eve. This ancient couple had a problem living under authority in the Garden of Eden. "Eat and ye shall be as gods" said Satan. Being your own boss sounded good to this beguiled pair and they rebelled against God. The rest, as they say, is history. We have all inherited this self-willed, stubborn and sinful spirit from the first parents of the human race. We are born with a sinful self which is proud and dangerously independent. This was the spirit of Lucifer as seen in Isaiah 14: 12-14.

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou has said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High."

Hell was made for those who refused to live under God's authority. The consequences of rebellion are always the same. Every rebellious heart is headed for hell. That is why the message of the Old and New Testament is that men should "Repent."

Authority is a fact of life. "Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right" (Eph 6:1). "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ." (Eph 6:5). When a child becomes a teen he develops a measure of independence. That is good. But many times that independence borders on a "declaration of independence" which suggests a rebellion in spirit. That is bad. We have all heard of the young man who was tired of being told what to do by his teachers. He was tired of being told what to do by his parents as well. He left home and joined the Army. He soon found out that he couldn't get away from authority. He complained about "taking orders" and couldn't wait to get out of the military. After he got out of the service, he took a job and found he had a "boss." Often he had many "bosses" telling him what to do. Such is life. We cannot get away from living under authority. Since we can't get away from living under authority, we had better learn how to get along with it.

The first step in learning to live under authority is getting under the authority of God. When we become a Christian what we are doing is making an "unconditional" surrender to the God of Heaven against whom we have rebelled in sin. (Rom. 5:10, Col 1:21; Ja. 4:4)

When a person becomes a Christian he "receives" the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. John 1:11 "To as many as receive him to them gave he the authority to become the children of God, even to those who believe on his name." Not only do we get "authority" or the right to become children, but with those privileges comes certain responsibilities. It is the same as your children having certain rights because they are your children, but also having certain responsibilities. As a parent you must establish certain rules of government or instead of "Home Sweet Home," you will have a state of anarchy. (Malachi 1:6). If God is God, then let us treat Him as God.

Is Christianity just another religion? No, we have entered into a "relationship," a unique, eternal,

and spiritual relationship. What kind of relationship is it? It is one of teacher/student, leader/follower, Savior/saved, master/servant, father/son. Christ is the conqueror, we are the conquered. When we receive Him we are receiving a Savior (Jesus) a Liberator (Christ) and a Master (Lord).

How do I show that I am under the authority of Jesus Christ? In as much as God is invisible, and Christ is no longer in this physical world, we demonstrate our allegiance by following his wishes. Either He is in charge or He is not. John 8:31 "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed." Luke 6:46 puts it very plainly, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say?"

When we come into a right relationship with God we place our faith in God's Word. Placing faith in that Word means placing ourselves under its authority. God is not fooled by false professions. We cannot have a "so-called" Christian army today of independent misfits who ignore the commands of their Commander in Chief. The Bible must set the standards for our lives. It is the Bible that provides the guidelines for living. It is the Bible that provides the leadership and promises success and happiness if followed.

There once was a shop owner in NYC who wanted to enlarge his establishment. He purchased the property next door and proceeded to remove the wall between the two buildings that were abutted up against each other. He failed to get a permit. Had he checked with the experts and authorities, he would have discovered that he was removing a supporting wall. That was foolish, dangerous and illegal. The building started to collapse. The Ten Commandments are the supporting walls of civil society. Remove them at your own risk. Is it any wonder that people's lives are collapsing everywhere when they build disregarding God's Word? (Ps. 11:3).

We who accept the absolute authority of the Bible as to its literal commands are sometimes labeled "extremists." It is no extreme to take God at His word. It is faith. The modern-day church needs to get back to the Bible, especially Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who sayeth unto me Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

The Bible is the Supreme Court of the universe. There is no higher court. Any and all disputes can be adjudicated by the divine justice and wisdom of this book, the Bible. That is why we believe it. That is why we follow it. Jesus said "heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away" (Mat. 24:35). In the very beginning all there was was the God and the His Word. In the end, when there is nothing left of heaven and of earth, there will still be God and His Word. That is why we say "God's Word is First; God's Word is Final. That is the way it was. That is the way it will be, and that is the way it must be in my life today.

As a practical expression of my living faith I seek to begin each day by reading God's Word before reading any other word. I also, at the end of the day, try to take a text as the final word and thought as I drift off to sleep. In other words, I start with God's Word and end with God's Word and, by God's grace, try to live it in the middle.