The creative power of people is truly phenomenal. Just look what they have invented to change how we live. Airplanes make it possible for even those of modest means to travel the globe. The Internet connects us with the world. Electricity keeps us warm in the winter and cool in the summer. In fact man’s creative genius is so remarkable he thinks he has the ability to make God into his image.
Many have the unrealistic notion that God likes what they like, hates what they hate, thinks how they think, and reacts the way they would react in any given situation. They have given God a face lift – a nip here and a tuck there, so He can be a reflection of them.
Now instead of us existing to glorify God, they think God exists to glorify us – to lavish us with comforts and fulfill our dreams. Like a big sugar daddy in the sky, all we need to do is tell Him what we want and He will take care of it. Their God doesn’t want them to struggle so He will give them success not perseverance, instant happiness not joy, and prosperity not a job opportunity. Wanting us to have a good time He will say, “Don’t do my bidding, but do your own thing. If it feels good, do it!”
Some go to the other extreme thinking God is a dominant being bent on controlling and forcing us into His will. After all, isn’t that what they would do if they were all powerful? Here again they are creating a god patterned after themselves.
Do we really want to worship a god we can control, or one who controls us? Either extreme misses the mark.
God is God! We can choose to believe in Him or not. He created us with free will. Our inventive mind manipulations will not change Him into something else. He does not think like us. He does not like what we like, just because we like it. He does not hate what we hate, just because we hate it. He does not react how we react, just so we can justify what we do.
Actually, we should be striving for the reverse – to align our thinking with His. We should be learning to like what He likes, hate what He hates, and react the way He would react. Spending time reading the Bible will help us know how to do that.
Our thoughts are not God’s thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). In the end it doesn’t really matter what we think because what we think doesn’t alter the truth. God’s word is truth. So whether we think it’s true or not, God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that those who believe on him would have life (John 3:16). Salvation is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8). God is love (1 John 4:18).
Mankind is creative and inventive, but he will never be able to make God into his own image – no matter how hard he tries.
