Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
July 12, 2015 - W1528

We are going to be continuing in our series called Your Turn, and we are going to talk about how important it is for us to understand the times, lest we make God in our own image.  In the Bible, Issachar was one of the twelve tribes of Israel.  The Issachar people knew the times, understood the times, and knew what Israel should do.

I would like to talk about God in our image.  Genesis I: 26-28 gives the reason and the blueprint behind this, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.  Let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the Earth.  Over every creeping thing that creeps on the Earth.’  God created man in his own image.   In the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  And God blessed them and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply.  Fill the Earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the Earth.’”

God created man in His own image, and sent Jesus. The book of Hebrews says Jesus is the exact nature of God.  God sent Jesus as a template to exemplify how we are to be.  In John 14 Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.”

The more you become like Jesus, the more you become the person that God created you to be.  This is why we speak so much about being like Jesus.  This is why scripture says, “Be ye holy as I am holy.”    He is saying to be perfect in heart, not perfect in behavior.

God created us in His image and has given us the Holy Spirit because He wants us to reflect His nature to a watching world.   The Bible says that God gave us His DNA, that we have His heart, His birthright, and His promises, and that we are His children – what a privilege.  Instead of being thankful for this, sin enters into people, who do not want to be associated with God, or do not want to be recognized as a follower of Him. You saw that in Simon Peter’s life after Jesus was taken to court.  After Peter refuted being one of Jesus’s disciples, the rooster crowed.

If we do not repent from our sins, then the Bible says, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.   Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being...”  (Romans 1:21-23)  This means that although God created us in His own image, sin entered our lives, and now we are trying to create God into our own image.  Professing to be wise, we become foolish, and our hearts and minds are darkened.  The result of these actions is “Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.  They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator...”   (Romans 1:24-25)

You do not get punished for your sins; however, you get punished by your sins.

This is why when you take His design of you and substitute it for other ways of living, you do not do well.  God sent Jesus to redeem you your sins, because this is the role that God has given to you, and who you are.

I would like to relate this to an illustration of a man who was about to go up into the mountains with his car to place a box of saltine crackers laced with rat poison around his cabin to eradicate a rat problem.  He starts his car, but leaves his car running as he runs back into his house to retrieve his driving glasses.  Seeing this, a man jumps into the driver’s seat and steals his car; however, this man does not know that he is sitting next to a box of rat poisoned crackers that he could possibly ingest.  On the radio and television, an all-points bulletin is broadcast to immediately stop this car if you see it, and a message for the driver to surrender this car immediately, because his life depends on doing this.  This broadcast was put out not to punish him, but to save his life.

God says “Don’t do it – don’t sin!”, because He knows what is best for you.  Sin will not only ruin your future, but it may even ruin your eternity.  The Bible says, “… Sons of Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do...” (1 Chronicles 12:32)

If there is anything that we need to do as a church, we need to be as the sons of Issachar – we need to understand the times, and we need to know what Israel should do.  It is very important for us to understand the scriptures, so that we will know what is going on, see what is happening, and not judge or condemn.  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”  (Romans 12:2)   God is saying to be careful, lest you conform yourself to what the majority are saying.

Recently, the Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) ruled on Gay marriages; however SCOTUS is not comprised of professing Christians.  Like non-Christians, they do what they do best, which is sin.  Therefore, it is wrong for us to expect them to live like Christians.  Our role is to love non-Christians – this does not mean to endorse what they are doing. It does not mean to embrace the times like some churches are doing, and give them a pacifier.   If a person comes to New Hope and has been living with his girlfriend, then I will love them dearly, but not endorse this action. God judges. Our role is to hold up the banner of truth. When you love, it allows God to change their hearts. The Book of Hebrews says, “God will take vengeance.  It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.”

Alvin Toffler, author of a best- selling book called “Future Shock” once said, “Those who are going to be literate in the 21^st century will not be those who can read or write, but those who can learn, and unlearn, and relearn. We are all going to learn bad things, either from society, the media, or teachers with wrong morals; however, when the truth is revealed, will you unlearn and relearn the wrongs?  This is how God changes us from glory to glory. “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

As a church, we need to continue to hold up the sign of truth so that people will have a choice, otherwise we will not reach them.  Some will reject the truth, but there will be a bunch of people who will say the truth helped them more than you will ever know.  Remember Saul of Tarsus who was persecuting the church?  A remnant of the church stood up and told him he could not do that, and loved Saul in spite of his persecution of the church.  From hearing the truth, Saul turned his life around and became a great man of God.

Remember that Satan will show up as every desire you secretly have.  If your desires lie latent in your heart, then you will get mad at those who are acting out your desires. You may want something so much that you may convince yourself that God is speaking to you, when in actuality, it is your desire speaking to you. The only way to keep a pure heart is to do what David said, “Search me O God and know my heart.”   This is why the greatest and most important law upon which all of the other laws hinge is “You should love the Lord you God with all your heart, will all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” If you love God, then you can love others.     

A while ago, a guy from the town of Pahoa on the Big Island came to know God at our church.  After three weeks he asked me to come over for dinner and to see his prayer room. Upon arriving, he took me up some back steps to this room where I saw a kneeler, a sculpture of Jesus, a picture of Buddha, a Hindu god, and Confucius.   He told me Jesus use to be right next to the statue of Mary, but he had recently moved him to the middle of his row of gods. This is sort of like creating god in our own image.  If we do not like this, then we will go to another god so that we may feel exonerated in whatever we do. Christians do this. One of the worst things that we can say is “God told me.”  One of the Ten Commandments states, “Thou shall not have any strange god’s before me.”

The question we must ask ourselves is, “Are we creating God in our own image?”

Ask God like David did to “Search me O God, and know my heart.”  Then get rid of anything that is not right and have God lead you in His everlasting ways.  Then we will be able to love one another the way we were designed to love.

God said, “Be holy as I am holy.”    Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, then you have seen the Father.”  We need to be people who represent the heart of Jesus, so that when people see us, they see the heart of Jesus.  We are not perfect, we all have stuff in our hearts that we wrestle with such as jealously, anger, immaturity, and  lust; however when we love God, everything changes.

A story was told about a lady who was married to a very demanding husband.  Before leaving for work, he would leave her with a list of daily projects and chores to do such as wash the dishes, do the laundry, iron, mop etc. When her husband came home from work he would inspect her chores, and check off what she did.  This went on for 20 grueling years until her husband succumbed to cancer.  A couple of years passed and she remarried a kind and very generous man.  Well one day as she was rummaging through her attic, she came across one of those old lists.  Looking at it, she realized that she still did those chores, but it was not difficult anymore, because she did it out of love, and not out of demands. 

When you love God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength, then obedience to Christ takes on a different light.  However, when you fall out of love with God, you will be continuously duped and tempted.

At this point, I would now like to bring our discussion to a conclusion.

Decide that your starting point will be with what God says in the Word of God.  If God does not endorse you actions or thoughts, then it is wrong, not matter how sincere you are.  This is because feelings can dupe you.  Make your feelings become as the Word.  If your feelings do not line up with God’s Word, then change; otherwise you will be making a god in your own image.  Be holy, as He is holy.  Do the best that you can, because for many people, “you” are the only Bible that they will ever read, and you are the only “Jesus” that they will ever see.  I pray that God will allow us as a church that can say, if you have seen Me, then you have seen the Father.  When this happens, we will have fulfilled the role that God has for us in this brief life.  We will be able to hold the banner of truth, and many will find their way back home, because they have seen Jesus in you.

Questions:

•          Are we are making a god in our own image?  How will we correct this?
•          How should we navigate our lives during these times so that we may stay true to God and bring many back home?
•          How can we maintain a heart of purity?