You Don’t Get Your Own Personal Jesus

Jeannie Greer, were afraid we come up with a God to take care of Israel created this image because the promises of an invisible God were not enough for them at this point nominal real needs and real enemies to be met. Counterfeit gods always were a lot of distrust those places where we feel like we need something beyond God's promises in the Bible teaching.

I'm your host Molly. That's where free to bind working with God, be honest, you've probably been there trying to get Jesus to line up with our needs and demands.

But today Pastor Jeannie helps us get our theology right even a series titled not got enough in today's message explained that don't get your own personal Jesus.

Let's go to Bible to get out and open it to the book of Exodus Exodus chapter 20, where we find a record of the 10 Commandments Exodus chapter 20.

This is a series called not got enough which corresponds to a book that I have by that same title. One of the stories that I told the book as a talkshow that I was watching several years ago where there were two people on this talkshow when a Christian talkshow, but it is to Christians on there that were debating some moral issue and one of them to her credit was trying to show what the Bible said and the other one also planning to be a Christian. He kept interrupting her and say oh my Jesus when there is not Jesus.

Whenever the my Jesus remembers a bit and finally, this first woman who was using the Bible, exasperated look back at this other guy and says you don't get your own personal Jesus that is the idea that were talking about. You'll get your own personal Jesus. This tendency that we have to reimagine God in a form that is is it is more appealing to us is not a uniquely American problem, of course, how we Americans may have perfected yet but that tenancy was so common that the second commandment of God's Big Ten. His big 10 Commandments was explicitly about this, incidentally, will we will also see this is the first commandment that Israel broke after receiving the commandments literally while Moses was getting the commandments before the concrete is even dry, on the stones.

Israel is breaking this commandment. The second commandment that I'm talking about.

It reads like this, you shall not make for yourselves a carved image, why because I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third of fourth generation of those who hate me, the key word in this commandment is the word image is talking about adding an image to God a shape to God. A description to God that God has not given to himself. People sometimes read this commandment and they assume that it is just a restatement of the first commandment. The first commandment. The previous verse, verse three you shall have no other gods before me. And they think well okay what you say just have no other gods in.

Also, don't make any graven images. It is true there is indeed some overlap between the two commandments. But there's also an important shade of difference. The first commandment focuses on worshiping the wrong gods. The second commandment is about worshiping the right God.

But in the wrong ways we violate the second commandment when we add something to God. Some image some characteristics.

Some attribute some description that goes beyond or contrary to what God tells us about himself and his word. You see, we might also be tempted to read this command I think well I think I'm clear on this one. I don't really own any graven images I don't have any gold statues of miles of the bow down to my kids have some Superman figurines are some Barbie dolls, but I don't really worship them so I think I'm clear on this. What but not so fast we break this command, not by worshiping gold statues we break this command when ever we assigned to God a form or an attribute that God did not give to himself. You take a note you want to write stuff down like this down. We break this commandment whenever we define God as we want him to be rather than as he actually is. We break this commandment whenever we define God in our hearts and minds as we want him to be rather then as he is or when we elevate our preferences about God above God's statements about himself and again I would suggest to you that there is probably no command in Scripture that we as Americans more consistently and routinely break them this point it comes out in statements like this the way that I see God is… Or for I don't think God really have a problem with you. Fill in the blank or I prefer to think of God as you… After that I may honestly go. No offense, but what does that even mean who cares how you prefer to see God. And ironically, one of the best mock reason. This is that's even a great theological movie Talladega nights where will Ferrell and that other guy was him. I can remember.

Go on this rampage about how they like to see Jesus you know that scene of it. Will Ferrell started off by saying I like Chris's baby Jesus bassinets to operate to 8 lbs. 6 oz. baby Jesus all snugly there in your diapers in your crib yet still omnipotent and the other guy breaks in his eye while I picture Jesus in a tuxedo T-shirt because it says I want to be formal. I'm also here to party because I like to party and so I like to think of my Jesus is like a party to goes on for. I like the picture Jesus is a figure skater. He comes out where little white outfit. He does interpretive stances that somehow represent my last journey no. Even Hollywood seems to recognize that picking out one angle on Jesus and saying that is how you like to see him is ridiculous. And folks, I'll just tell you when will Ferrell Moxley inconsistencies in your theology. That's a problem. The bottom line the bottom line is this, it does not matter how you and I like to see God.

God is who he is and when God appeared to Moses. Moses asked him what is your name.

God did not say most, as I will be ever you need me to be. He said the Moses I am who I am. Notice in verses four and five. In this command that God equates adding an image to him adding a description to him that he then give himself the equate that with 18 him, hating him it's hating him because we are basically saying God I don't like the real you got. I need you to be this other thing in order for me to really love you and desire you is not hard to get your mind around right of you ladies imagine if your husband found out that routinely you told your set of girlfriends something like I like to see my husband is a 6 foot four Jack from this is us. He loves to lift weights in the other passion for Victorian area were error romance novels in his perfect idea of a date night is perusing the aisles at target with me right you keep repeating that to your girlfriends. Your real husband who is probably more like 5 foot six Terry who works in IT worst penny loafers and like fantasy football on that guy might get upset and he probably has a right to ask you why you have to reimagine him or somebody else in order for you to love him. It is an insult to God when we have to re-shape God into something else in order to love him or desire him. I get a litmus test that can help you determine whether or not you're actually doing this one question you can ask yourself that'll help you see, if you are guilty of this.

Here's a question.

How often does your God contradict you confuse you or make you mad if your God is not routinely contradicting you making you mad and confusing you. Chances are you're not really letting God be God. You're just reimagining him as you would want him to be because he anytime you're in a relationship with a real person. They are going to confusing contradict you is why our first years of marriage are often so difficult a man right.

It's all when people ask me if people asked me how long I've been married always tell that I've been married for 16 wonderful years and two other ones for a grand total of 18. Because when you start to date somebody psychologist tell us that you get to know a part of them apart and you like a part of them. You're trying to do is you keep dating them. But what happens in the dating stage as you fill in all the gaps of what you don't know about them with what you want them to be and that all get shattered in the first six months of marriage. Right, which is why I've heard it said you rubbed her this to that love is a dream and marriage is the alarm clock because suddenly you're awake into a real relationship with a real person and real people and real relationships do things a surprise us and contradict us know if it's that way with another human being. How much more so, would it be with an Almighty, all holy, all wise God. Do we really suppose that God is just a bigger reflection of ourselves is just here like what we like and affirm what we affirm. Every time we put something on Facebook just hit the like button says oh I like that to Karl Barth, the German theologian used to say of God never is your God never contradicts us or makes you mad, you're likely not worshiping him just worshiping a reflection of yourself as I mentioned, we Americans might be the worst of this because we Americans assume that we are at such an advanced moral stage that if there is a God of course he's going to see things like we do in a course you like what we like us and ours in our enlightened state. Why would we assume were at a place where we don't need correction and that everything in us that feels right actually is right. We know that wasn't true.

Previous generations right. We know for example that it felt right to some of our grandparents that the races be kept separate.

We may have heard them say something like that.

What doesn't feel right it were all together was, it wouldn't matter how you feel. That wasn't right. It feels right.

In certain cultures for women to not get educated and to be kept in the home when I say that we say to them that may feel right to you, but that is wrong in the Viking days. We know that they conducted honor killings because it felt like the only way to even the score. Somebody insulted you and today we say we have you felt like that was right but one right it was wrong.

Why then do we assume that were the first generation in history whose instincts are 100% reliable. Honestly, don't you think that 100 years from now, our great grandchildren to me. Looking back at us and just admiring what an advanced moral stage that we had gotten through in our era. How you talk about your great grandparents.

I'm sure you fill some sense of kinship and love them but you also say things like Nana can't believe I simply they did about how they go along with that.

How today they cannot see that blind spot.

So do we think that 100 years from now, our great grandchildren are not to be doing the same thing to us that were the first generation in all in history were all future generations will look back and admire us for moral foresight.

I told you before, the Bible offends every culture in every generation, usually in different ways thing I told you before that one of the most fascinating things are interested. Makes me was when I lived overseas in the Muslim culture observing where the Bible offended them.

The Bible really offended them.

But in totally different places that offended you, the American culture I grew up in. I redid in the story in John eight were Jesus forgives the woman that is been caught in adultery until know they were legitimately scandalized by that story than what you can do that. Maybe not killer but you gotta do some kind of punishment because if it if adultery doesn't have consequences then then then the whole fabric of society will unravel. They were genuinely offended by that now went on that sort Americans. I never know maybe we can figure heads and say and that's great. It's awesome God of forgiveness, but we get offended by the Bible sexual ethics. So why do we assume that everybody else's instincts need to be corrected but not ours. The Bible is an equal opportunity offender and that is what you would expect from a Bible that really is the word of God. If we are a fallen people you see as Americans. The Bible confronts both sides of our cultural divide. On the one side it confronts or nationalism in our pride and on the other side. It confronts her craving for moral and sexual autonomy. In other words, the Bible offends with the conservative and the liberal just in different places in order for you to really know God, regardless of your background, you gotta be willing for God to say some things to you that you don't want to hear your God is not same things you do you want to hear you're not worshiping God or worshiping a figment of your imagination. Only then, when you are open to God saying things to you that you don't want to hear.

Only then will you be able to hear from him the things you desperately do want to hear and I'll explain you what I mean by that, for the end.

Like I mentioned this was the first commandment of the children of Israel broke so I walk you through that story of where they broke this commandment because it will give you insight into where the temptation to distort God comes from and that also show you the spiritual damage that distorting God causes a human and also your children as the commandment says in your children's children. Exodus 32 so we viewed their Exodus 20 go 12 chapters to the right there in your Bible to Exodus 32 chapter 32 verse one when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and they said to Aaron, make us gods who shall go before us because as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt. We do not know what has become of him. Here's the cliff notes version of the story. Moses had gone up in the Mount Sinai to be with God, and to receive the 10 Commandments, will Moses ends up being gone a little bit longer than you planned on is a few days tardy on his return. And so everybody freaks out thinking that God and Moses had abandoned them, which was totally insane when you consider all that God had done literally in the previous month to bring them to this point. God had delivered them miraculously from the most powerful empire in the world.

10 supernatural plagues and then it just is a little finishing touch as their marching out moves inexplicably in the hearts of the Egyptians to take off all their jewelry and want him to be Israelite so that they can leave flush with gold, then God leads Israel every day with a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. Sometimes you like a huddle under the presence of God is with me. They literally could see a pillar of cloud and pillar of fire many splits the Red Sea in half so they can walk through on dry ground and then closes it behind them so that the Egyptian army can't follow any miraculously supplies them day by day in the desert with me and with food and would drink this all happen in the month leading up to Exodus 32 but now they think that God has abandoned them because Moses is a few days tardy verse two so Aaron was Moses brother, the associate pastor campus pastor of Israel.

You might say said to them, take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, but where they get there is rings of gold. I was a gift from the Egyptians and out of your son's ears with them and they were nearing soon and your daughters and bring them to me and receive the gold from their hand and fastened it with a grading tool and made a golden calf and they said these are your gods all Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before an error made proclamation and said tomorrow shall be a feast to to help to the Lord is a very important thing to see, because what you see in him saying that it is not like they'd switch teams altogether. They were still trying to worship the Lord in fact the bull was something God had told them to use to sacrifice and worship him. The bull represented the part of God that they felt like they needed most right. Men you see the ancient peoples.

The bull represented strength and that's what the Israelites most wanted right then. In that moment, so they were attempting to reshape God into a form that guaranteed to bend that sense of power and protection that they craved she that's what graven images are that's what counterfeit gods almost always do they elevate one attribute attribute of God that were attracted to above all the other attributes of God. So verse five Aaron makes the calf and he declares a feast of the Lord and they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. Those are the very offerings that God had instructed them to give to him. So again, they haven't you gotten into a brand-new religion. This is just a new and improved version of their religion and the people sat down to eat and drink and then they rose up to play the word play there in Hebrew has clear sexual connotations. After this new and improved worship approach. In other words, they all got hammered men got jiggy with it I guess you would say that is not typically how God prefers for his worship services.

The in so it's not going well. So God tells Moses, verse seven notice you better get down there. You better get down there. The people of corrupted themselves.

Verse 19 will skip Moses a prayer that he prays there verse 19. As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the Nancy Moses his anger burned hot when my friends went out last night that this is ironic and she sees me dancing. Her anger burned hot habit for different reasons. I'm just embarrassing her, so she tells me to stop, but Moses gets mad because he knows what they're doing and he throws the tablet out of his hands and breaks them at the foot of the mountain. They took the calf and they had made and burned with fire, and then he put it in his Vita mix and grounded the powder and he scattered on the water and made the people of Israel drink.

It was a false God smoothly then then all in one of truly my say Francine's the Old Testament. Moses then turns to Aaron and says Aaron what have you done and Aaron said whoa. Wait a minute.

Let not anger my Lord Barnhart you know the people you know the people. Moses I get another people names I can we know the people that they are set on evil and they said to me what I do, make us gods usual before us. There's a lot of them. Not many me. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt will know what's become of him. By the way that's a little passive aggressiveness right there.

Usually he's blaming Moses what you were here right here and what ears are you relates what was I supposed to do.

Moses not my fault you want.

So I said to them, letting you have gold take it off so they gave it to me and I fill in the was the best part is doing fine. Okay, this calf is her skill is is Aaron in middle school, I just doing the fine bloom out what can I do Moses either worship it and we had a worshiper that was no other alternative easy but difficult situation I was in Moses you relate to the golden argument. What else can I do. I've heard I've heard some really dumb excuses for bad behavior. My life your member a few years ago when one underwriter got caught shoplifting that debacle and remember how she was like well my producer of my next move. He told many to get some practice shoplifting's light acted out more natural environment of life.

That's why that it might that's a dumb excuse but I'm telling you this excuse by Aaron ranks among the dumbest. Anyway, this whole terrible story. This whole debacle. What it reveals to us the reason that it's in Scripture. Is it reveals to us three genuine truths. I believe about counterfeit gods.

Three genuine truth about graven images number one always see from the stories.

The counterfeit gods almost always correspond to our fears. What were afraid we come up with a God to take care of Israel created this image because the promises of an invisible God were not enough for them at this point, not when they were real needs and real enemies to be met and they felt like they needed something more than an invisible God and his promises to protect them. Counterfeit gods always were a lot of distrust those places where we feel like we need something beyond God and his promises, so we do is we reconstruct God in a way that guarantees he will give to us those very things you get that off like it's a tad bit deep. What happens is is you feel like you feel like God. I'm not sure I need this thing and I'm not sure you're to give it to me or you're not given it to me so I'm considered walking away from you. Altogether I was to reshape you said that you guarantee to give me the thing that I won the first place.

By the way, this is how the first and second men are interrelated. The first command you should have no other gods when you break down when we say will got I've got to have this. Also, you and your promises are not enough. I don't trust enough of. Also that I have this rather than just walk away from God altogether, you will leave him behind you so I will leave you behind what I do is out of reshape you into a form that guarantees you will give me the thing that I need or want.

For example, we feel like we have to have money and prosperity to be happy. So we invent a God that will guarantee those things to us. This is literally called the prosperity gospel, and it leads to books like your best life now or we like to see ourselves as good people better than other people.

So what we do we invent a God who is angrier at the kinds of sins that other people struggle with more than he is the kind of sin that we struggle with this is the counterfeit God of a lot of conservative cultural Christians, or for example we really need family stability to be happy.

So we invent a God who guarantees family stability and we get angry at God if he let something go wrong or we want to have time challenge sexual freedom so that we can do anything and everything that we want so long as it doesn't hurt anybody. So we invent a permissive God who was okay with that and we write angry blogs about how evangelical Christianity wrong goes when God would let us have those things where I've known people who really wanted, for example, to be out of the marriage and so they invented a God who was okay with that.

Even though it went against what God's word says yes I understand there places and times that the Bible indicates.

Divorce is an acceptable choice and I know it's a complex question, but nothing in my experience, a lot of people aren't concerned about what the Bible actually says it all. All they're looking for is a God who will justify what they've already made up your mind to do in the first place leading God is a trap that we finally into it some point, but we don't get our own personal Jesus now wears a few messages in an already this is been a challenging teaching series, you may want to catch up on broadcasting made nest will listen again tonight really thinking.

Visit us online to relisten and download complete and edited transcripts at no charge at all. When you visit JD Greer.com Jeannie Atlanta switch gears a little bit. Since this is the last week for our listeners to get your new back. I understand it, the great commission's call is to go and make disciples and applies to all of us by right now, do I do to make that true in my life. Well, what it means is that you ask yourself where does God have me what has he given me, and how does he want me to use that to help people understand Jesus more you know in the book I talk about even howl in a moment of pain. God intends that pain for you to use that to direct people to Jesus. If you are a college student or young professional, you asked the question, what talents do I have and how are they supposed to be used to support the mission of God.

I realize otherwise called to do what I do not arise called to be in a professional full-time Christian minister missionary pastor, but all of us are called to be a part of the great commission Jesus said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

This book whatever stage you are in your career when you're starting it halfway point with your you feel like you're at the tail end of it and think about retirement not jabber to help you ask the questions of am I wasting my life and I my investing my life and eternal things in ways that I will be grateful for for eternity. We would love to get you a copy. This book will become a gospel partner with us which enables us to get this program into into places where the gospel is not as well known. We love to get you a copy of his book and devotionals. We wrote to go along with it. That will take you deeper and's into some of the Bible passages you get a JD Greer.com and reserve your copy today.

Start that process, but would be grateful and and I look forward to reading it and even hear what you think about getting your you going to do with your life, along with an exclusive Senate life companion work back requested that when you donate Senate life. Suggested donation amount $25 or more every gang industry, 866-335-5220 866-335-5224. Get online.

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