John 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Transcript:

No one intentionally sets out to commit idolatry. No one who professes Christ says to their spouse or their roommate, I think I’ll just run down to the store and buy an idol. Or, I think I’ll go out today and buy some wood and melt some gold and make myself a nice little idol to worship.

The futility of idolatry is perhaps best seen in Isaiah 44:9-17.

Jesus is to be the focus of all we love and do in our worship of God.

However, the slide into idolatry can be a slow process that we are oblivious to.

While idolatry takes various forms, from the cult of self-worship to the bowing down to the almighty dollar to the worship of the goddess called macro evolution, all idolatry has one thing in common: the true God of the bible is relegated from his rightful place as the sovereign lord and ruler of our lives and something else takes his place as the focus of our devotion and the source of our counsel and direction for living.

For example, many people are aware of a poem entitled Invictus, (latin for Unconquered) which includes the oft repeated lines I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. William Henley was an atheist. As a young man he had lost his leg to tuberculosis of the bone and wrote this poem at the age of 27.

The poem is essentially a tribute to self-worship – life lived according to our strength, our will, our ability to live without God. Listen to the entire poem:

Out of the night that covers me,        Black as the pit from pole to pole,  I thank whatever gods may be        For my unconquerable soul.   In the fell clutch of circumstance        I have not winced nor cried aloud.  Under the bludgeonings of chance        My head is bloody, but unbowed.   Beyond this place of wrath and tears        Looms but the Horror of the shade,  And yet the menace of the years        Finds and shall find me unafraid.   It matters not how strait the gate,        How charged with punishments the scroll,  I am the master of my fate,        I am the captain of my soul.

Years later a woman by the name of Dorothy Day came to Christ and was so dramatically changed by the gospel that she wrote a response to Hensley’s poem. While his poem became known as Invictus or Unconquered, her poem was entitled Conquered:

Out of the light that dazzles me,
 Bright as the sun from pole to pole,
 I thank the God I know to be,
 For Christ – the Conqueror of my soul.  Since His the sway of circumstance,
 I would not wince nor cry aloud.
 Under the rule which men call chance,
 My head, with joy, is humbly bowed.  Beyond this place of sin and tears,
 That Life with Him and His the Aid,
 That, spite the menace of the years,
 Keeps, and will keep me unafraid.  I have no fear though straight the gate:
 He cleared from punishment the scroll.
 Christ is the Master of my fate!
 Christ is the Captain of my soul!

 

And so we have a choice – worship the true and living God and be conquered by him or allow the idols of this world to draw us away.

 

In addition to self-worship, there is the obvious idol of materialism, believing that money is the solution to all of our problems and needs. If only I had more money, if only I had this thing, I would have less stress, less struggles, more respect, more fulfillment. No, Jesus alone offers true peace, true joy, true purpose. When you substitute money for Jesus you create an idol that will consume you. You will always find yourself wanting just a little bit more, neglecting relationships, compromising your character, substituting Christ, who feeds the soul, for things which feed our pride.

The idol of macro evolution is the worship of godless science. It is the science of those who refuse to acknowledge God and believe that man is not divinely created but instead is the product of chance. While micro evolution is the proven and observable belief that all of life’s species are able to change and adapt to their environment, macro evolution is a belief system that uses theory instead of actual evidence to show how all of creation began and exists without God.

 

If we are to battle idolatry we must hold fast to three important truths: Jesus, and Jesus alone, is to be the master of our lives. Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the only true and lasting source of joy and peace. Third, Jesus and Jesus alone, is our Creator, our source of life, and we are not accidental creatures of chance, we are His creation created with purpose.

 

And so we pick up from last week at Hebrews 11:3

 

Notice what the writer of Hebrews tells us in 11:3 –

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

 

By faith –

The universe – everything in all creation, all universes

Created by the word of God

What is seen was not made out of things that are visible

 

Look at it backwards:

 

Out of nothing

God spoke

By faith we understand

 

Nothing makes sense apart from faith

 

 

 

Ken Hamm, Answers in Genesis

“Creationists and evolutionists, Christians and non-Christians, all have the same facts. Think about it: we all have the same earth, the same fossil layers, the same animals and plants, the same stars—the facts are all the same.

The difference is in the way we all interpret the facts. And why do we interpret facts differently? Because we start with different presuppositions; these are things that are assumed to be true without being able to prove them. These then become the basis for other conclusions. All reasoning is based on presuppositions (also called axioms). This becomes especially relevant when dealing with past events.”

 

The difference is faith – faith in God, faith in his word, faith in his power, faith in Jesus who is the revealer of the Father.

 

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

 

The heavens

– the three heavens

1. the earth’s atmosphere (Genesis 7:11, Genesis 8:2)
2. interplanetary, interstellar space (Genesis 15:5)
3. the abode of God (Psalm 123:1)

How big is your God? How great is God?

The size of our solar system

Light travels at 186,000 miles per second – speed of light

Images are not to scale

We are 8.3 light minutes from the sun. Pluto is 13 light hours. The nearest star is 4.2 light years

4.2x365daysx24hoursx60minutesx60secondsx186,000= 24,635,923,200,000 miles

If the earth was the size of a pea, Jupiter would be 1000 feet away. Pluto would be 1.5 miles away.

Our solar system contains the planets which orbit our star, called the Sun. Our galaxy contains billions of stars and scientists estimate that there are 140 billion galaxies, each containing billions of stars.

Who created all this?

The bible says Jesus

Jesus is the Creator

Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 44:24

One God, who alone created

John 1:1-3

One God, who alone created

Hebrews 11:3

Created by the word of God

Talking about Jesus:

Hebrews 1:2 – he spoke

Hebrews 1:10 – he laid the foundation

Colossians 1:16

All things by him and for him.

No wonder Jesus could say “Peace, be still” and his creation obeyed Him.

The mystery of Genesis 1:1 – Bet, Aleph

Revelation 1

[17] When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, [18] and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

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