Sacred Cows: Replacing God with What We Control

Now, listen, in the end, it really boils down to two things. Do you want a little G god that you think you can control or do you want the big g god who's actually in control? Because that's your decision. God will let you create golden calves, But he'll also allow you to face the consequences of those golden calves. But that's not what he wants for you. He's a jealous god who wants a relationship with you. How much so? He stepped out of heaven and in the flesh and lived a sinless life and died on an old rugged cross so that you and I can have a relationship with him. [01:04:27] (48 seconds)  #SovereignNotSmallGod

Moses, even though he can't see it, he steps back and says, wait a minute, god. You can't do that. You you can't. And and he actually goes to god and he says, god, please relent. And he he relies on God's promises. He relies on on on on God's favor. And what he ends up doing is he provides us the cure for idolatry, which is Christ. Because Moses steps in the gap. He becomes the intervener and the intercessor just like Jesus becomes the intervener and the intercessor. Only his was temporary where Jesus was permanent. [00:56:49] (38 seconds)  #IntercessionLikeChrist

of an ox that eats grass. In other words, they traded the infinite god for something that was finite. They they they they they replaced the living god with something that was lifeless. They replaced the creator with something that was created. But maybe worst of all, they justified and attributed this idol to what god had done for them. Look what it says. This is your god who brought you up out of Egypt. It wasn't a golden calf that brought them out of Egypt. It was Yahweh that brought them out of Egypt. But this is the deception of of idolatry. [00:47:18] (42 seconds)  #CreatorNotCalf

Have no other gods before you, to have no graven graven images. I don't know if anybody else has struggled with that. To me, they kinda sound the same. Well, this week it dawned on me. What's the difference? If you don't get anything else out of this church service, get this. Here's the difference. Idolatry isn't just worshiping false gods. More often than not, idolatry is worshiping the true god falsely. That's the difference between the first two commands. Don't worship the false gods and don't worship god falsely. [00:44:15] (39 seconds)  #WorshipGodRight

We want a God that we can manage. We want a God that we can predict. We want a God that we can shape to fit our expectations. And when he doesn't move according to our timeline, when he doesn't answer the way how we want him to how we want him to, when he doesn't meet our expectation, something in us begins to shift, and we start looking for alternatives. Think about it. When the people saw that Moses was delayed and they didn't know if he was alive or dead, they became restless and they became disappointed, not just with Moses, but with God. [00:41:25] (40 seconds)  #StopControllingGod

Because God wasn't working according to their schedule. God was not doing what they wanted him to do. And what happens is in the gap of expectation reality, faith begins to erode. Listen very carefully. This is important. How we handle God's delays and God always gives delays reveals how much we actually trust him. You're going to experience god delays in your life because he is not your cosmic Santa Claus. He does he's not your genie in a bottle that you call down and use when you wanna use. He is god. You are not. [00:42:05] (46 seconds)  #DelaysRevealTrust

This wasn't just failure. This was betrayal. One commentator rather start talking about how we go AWOL with our commitment said it's like committing adultery on your wedding night. See, here's what happened. They exchanged the glory of God for something less. If you want an interesting read, Psalm one zero six is a parallel text to Exodus 32. When the psalmist comes along and says, let me tell you what happened in Egypt or let me tell you what happened in the wilderness. It says that they exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass. [00:46:33] (44 seconds)  #ExchangedGlory

Third, refuse to reshape god to fit your preferences. See, it's not enough you say you believe in god. You must worship and trust him as if he truly is god And so we can't reduce him into something that's manageable, conform, comfortable, or culturally acceptable. We have to allow god to be god, and we have to decide that we're not god. And then last, return to the cross daily. See, the only way to break the power of idols, it's not through willpower. It's through surrender. And at the cross, we not only see where Jesus died for our sin, we find the power to die to our idols and live for him fully. [01:03:43] (45 seconds)  #LetGodBeGod