What a difference an apostrophe makes! From the crystal clear declarations of the Humanist Manifesto that we can save our own world and make it better, to the nebulous teachings of the New Age gurus who see each of us as our own god, man is touted as his own savior. While each of the competing philosophies of the day would have us save ourselves from different dangers, each sees man as totally in control of his life, environment, and world. We have become as God, the bait of Satan from millennia past. While their stress on personal responsibility must not be discounted, their sense of sovereignty must be. Creature status is ours and we stand accountable and responsible to our God.
As the world spirals out of control, suffering from each of its attempted cures, each displaying the impotence of the creature to effect his own salvation, we take comfort in the assurance of a God Who is:
A Transcendent God
He is above human reasoning but not contrary to reason. All reasoning begins with a presupposition, something you take on a “faith” principle. Naturalism posits that the material universe always existed. That is a faith statement. Our faith, however, is not merely presupposing the existence of a God. Our faith is that truth is knowable. The resurrection assures us that there is One Who is all powerful, all knowing, and in total control.
A Sovereign God
How thankful we should be, as we see the accumulating effects of sin and man’s rebellion against God, that we know the One Who is in control. This is not escapism, a hiding of our heads in the sand. This is the message God gave to Habakkuk centuries ago: “The just shall live by his faith” (Hab 2:4 ). The result was that He could assure His prophet a few verses later that despite what he saw of injustice, oppression, and the triumphing of the wicked, the earth would “be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord” (v 14).
An Involved God
As prophesied (2Peter 3:4), men point to the unchecked existence of evil as an indication that God either does not exist or that He has left the world to wind down on its own, like a clock that He wound up at creation. Peter reminds us that the absence of intervention is not evidence of His absence. He is very much aware of the conditions in our world. But He has chosen to allow men to mock Him that He might lengthen the day of grace and bring others into His blessing of salvation. To the eternal consternation of our world, however, He will one day arise and intervene. His seals will be opened, the trumpets will sound, and the bowls of wrath will descend.
The redeemed will be able to say, “This is our God; we have waited for Him” (Isa 25:9). How thankful we can be that we are God’s and not that we are gods!
