How to Create a False God

Bulletin

John A McKee
12/09/18 - Idolatry

Men and women have been worshiping idols for a long time. The Biblical account of human history alludes to the worship of idols long before the Israelites became a nation and before God gave them a written law prohibiting the worship of any but Him. Adam and Eve knew Jehovah personally in the garden, but their disobedience alienated them from God and they were driven from their paradise.

The Scripture doesn’t mention idolatry between creation and the flood, but mankind had certainly digressed into an unbearable level of corruption and violence. Mankind can trace their origins back to the family of Noah who alone survived the worldwide flood and they worshipped Jehovah exclusively. But by Genesis 31, the household idols of Laban are mentioned without explanation. Throughout most of human history, idolatry has run rampant among God’s own creatures. How can that be? How did it happen? Paul lays out the process for us in Romans chapter 1.

Verses 18-22 say, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

Paul is outlining the process of abandoning the one true God and turning to something else:

Suppress the truth. Stop listening to God, the source of truth.
Ignore the obvious signs. Discount the unavoidable evidence of intelligent design all around you.
Refuse to honor Jehovah as God. Just pretend you are not accountable to Him.
Fail to appreciate His blessings. Pretend that your blessings come from somewhere else.
Place your trust in your own “wisdom” and speculations.
Transfer your dependence and gratitude away from God and onto something else.

Men have been turning their backs on God for millennia; many are still doing it and the process has always been the same. Once a person eliminates God from his life, he creates a vacuum. Ignoring God’s wisdom, he must try to create his own. Recognizing that so much of life is outside his control, he must look elsewhere for guidance, acceptance, protection and a sense of purpose.

Some amass wealth in a bid for self-reliance. Others trust in government to solve all their problems. For others, secular pursuits become their religion, attempting to give meaning to their lives. In every case, an emptiness remains. Only our Creator can direct our lives and will hold us accountable. Only He cares for us and provides for our needs. Only He is the source of true wisdom. The gods of men are as impotent and meaningless as the wooden idols of the past.