"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6)
God loves us with a fierce, jealous love. Jealousy of God demands exclusive devotion to God.
After the Israelies came out of Egypt through the mighty delivering power of God under Moses' leadership, in Exodus 32, they decided to give God a visual form in the shape of a golden calf - the known Egyptian idol of their day.
It wasn't that they denied there involved incredible supernatural intervention in their freedom from slavery; they wanted to SEE to "believe."
Throughout history, man has served some god in one form or another or in many like the Hindus who worship over 330 million deities (I made an error during the message; it wasn't 6 million, but 330 million!). What is common throughout history is that these gods or goddesses are represented in physical form which are familiar, whether it be human, animal or things in nature.
Why do we insist on seeing?
One pastor said eyes are the portals through which Satan works, and the ears are the portals through which God works.
How true it is!
Our Christian walk demand we walk by faith, not by sight.
Apostle John reminds us that no man has ever seen God in John 1:18.
The four living creatures in Rev 4 beheld the glory of God. But in order for them to see God in his awesome unveiled glory, they needed more than a pair of eyes.
Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Rev 4:8 (emphasis added)
These living creatures' entire bodies were covered with eyes.
And the first word to come forth from their mouths in adoration was "Holy."
To this day, we have no physical likeliness of Jesus anywhere. People have attempted to draw Him, envision Him on canvases and portraits, but that is missing the point.
To put it simply, God's second commandment to His people is that they walk by faith, not by sight, by serving God and God alone.
The African Impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animal will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall.
Are you like that?
A beautiful, graceful creation with incredible ability to go on to that next level of closeness of God, and yet refuse to take that "leap" of faith because you cannot see ahead?
--from Nakwon EM Feb 4th Sunday Worship Service
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