In many atheist circles, I have noticed a common belief that Christians have created a mythical creature known as God. They believe this for many reasons, but from my perspective, the only valid one is that a lot of Christians HAVE created their own God.
Now before you get all defensive, let me explain where I’m coming from here. As a Christian, I have seen where many have missed God, and the consequences have been abundant. I’m not excluded; I was a spiritually dead Christian once, and who knows how many people thought of me as a hypocrite as well. That’s another fancy label Christians have been given, but that’s another story in itself. The point is, people believe these stereotypes, and the stereotypes placed on Christians are partly our fault.
So, where did the idea come from that man created God? Well, one reason is that atheists have no clue about spiritual things because they have not been given the revelation of the Truth. The other reason, is the reason for this post. So the real question would be, what did we do as Christians to make people think we created our God? Consider these popular phrases, and maybe you’ll begin to see the answer:
- “I believe in some parts of the Bible, but not all of it.”
- “God is in control, but I still need to live my life.”
- “He understands.”
- “Life is too busy to observe the Sabbath. That’s just the way the world is.”
- “He understands.”
You should understand by now why someone might think that we have created our God; we have literally stripped Him of His Authority. Over time, we have drifted away from sound doctrine. We have drifted away from the Truth of God’s Word, and we have done this to please the world. There are numerous churches being planted all over that are all about making people feel comfortable. A lot of the Bible is comforting, but a lot of it is supposed to make us aware of how filthy and disgusting our sinful nature is so we can repent and realize how much we need Jesus Christ! We can do this humbly as God has instructed, or we can make up a thousand excuses of why we really haven’t done anything wrong. I don’t want to be comfortable. I know what a wretch I am, and I don’t see the benefit of denying that. However, when everyone starts making up their own rules and ways of living, what are they doing?Perhaps creating their own God?
God doesn’t change. He stays the same.
If God says don’t have sex before marriage, then don’t have sex before marriage! If God says love your enemies, then love them! We have become so wishy-washy about our beliefs; it’s no wonder that people have so many complaints against us! If we stuck to what God has originally instructed us to do, do you really think we’d be viewed the same way?
Please ponder this concept. Search yourself for any areas where maybe you have changed the Word of God to fit your comfortable way of living. Don’t put yourself in the position to be accused of worshipping a man-made god.
By the way, to answer the title question, God doesn’t have a creator. He is simply not in the category of things that were created.
Wow, great post, Justin!
You echo the exact sentiments I have.
I’d like to add that when we create our own image of God in our mind, we engage in idolatry! Because the God we are worshiping is our own idealized image of Him, and not the true God!
Paul Washer, in a sermon of his, said it best when he told those who have a distorted view of the true God: that if he sat down with them and pore over the Bible and show them who the true God is, they’d deny they ever worshiped Him.
Shalom Aleichem.
Comment Submitted: January 28th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
You are absolutely right, it is idolatry! It’s unfortunate that Paul Washer is correct as well, but it’s true….far too many “Christians” are worshipping their own version of God!
Comment Submitted: January 28th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Amen, I once had an atheist ask the same question. I explained this to him by teaching him the truth about eternity…I’m copying and pasting what I said to him here:
To answer your first question “who CREATED god?”, I’ll have to answer the question “Was God created?”. The Bible teaches that God is the Creator of all things and that He has no beginning or end. He lives in the realm that we call as “ETERNITY”.
Most people have the wrong knowledge of what “eternity” is; they believe eternity is a very long period of time, when in actuality eternity is outside the realm of time. Time in itself was created for this world. In the book of Revelation, we find an angel of God putting a halt to time.
I agree with you, Isaiah, when you say “we create our own image of God in our mind, we engage in idolatry”. That is the essence of idolatry!
Do we know another Jesus, or is He the same Jesus they preached in the first century? Jesus the Savior, the Healer, the Baptizer in the Spirit, the Provider, the Peace, the Banner of Victory…..HE IS, and He will never be “HE WAS”.
I found it interesting that God never says, ‘I have….”, He says “I AM”. He does not have healing, He IS. He does not have light, HE IS light. He does not have life, HE IS LIFE. Hallelu YAH!
Comment Submitted: January 29th, 2008 at 12:28 am
Wow! Wonderful post! Great Blog! Thank you for being bold for His Truth.
May you rest always in the peace of Christ
Hannah
Comment Submitted: January 30th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Well said! This is such a problem in the American church! I’ve heard way too many people say they don’t care about doctrine, but then what are they believing? We must have doctrine, based on the Word of God. Too many “Christians” are caught up in the entertainment of many modern churches and with being blessed and prosperous and happy. It really troubles me.
God is going to judge our country — for many things — and He will start with the Church. I’m afraid that a lot of people will be surprised when they hear, “Depart from Me, for I never knew you.” I pray that we have a huge revival in this country…
Comment Submitted: February 1st, 2008 at 12:52 am
Sidharth - Excellent point!
Hannah - Thank you very much!
Beppo - Exactly! I could create a whole blog about the “doctrines of devils” that are running loose in present day Christianity. One of them would be this insane prosperity Gospel. I understand wanting to prosper, but can we talk about other things too? I’ve had to stop listening to many of my favorite preachers because they started talking about money too much! I don’t know, it’s a boring subject to me…
The main problem is the idolatry. Relating to what you said, lot of people are saying, “Jesus, Jesus”, but they aren’t really serving Jesus. Indeed, there will be a lot of surprised people!
Comment Submitted: February 1st, 2008 at 8:14 am
you know i find it interesting that you would bring out the women in church thing. because in the 14 years i have been a Christian i have not heard it preached on once that i can remember. in my own study i have come across it many times and have struggled with that very concept…being a woman…am i allowed to speak in church? and i find that talking about the subject seems to be taboo. because men don’t want to be chauvinistic, and women want their rights. thanks for standing up and saying it. it is encouraging to hear someone have enough faith to take the entire Bible, not just pieces.
Unashamed of Him,
Jessi
Philippians 1:20-21
Comment Submitted: March 7th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Jessi - Thanks for your input to the discussion. It is appreciated! I’m not really sure how I feel about a woman’s role in a church. There are scriptures that would seem to indicate that it is minimal, but there are also times when God used women (in the Bible) in a powerful way. I’ve never done a study on it, but I would definitely like to. I do know that God has used many women to reach the lost, not only in my life, but the lives of many.
Comment Submitted: March 10th, 2008 at 6:40 am