“The craftsman stretches out his rule, he marks one out with chalk; he fashions it with a plane, he marks it out with the compass, and makes it like the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man…He cuts down cedars for himself… Then it shall be for a man to burn, for he will take some of it and warm himself…Indeed he makes a god and worships it; he makes it a carved image and falls down to it.” Is. 43:13-15
“Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me!” Is. 43:21
Man suffers from a strange malady called “reverse creationism” according to this passage from Isaiah. Man fashions a god from wood "according to the beauty of a man" and then uses it to "warm himself", "falls down to it", and finally "worships it." At least that's what they did in the Old Testament. But rest assured; nothing has changed in 3,000 years. Somehow, we have gotten our wires crossed and believe that it is perfectly acceptable for us - created human beings - to create a God fashioned to our own liking. Not a God made from wood; but one constructed from man's wishful and self-serving thinking. A God whom we are entirely at ease with. One who is on duty 24/7 in case we need help beyond ourselves. And especially One whose highest purpose in existence is to meet our needs and further our interests. As someone quipped, “In the beginning God created man in His own image and man has been returning the favor ever since.”
Most of all, this humanly fashioned God is extraordinarily usable. In fact, that seems to be his primary attribute. Beyond that He is disposable. Once utilized to meet our needs, we quickly toss Him aside. Until we need him again, that is. C.S. Lewis put it so well, “We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it.”
Whoever this God is, He is in no way the God of the scriptures. From Genesis to Revelation we find a very unsettling, yet stunningly liberating truth – God does not exist for us, we exist for Him. "Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” (Is.43:7) is the Magna Carta of our existence. It is also the way back home for wandering man; hopelessly lost in the wilderness of aimlessness, purposelessness, and self-inflicted boredom. Nothing brings greater fire to the soul, light to the eyes, vibrancy to the life, and purpose to our existence than coming back home to what we were created for in the first place - utter abandonment to God and His glory.
Eugene Nida, president of the American Bible Society, describes our problem so very well - “The church of North America has become so success oriented that we go from seminar to seminar on how to use God. But few are sitting in quiet holiness asking, ‘How can God use me?’” May God grant that we number among those whose lives are caught up in the white-hot wonder of simply returning to our original design. Nothing else can do the job our souls were created for.
God does not exist for us; we exist for God. It is in the returning to this original design that life escalates to the best it can be.
