Can you eliminate God?

 

IT JUST LOOKS like there is an organized attempt to eliminate God. You would think in the age of pluralism, where everything goes, that God would be allowed to exist. But that is not the case. The amount of anger at God and the organized intent to remove all things "God" from life is growing in society. To combat this attack, many churches, not all, are trying to make God more palatable. They preach only the God of love, mercy, and grace. Certainly, God is those things. The Bible says that God is love. (1 John 4:16) But when we emphasize the God of grace and softsell God's power, justice, and righteousness, we are only painting a partial picture of our great God. We rarely talk about the wrath of God and his anger toward those who defy him. Really, the state of this planet should warrant a GREATER emphasis on the wrath of God and his powerful justice.

I think many people avoid reading the Old Testament because they are uncomfortable with a God who demonstrates his anger by exiling his people. They are uncomfortable reading about a God who would destroy his enemies and a God who would punish people for sin, a God who would deliver people to their own desires by sending them to hell. I think most people want to KEEP the God of the New Testament, the God of grace, mercy and love, but they want to eliminate the God of justice and righteousness.

God's enemies have been trying to eliminate him since the very beginning:

"There your enemies shouted their victorious battle cries; there they set up their battle standards. They swung their axes like woodcutters in a forest. With axes and picks, they smashed the carved paneling. They burned your sanctuary to the ground. They defiled the place that bears your name. Then they thought, 'Let's destroy everything!' So they burned down all the places where God was worshiped." (Psalm 74:4-8)

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I can relate to the next several verses from the Psalmist:

"We no longer see your miraculous signs. All the prophets are gone, and no one can tell us when it will end. How long, O God, will you allow our enemies to insult you? Will you let them dishonor your name forever? Why do you hold back your strong right hand? Unleash your powerful fists and destroy them. You, O God, are my king from ages past, bringing salvation to the earth." (Psalm 74:9-12)

But, as I continue to read and study the book of Revelation, I realize this battle has been going on for two thousand years. God isn't going anywhere, and his day of justice and righteousness draws near. He is being patient (A whole lot more patient than I could ever be!). Just like in Revelation 2:21, God gave Jezebel time to repent. He is giving this world plenty of time to repent. The coming wrath is upon us and here is God's message to the faithful in Thyatira. It just happens to be the same message to us:

"But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching ('deeper truths,' as they call them - depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come. To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots."(Revelation 2:24-27)

We are called to hold tightly, we are not asked to do anything else except to hold onto Jesus. We will be victorious, and we will rule with Jesus when he comes again! Take solace in that wonderful promise in the midst of the chaos that surrounds you!