God Said, “Let Us Make Man.” Man Said, “Let Us Make God.”
In Ex 32 Aaron’s excuse in making a golden calf says that the people said to him, “Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.” So Aaron said to them, “Whoever has gold, break it off.” So they gave it to him, and he threw it into the fire and out came the golden calf.
What a ridiculous explanation, however there was some truth in it. Aaron minimized his role in the making of the golden calf but with his explanation he has called attention to the fact that it was not a masterpiece, but rather something very hastily fashioned.
The golden calf had to have been hastily crafted by Aaron. It could hardly have been a work of art. And yet the Israelites were willing to worship this “half-baked god” as their god–this ill formed and flawed god.
This idol was not a work of art rather it was a piece of junk art with all sorts of flaws and imperfections. These flaws actually made the golden calf, the idol, more appealing to the Israelites. A flawed god is much easier to worship for a flawed people than a Perfect God.
Remember when the moral flaws of President Clinton were eventually exposed? There was little true outrage on the part of the American people. Why? Because a flawed leader makes people feel more comfortable about their own flaws.
No one would fear the flawed creation of Aaron’s hands! Here was a “god” they could take with them, a “god” who could be near to them, a “god” who would not intimidate them with its perfections. The flawed god of Aaron was just the kind of “god” who made the Israelites feel more comfortable. Now, they could sin in its presence without fear. Men do not fashion “Holy” idols they always fashion idols like unto themselves. They will sacrifice to a molten image but they refuse to serve the Image of the Invisible God–Jesus Christ.
But the True and Living God–is Perfect in Holiness. A God who has no shadow of turning and is Beautiful for situation. This God of perfection requires a holy people to worship and serve Him and to make that possible He bestows His own divine nature on those that obey Him.
The world, and that includes the religious world for the most part, seek a flawed god to worship–that they may feel at ease in their sins. But the Church strives to serve a holy God — who rules and reigns in their lives! This present day generation of Pentecostals, on a large scale, are lowering God to a position where they feel less conviction of sin and where they are more comfortable with a “Jesus” of their own making. The contemporary “preaching” of the day testifies greatly to this fact! Thank God for men who still preach a “high and lifted up” Jesus Christ!
— jlg —