Still Tempted to Be God

 October 16, 2024

Wednesday

I am convinced that our fleshly nature wants to be God. I don't mean a god. I mean God Himself.

This morning I rode my bicycle to work very early. (It was before 5 AM.) There were still lots of people on the road. Some, I am sure, were on their way to work. Almost no one obeyed the traffic laws. One car turned right at a stop sign onto a major road at a speed I couldn't believe. He must have had great tires to hold the road. Others came and went well over the speed limit. It seems that no matter what the parameters are, people will break them. Evidently, the rules don't apply to them.

God holds Himself to holiness. He can do anything but will not do just anything because He is holy. That doesn't seem to apply to our picture of being God. We see ourselves as the God who can do anything for his own pleasure without the constraint of holiness. We can be as unloving, as unfaithful and as unyielding as we like for everything placed as a rule. We aren't far from driving on the shoulders, ditches and even the wrong way. We aren't that far from a complete loss of civilization. This will be the rebellion that Paul speaks of in 2 Thessalonians.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 (ESV) ¹  Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, ²  not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. ³  Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴  who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

We seem to be in the midst of this rebellion. It has not gained full force as of yet because it is still being held back.

2 Thessalonians 2:5-7 (ESV) ⁵  Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶  And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. ⁷  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.

Who is holding him back? I believe it is the Holy Spirit. However, even though the Spirit is in the world today, believers are far from being filled by Him. The average Christian doesn't know who the Holy Spirit is for He has been so quenched and grieved that there is very little thought of Him. Thus, the power of the Spirit is not taking hold among Christians. And as that happens, the world gets darker.

Then, Jesus will come and the Spirit will be removed because the Christians will be taken with Him. 

Those who wish to be God are of their father the devil who thought he could become God. He tempted Adam and Eve to become God because that was his nature. He is still enticing people to become God. As Christians, we aren't doing such a great job of holding this evil in check.

Some might say, "Good!" because that means the Lord will return quicker. I really don't think that's the attitude of the Lord. He is patient so that all that will be saved, will be saved. That should be our attitude, too. We need to live holy lives that welcome the Holy Spirit. He is the power that pushes back the darkness and brings us and others into the light.

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) ⁹  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.