Attributes of God 2
“The Supreme”
Pastor David Moore
New Testament reading: Romans 1:18-32
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Theme. Last week began a series on the Attributes of God. Last week’s focus was about “God who reveals Himself.” This week’s attribute is “God as Lord,” “Supremacy of God.”
Old Testament reading: Exodus 20:1-6
And God spoke all these words: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
God says if we latch onto anything other than Him, to find purpose for our lives, meaning, power, those other things well enslave us. ~D. Moore
Proverbs 16 :1-4 The sovereignty of God may be defined as the exercise of His supremacy, His infinite rule, His authority and power. Being infinitely elevated above the highest creature in authority, nature, and being, He is the Most High Lord of heaven and earth and all creation whether angels or the heavenly hosts.
God loves covenantly and He wants a committed relationship with Him. ~D. Moore
The Bible says that everyone needs to worship, we need to depend on something, we need to live for something. That need is beneath the needs we see and understand. ~D. Moore
The motive of idolatry is that we think worshipping something beside God will give us control. ~D. Moore
Our idols are not golden calves or carved statues. Idolatry is not tied to any specific idol; it exists whenever we look to someone or something in the world around us to save and satisfy us. ~Ed Stetzer
The necessity of idols exists because we need to worship. ~D. Moore
The nature of an idol is that we think it will save us. ~D. Moore
Lastly, idolatry is slavery. The idol has power over us. ~D. Moore
2 Kings 17:15 They rejected His decrees and the covenant He had made with their ancestors… They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”
If we choose to follow and trust God during good and hard times. We need to:
1. Examine ourselves for idols under our problems.
2. Be careful of fake salvations that we learn to depend on because everyone else lives that way.
Micah 5:13 I will destroy your idols and your sacred stones from among you; you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands.
This week look at your boredom, loneliness, bitterness, anxiety and see what idol lies underneath those human emotions. Then name them, unmask them, get rid of them, because we have a jealous God, and will not tolerate any other god before Him. Give them to God to help you rid them in your life. ~D. Moore
God bless you in your faith walk this week.