CHRISTIAN UNBELIEVERS!
Teaching by Pastor Margaret Ochsner
PART 2
A WRONG IMAGE OF GOD
The image we have of God and the image we have of ourselves affects the reality that we live in!
- Many people think that God is a distant, remote God.
But He is our life, our breath. We can’t keep ourselves alive at night! It is His breath in us. How much closer can He be!
- Some think He is a harsh, punishing or cruel God. They say, “Look how He killed all those people in the Old Testament or how He sent them into exile under foreign kings.”
But God clearly laid out His commandments and told them, “If you obey these commandments that I give you today, you will be blessed, but if you disobey these commandments these curses will come upon you.” (Deuteronomy Chapters 28 and 30)
They brought curses on themselves by being disobedient to His commandments and in rebellion against His laws.
He sent His prophets time and time again when they turned from Him and His ways imploring them to turn back to Him and His ways, to be restored so, He could lead and bless them.
Matthew 23:37 Jesus laments over Jerusalem.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”
God is a loving, caring God. He loves to bless His children.
Blessing follows obedience.
- Some people blame God when someone gets sick or dies or something goes wrong!
But there is another player here. Satan is the author of sickness and death! He can only access where ground is given, but there are many things that give him grounds including – fear, doubt, unbelief, ignorance, lack of knowledge, rejection, guilt, shame, occult involvement personal or in family line, Freemasonry involvement personal or in family line, generational iniquities and infirmities, false religions or wrong mindsets, unforgiveness, bitterness and sin to name a few!
- Some people treat God as if He is a “Big Santa Claus” sitting on a cloud and the only time they come to Him is with their “wish list!”
- And some think He has favourites! He comes through for other people, but not for them.
But that would be unfair and unjust and God hates injustice!
We need to repent and ask God for forgiveness if we have thought any one of these things. This is a wrong image of God! And we need to choose to believe what God’s Word says, and come into a correct image of God!
Either God is faithful, trustworthy, good, kind, just, every aspect of love, because theBible says this, or He is a liar and a fraud! And He is definitely not that.
He and His Word are one. He cannot deny His Word or His character!
He cannot be unfaithful, untrustworthy or unfair. Faithfulness, trustworthiness and justice are the very essence of His character.
But He is also a Holy God who can’t tolerate sin!
Father God paid the ultimate price by giving His only begotten Son for us to pay the price for our sins.
And Jesus because He was obedient and loved His Father and wanted to reconcile His creation to Him paid the ultimate price with His life. He was wounded that we might be healed. He was slaughtered, crucified! He died that we might live; that we might be forgiven, healed and have abundant life.
We need to appropriate the power of the cross and the resurrection so we can be free and come into the relationship that we were created for!
We need to choose to believe God is who He and His Word says He is!
Hebrews 3:12
“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.”
So, if He or His Word says something it should be, “Yes Sir! I am choosing to believe, because You say so!”
