Dear BPCWA worshipper, What went through your mind as you glanced at the title? I hope it was an utter shock that such a question might be posed. Perhaps you would think that if it were something expressed by someone who was questioning God’s authority, it would be sacrilegious and blasphemous. Certainly, these are valid thoughts that should pass through our minds if we have a high view of God. But a high view of God is not merely a verbal assent that we have a high view of Him. Our responses reveal our reverence towards Him. A high view of God will determine how we respond to Him and His dealings with us personally. We must first look at ourselves and how we respond to Him.

God is God. What is God? We may be able to utter the Westminster Shorter Catechism’s response to that question. What is reflected in the answer reflects His attributes. However, we must know that even the definition is insufficient to describe God. Why is God God? Because He is a Supreme Being, infinitely above anything or anyone through space and time. God does not merely claim to be God. He is God by virtue of who He is. He does not explain why He is God. This is reflected in the simple yet profound statement “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me . . .” (Isa 45:5). Notice the superlatives and the greatness often attributed to God. “Glorious in power” (Exo 15:6), “greatness of thine excellency” (Exo 15:7), “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exo 15:11), and “The LORD shall reign for ever and ever” (Exo 15:18). The mention of gods does not mean that other gods exist, but it is to ridicule idol worshippers who think they do exist, and how clueless they are about what is God. Ultimately, man’s lips cannot sufficiently describe God, nor our minds fully fathom Him. “I AM THAT I AM” (Exo 3:14) is the indescribable and transcendent revelation that God gives to answer any question of “who” He is. 

Our response to God’s Word reveals our thoughts about God. God’s Word is His revelation of Himself. As we attest, “The Bible is none other than the voice of Him that sitteth upon the Throne. Every book of it, every chapter of it, every verse of it, every word of it, every syllable of it, every letter of it, is the direct utterance of the Most High”. The God who verbally and plenarily inspired and preserved His Word is behind what we read and learn in the Bible. We learned in last week’s pastoral that God’s Word is the truthful mirror. Because God is God and our Creator, He has the absolute sovereign right to dictate what we do, how we spend our time, and even what our affections should or should not focus on. When Adam and Eve were first created, they were perfect in holiness and had no complaints about that. Adam simply named the animals as God wanted him to, without contending, “Why must I?” He tended the garden as God commanded without whining, despite knowing he had to tend a tree he was forbidden to partake of. God’s commands were accepted with total submission simply because the perfect man and woman knew that they came from God. Adam unquestioningly obeyed God before the fall simply because God is the Supreme Creator. But we know of mankind’s fall into sin, which corrupted our nature so utterly that even commands which come from the pure goodness and infinite wisdom of God became hateful to the flesh. Our reactions to God’s commands in His Word became one of resistance and rebellion, instead of delightful obedience and trust arising from love for Him. When our first parents disobeyed God’s command, the innocence was replaced by insolence, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Gen 3:12). Instead of the desire to please our Creator and Sustainer, man bucks against His commands and worse still, blaming Him for being unreasonable and the cause of our miseries. Where love and fellowship with God once dwelled, hatred for God and His commands found a place in our hearts. Self will constantly battle against God’s will daily. The carnal heart’s answer to the question, “What do you not like about God?” is “A lot.” When we chafe against what He says, our hearts reject God and don’t want to please Him. In effect, we don’t like Him and what He says or wants us to do. We may think His ways are too strict or controlling. We feel this way because of our low view of God. We must be honest about this fact. We need to repent if we would even consider that there are things we can choose not to like about God or His Word or any command found therein. The world grooms us to be self-centred and self-exalting. Such pride has sadly crept into believers. Because of that, we are not only in danger of God’s anger, but also stand to lose the true and deep joy of knowing God for Who He Is. When we choose to have high thoughts of our personal rights and autonomy from God and feel that there are things about God, i.e., His commands, that we have a right to question and dislike, we will never know the joy of knowing God as He is to be known and reverenced. Life will only be miserable. But when we choose to see His glory, glorify Him in our thoughts, and give Him the due reverence He rightly deserves, then we will know the enjoyment of Him! Hence, the Westminster catechism writers rightly start with the first question, “What is the chief end of man?” and inform man biblically that man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.

Yours in our Lord’s service,
Pastor