WEBVTT 00:00:01.129 --> 00:00:03.830 What comes into your mind when you think about 00:00:03.830 --> 00:00:08.050 God is the most important thing about you. Think 00:00:08.050 --> 00:00:11.089 about that. Your mental picture of God is the 00:00:11.089 --> 00:00:13.750 most important thing about you. Did you know 00:00:13.750 --> 00:00:16.550 that how you think about God will determine every 00:00:16.550 --> 00:00:19.489 other aspect of your life? That's what we'll 00:00:19.489 --> 00:00:23.949 explore today. Welcome to this edition of Living 00:00:23.949 --> 00:00:26.690 on the Edge with Chip Ingram. The mission of 00:00:26.690 --> 00:00:29.129 this daily program is to intentionally disciple 00:00:29.129 --> 00:00:31.649 Christians through the insightful Bible teaching 00:00:31.649 --> 00:00:34.189 of Chip Ingram. We're excited you've joined us 00:00:34.189 --> 00:00:36.770 today as we kick off his series, The Real God, 00:00:37.090 --> 00:00:39.810 How He Longs for You to See Him. For the next 00:00:39.810 --> 00:00:42.270 handful of programs, we'll study seven attributes 00:00:42.270 --> 00:00:45.009 of God's character that'll give us a genuine 00:00:45.009 --> 00:00:48.070 picture of who He really is. But today, Chip 00:00:48.070 --> 00:00:50.390 begins by explaining why getting an accurate 00:00:50.390 --> 00:00:53.799 view of God is vital for our faith. So if you're 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:56.079 ready, grab your Bible and notes as we get this 00:00:56.079 --> 00:00:58.899 series started with Chip's message, Seeking God. 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:03.020 There's a quote by A .W. Tozer that changed the 00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:05.480 course of my life many, many years ago. What 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:10.099 comes to your mind when you think about God is 00:01:10.099 --> 00:01:15.319 the most important thing about you. He'll go 00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:19.180 on to say, by a secret law of the soul, whatever 00:01:19.180 --> 00:01:22.620 your mental image is, you will gravitate toward 00:01:22.620 --> 00:01:26.129 it. How you view yourself, how you pray, how 00:01:26.129 --> 00:01:28.890 you relate to others, how you perceive the future. 00:01:29.629 --> 00:01:33.909 Every relationship, every decision will be rooted 00:01:33.909 --> 00:01:38.090 in how do you mentally perceive God? And here's 00:01:38.090 --> 00:01:41.569 what you need to know. All of us are off. We're 00:01:41.569 --> 00:01:45.150 fallen people. You have a distorted picture of 00:01:45.150 --> 00:01:47.849 God. I have a distorted picture of God. The question 00:01:47.849 --> 00:01:52.060 is how distorted? Your mental image of God is 00:01:52.060 --> 00:01:56.359 a montage, a montage of early experiences, family 00:01:56.359 --> 00:01:59.040 of origin issues, some religious training, an 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:02.260 experiment that someone said this is what he's 00:02:02.260 --> 00:02:05.599 like or a religious group or you've difficult 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:08.319 times or pain or a parent or someone close to 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:11.099 you that has died. All these different things. 00:02:11.659 --> 00:02:14.500 over the years, have brought you to today. And 00:02:14.500 --> 00:02:17.360 today, when you bow your head or when you think 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:21.479 about God, you have a picture. It's so unconscious. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:24.460 The reason I had you start is I wanted you, for 00:02:24.460 --> 00:02:26.099 some of you, you thought, I don't know what the 00:02:26.099 --> 00:02:29.000 picture is, right? I'm guessing some of you bowed 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:32.479 your head and go, well, he's God. I don't know 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:34.360 that I really think about who I'm talking to. 00:02:34.419 --> 00:02:39.419 That, by the way, is a problem. But it impacts 00:02:39.419 --> 00:02:43.069 everything. Let me... give you some very quick 00:02:43.069 --> 00:02:45.909 examples from my life that might help connect 00:02:45.909 --> 00:02:49.250 the dots. I did not grow up as a Christian. I 00:02:49.250 --> 00:02:51.030 did not grow up in a church that taught the Bible. 00:02:51.610 --> 00:02:55.650 But I remember vividly thinking that my view 00:02:55.650 --> 00:02:58.930 of God by the time I was about 16 or 17 was that 00:02:58.930 --> 00:03:02.969 there was, he was like a cosmic cop. And there 00:03:02.969 --> 00:03:06.449 was this some big... powerful person in the sky 00:03:06.449 --> 00:03:09.430 somewhere that had a blue suit and his arms are 00:03:09.430 --> 00:03:11.889 crossed and a toe tapping and he had a badge 00:03:11.889 --> 00:03:14.530 and a big club. And basically if it was fun, 00:03:14.650 --> 00:03:16.990 it was wrong. And the whole goal was to catch 00:03:16.990 --> 00:03:19.229 me doing something wrong, which was not hard 00:03:19.229 --> 00:03:21.550 to do. And it was basically, you've messed up 00:03:21.550 --> 00:03:24.689 again, Ingram. You've messed up again. So my 00:03:24.689 --> 00:03:28.250 view of God was, you know, longing to pray and 00:03:28.250 --> 00:03:30.770 the song we sang about delight and beauty. That 00:03:30.770 --> 00:03:33.479 wasn't my God. My God was, you don't measure 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:37.199 up and you need to get with the program. And 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:40.479 then that got compounded because despite a father 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:42.340 that really loved me, he went through World War 00:03:42.340 --> 00:03:45.180 II. He lost his dad when he was 13. He was a 00:03:45.180 --> 00:03:48.539 .50 caliber machine gunner. He spent time Guam, 00:03:48.539 --> 00:03:52.000 Iwo Jima, saw all of his friends killed. I became 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:54.460 an alcoholic, very functioning, really cared 00:03:54.460 --> 00:03:57.759 about me. And in his era, you didn't say I love 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:00.139 you and no one hugged you. And the way you loved 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:02.280 your son was you want him to be successful. So 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:04.780 I was setting goals by the time I was nine years 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:08.860 old. I had three jobs by the time I was 12. I 00:04:08.860 --> 00:04:13.719 lent my money, $3 ,000 to my parents at 6 % interest 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:16.220 when I was 13 years old because I had, and I 00:04:16.220 --> 00:04:21.220 collected. And by the time I was 12, I knew I 00:04:21.220 --> 00:04:23.339 wanted to do this in basketball, this in baseball, 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:25.019 have a girlfriend that looked like this, get 00:04:25.019 --> 00:04:27.740 a scholarship and get A's. And I worked like 00:04:27.740 --> 00:04:30.420 crazy because what I found is the only way you 00:04:30.420 --> 00:04:33.399 could please my dad was you had to succeed and 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:36.430 affirmations, not love. But it's the next best 00:04:36.430 --> 00:04:38.629 thing growing up. So no matter what I did, the 00:04:38.629 --> 00:04:41.350 bar always went up the bar. So I got a God in 00:04:41.350 --> 00:04:43.769 the back of my mind because our parents and we 00:04:43.769 --> 00:04:46.149 as parents and grandparents, we're impacting 00:04:46.149 --> 00:04:48.209 our kids and grandchildren with a view of God 00:04:48.209 --> 00:04:52.089 by who we are. And so I had a God, so I trusted 00:04:52.089 --> 00:04:54.750 Christ by God's grace. I was introduced to the 00:04:54.750 --> 00:04:57.250 Bible and a group of athletes loved me and cared 00:04:57.250 --> 00:04:59.610 for me and a bricklayer began to disciple me. 00:04:59.670 --> 00:05:02.649 But deep seated was this God who was always waiting 00:05:02.649 --> 00:05:04.670 for you to mess up and this God who no matter 00:05:04.670 --> 00:05:08.790 how much, so do you pray 15 minutes, 17, a half 00:05:08.790 --> 00:05:11.329 hour? What if I'm praying a half hour and God 00:05:11.329 --> 00:05:14.350 wants 31 minutes? And then pretty soon the group 00:05:14.350 --> 00:05:15.790 I was with really was into scripture memory. 00:05:15.889 --> 00:05:19.060 So is it a verse a day? Well, is it 100 verses? 00:05:19.139 --> 00:05:21.420 Is it 500 verses? What about a chapter? I know 00:05:21.420 --> 00:05:22.800 some guys that are memorizing books. I don't 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:26.480 have many books down. I became this neurotic, 00:05:26.540 --> 00:05:29.759 workaholic Christian trapped in a performance 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:34.160 trap because that's my view of God. You know, 00:05:34.180 --> 00:05:36.740 I probably need to go to like a 12 -step Christian 00:05:36.740 --> 00:05:42.250 recovery program. You know? All that was rooted 00:05:42.250 --> 00:05:45.230 deeply in some family of origin issues growing 00:05:45.230 --> 00:05:47.189 up, and I didn't know. You know, when you grow 00:05:47.189 --> 00:05:49.990 up in a family, you think it's normal, right? 00:05:50.269 --> 00:05:52.790 So we're all dysfunctional. It's just how much. 00:05:54.410 --> 00:05:56.230 And I don't think it's all bad. It's a fallen 00:05:56.230 --> 00:06:00.350 world. But then I get married, and my wife begins 00:06:00.350 --> 00:06:02.329 to speak to some things, and I realize down behind 00:06:02.329 --> 00:06:04.889 all of that, if down deep in your heart, you 00:06:04.889 --> 00:06:07.870 don't view a God who, apart from anything you've 00:06:07.870 --> 00:06:09.730 ever done, looks at you and says, you are precious. 00:06:10.620 --> 00:06:13.660 I delight in you because of what Jesus has done. 00:06:13.740 --> 00:06:17.199 You are my son. You are my daughter. You are 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:21.660 precious. I want to be with you. I affirm you. 00:06:22.360 --> 00:06:25.339 If that's not your God, then you'll create all 00:06:25.339 --> 00:06:27.420 kind of different things to try and stay, quote, 00:06:27.459 --> 00:06:30.959 on his good side or perform. And so if you don't 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:33.160 think God really likes you just for who you are 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:34.819 and you don't like yourself for who you are. 00:06:35.579 --> 00:06:37.300 When your wife starts saying some things that 00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:39.139 she doesn't think is so good about who you are, 00:06:39.180 --> 00:06:44.899 I was very defensive. So, you know, some marriage 00:06:44.899 --> 00:06:48.240 counseling and some time where little by little 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:50.399 by little, a guy gave me a tiny book called The 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:53.500 Knowledge of the Holy by A .W. Tozer. And I'll 00:06:53.500 --> 00:06:55.899 never forget. It's just thin little chapters. 00:06:56.060 --> 00:06:57.800 I've read, literally, I read a portion of that 00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:00.779 book for the last 35 years. The first 10 or 15 00:07:00.779 --> 00:07:04.709 years, a chapter a week. And I would read these 00:07:04.709 --> 00:07:09.129 little chapters on the goodness of God. It was 00:07:09.129 --> 00:07:12.850 like God finds holy pleasure in the happiness 00:07:12.850 --> 00:07:15.970 of his people. Tozer would write that what would 00:07:15.970 --> 00:07:17.790 happen if we could all but believe that we live 00:07:17.790 --> 00:07:20.430 in a friendly sky and that God, though exalted 00:07:20.430 --> 00:07:22.750 in majesty and power, is eager to be friends 00:07:22.750 --> 00:07:27.290 with us. He's cordial, kind, benevolent, loving, 00:07:27.529 --> 00:07:32.850 eager to share hearts. Those were like foreign 00:07:32.850 --> 00:07:36.370 thoughts. For some, it's on the whole other end. 00:07:36.389 --> 00:07:40.029 You think God's like grandma. All he wants to 00:07:40.029 --> 00:07:41.569 do is give you a dessert all the time. That's 00:07:41.569 --> 00:07:47.310 what my wife does. Sort of. In the sense of God's 00:07:47.310 --> 00:07:51.990 white, hot, unapproachable holiness. And so we 00:07:51.990 --> 00:07:54.769 have Christians that don't see that, yes, God 00:07:54.769 --> 00:07:59.670 is pure and loving, but he is absolutely above. 00:08:00.569 --> 00:08:04.649 He's holy. He's a consuming fire that his commands 00:08:04.649 --> 00:08:07.550 are for our benefit, but you don't mess with 00:08:07.550 --> 00:08:09.790 the holy God. You don't look at his commandments 00:08:09.790 --> 00:08:14.269 as options. You bow in reverence. You meet anyone 00:08:14.269 --> 00:08:16.810 in scripture that encounters God, they're face 00:08:16.810 --> 00:08:19.769 down. There's no casual. This isn't my buddy 00:08:19.769 --> 00:08:22.350 upstairs. This isn't, you know, pointing everything's 00:08:22.350 --> 00:08:25.069 okay. And, you know, high five in Jesus. And 00:08:25.069 --> 00:08:27.930 Jesus is my homeboy t -shirt. This isn't the 00:08:27.930 --> 00:08:31.790 God of jewelry. And stickers on the back of cars? 00:08:32.730 --> 00:08:35.789 This is the name that's too holy even to utter 00:08:35.789 --> 00:08:38.529 that the scribes and the Pharisees would just 00:08:38.529 --> 00:08:41.710 write the four letters of his name of Yahweh, 00:08:41.750 --> 00:08:43.330 wouldn't even pronounce it out loud and then 00:08:43.330 --> 00:08:45.570 go ceremonially and wash before they would continue 00:08:45.570 --> 00:08:48.769 to copy the scriptures. So all of us are off. 00:08:50.429 --> 00:08:52.950 But the most important journey you'll ever have 00:08:52.950 --> 00:08:55.929 on your life that's never too late is to pause 00:08:55.929 --> 00:08:59.960 at certain seasons and say, God, I want to see 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:03.720 you as you are. The real God, not the God that 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:05.879 I've made up in my mind, not the God that's being 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:08.720 passed around in Christian circles, the real 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:13.879 God, the God of the Bible, how he longs for you 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:15.600 to see him. That's what we're going to study. 00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:19.879 And the first session here is to ask the question, 00:09:19.980 --> 00:09:23.340 is your God too small? And if you'll open your 00:09:23.340 --> 00:09:25.960 notes, we're going to... Begin by some ground 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:27.659 rules, because if you don't get these ground 00:09:27.659 --> 00:09:31.519 rules, I will assure you, you will never see 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:35.500 God accurately. There are three common mistakes 00:09:35.500 --> 00:09:40.080 that we make when we think about God. Three things 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:43.259 that you have to know that are facts to know 00:09:43.259 --> 00:09:45.539 him accurately, and then there's one really, 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:47.919 really big question that I can't answer for you, 00:09:47.980 --> 00:09:51.480 you have to answer for yourself. But to see God, 00:09:51.620 --> 00:09:54.389 the real God with 20 -20 vision, And here's the 00:09:54.389 --> 00:09:57.809 difference. We are not here to learn more about 00:09:57.809 --> 00:10:01.389 God. There's a night and day difference between 00:10:01.389 --> 00:10:04.669 the knowledge about a person and the knowledge 00:10:04.669 --> 00:10:08.710 of a person. I mean, you can take a movie star 00:10:08.710 --> 00:10:13.230 or dignitaries or the president of the United 00:10:13.230 --> 00:10:16.529 States. We know a lot about people. You can Wikipedia 00:10:16.529 --> 00:10:20.269 and know a lot about people like that. We're 00:10:20.269 --> 00:10:23.850 talking about... A knowledge of them, a relationship, 00:10:24.230 --> 00:10:27.009 a heart knowledge, a connection from the heart, 00:10:27.110 --> 00:10:31.830 knowing God by way of intimate connection and 00:10:31.830 --> 00:10:35.029 relationship, not knowing facts about them, not 00:10:35.029 --> 00:10:38.190 simply ideas that float around in your mind, 00:10:38.250 --> 00:10:41.470 but a connection with him. So three facts you 00:10:41.470 --> 00:10:43.649 need to know for this to happen is one is that 00:10:43.649 --> 00:10:48.110 God is not like you. Shocking, isn't it? God 00:10:48.110 --> 00:10:53.299 is not like you. But our tendency is to take 00:10:53.299 --> 00:10:55.460 sort of the best that we can think of, the kindest 00:10:55.460 --> 00:10:57.639 person, the best person, the most holy person, 00:10:57.740 --> 00:11:00.720 and then somehow we blow it up by 10 or blow 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:02.879 it up by 100 or blow it up by a million and think, 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:06.620 well, God somehow, someway is a lot like a bigger, 00:11:06.679 --> 00:11:10.139 better, more pure, perfect vision of this. Here's 00:11:10.139 --> 00:11:13.500 what I want you to know. It's not true. There 00:11:13.500 --> 00:11:17.779 is all created things, even the angels, and that 00:11:17.779 --> 00:11:21.330 is a category. And then there's another category, 00:11:21.370 --> 00:11:24.169 and that's God. Completely different category. 00:11:24.389 --> 00:11:26.889 Completely other. That's the concept of the word 00:11:26.889 --> 00:11:29.389 holy. It means he's separate. He's a cut above. 00:11:30.750 --> 00:11:34.610 He's not like us. But every religion, and even 00:11:34.610 --> 00:11:38.330 we Bible followers, we want to make God like 00:11:38.330 --> 00:11:41.389 us because we want to manage him. We want to 00:11:41.389 --> 00:11:46.830 control him. Listen to what Isaiah would write 00:11:46.830 --> 00:11:49.789 when it comes to God, because this is, This is 00:11:49.789 --> 00:11:52.769 not a new problem. Isaiah 40, verse 25. To whom 00:11:52.769 --> 00:11:55.370 then will you compare me? That I should be like 00:11:55.370 --> 00:11:58.330 him, says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on 00:11:58.330 --> 00:12:00.970 high and see who created these, who brings out 00:12:00.970 --> 00:12:03.169 their hosts by number, calling them all by name. 00:12:03.289 --> 00:12:05.850 By the greatness of his might and because he 00:12:05.850 --> 00:12:09.750 is strong in power, not one is missing. Why do 00:12:09.750 --> 00:12:12.409 you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel? My cause 00:12:12.409 --> 00:12:15.870 is hidden from the Lord. It's disregarded by 00:12:15.870 --> 00:12:18.639 my God. Do you not know? Have you not heard? 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:21.320 The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:24.220 of the ends of the earth. He doesn't grow faint 00:12:24.220 --> 00:12:28.379 or weary. His understanding is unsearchable or 00:12:28.379 --> 00:12:31.580 beyond what we can fathom. He's just completely 00:12:31.580 --> 00:12:36.720 different. But that's helpful. That's why when 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:39.600 the Ten Commandments, you know, no other gods, 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:43.360 no images. No pictures, nothing that can reduce 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:46.139 him. Nothing that can get him in a smaller box. 00:12:46.259 --> 00:12:49.159 See, we've got a box and we want a God that we 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:51.799 can know and feel comfortable with. It's the 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:54.559 great lines by C .S. Lewis, you know, in the 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:58.279 conversations where Aslan, and he says, you know, 00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:00.600 the little girl says, Aslan, are you tame? He 00:13:00.600 --> 00:13:04.779 says, no, I'm not tame. I'm loving and I'm compassionate, 00:13:04.899 --> 00:13:08.809 but I'm not tame. God's not tame. He's not on 00:13:08.809 --> 00:13:11.190 call. He's the creator. We're the creatures. 00:13:12.850 --> 00:13:15.669 You're listening to Living on the Edge. And we'll 00:13:15.669 --> 00:13:18.009 be back to continue our series, The Real God, 00:13:18.129 --> 00:13:20.769 in just a minute. But let me quickly tell you 00:13:20.769 --> 00:13:23.470 that we are more than a broadcast ministry. We're 00:13:23.470 --> 00:13:26.269 supporting pastors globally, developing helpful 00:13:26.269 --> 00:13:29.289 resources, and sharing the gospel with this next 00:13:29.289 --> 00:13:31.990 generation. So if you'd like to join us in these 00:13:31.990 --> 00:13:34.730 efforts, become a monthly partner by going to 00:13:34.730 --> 00:13:39.000 livingontheedge .org. And thanks for your support. 00:13:39.460 --> 00:13:42.639 Well, here again is Chip. I put in your notes 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:45.860 a great passage for me is Romans chapter 11. 00:13:46.580 --> 00:13:49.399 When the Apostle Paul was talking about the sovereignty 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:51.879 of God and the responsibility of man and the 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:54.759 crescendo of that great book of Romans, he ends 00:13:54.759 --> 00:13:58.519 up with a doxology. Oh, the depth of both the 00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:02.740 wisdom and the knowledge of God. How he talks 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:05.879 about, oh, the... The depth and the power and 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:07.899 the richness of his wisdom and his knowledge. 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:11.940 It's beyond finding out. He says, who has known 00:14:11.940 --> 00:14:15.259 the mind of the Lord that they should be his 00:14:15.259 --> 00:14:18.960 counselor? No one. Who has ever first given to 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:22.240 God that God would owe him? No one. And then 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:25.799 he says this amazing thing. For from him and 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:30.440 through him and to him are all things. To him 00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:32.320 be the glory. Have you ever thought about that? 00:14:32.990 --> 00:14:36.929 Everything in all the world is from him and through 00:14:36.929 --> 00:14:40.370 him and to him. And to him be the glory or the 00:14:40.370 --> 00:14:44.129 weight. And so what I want you to know is that 00:14:44.129 --> 00:14:49.049 God is not like you. And he's not like me. And 00:14:49.049 --> 00:14:52.970 so there's this category, this awesomeness, this 00:14:52.970 --> 00:14:56.230 purity that we want to grasp. The second is related 00:14:56.230 --> 00:14:59.090 to it. Left to ourselves, we tend to reduce God 00:14:59.090 --> 00:15:02.620 to manageable terms. I want a God that I can 00:15:02.620 --> 00:15:04.940 see. I want a God that I can control. I want 00:15:04.940 --> 00:15:08.940 a God that I can tame and manipulate. And that's 00:15:08.940 --> 00:15:12.309 not the God of the Bible. Every world religion, 00:15:12.450 --> 00:15:15.570 you know, the old totems, right? Or the moon 00:15:15.570 --> 00:15:18.549 or the stars or the image of a God is, you know, 00:15:18.549 --> 00:15:21.409 a lion or some animal and it was the strength 00:15:21.409 --> 00:15:24.269 of the bear. And if you go to anthropology all 00:15:24.269 --> 00:15:26.029 over the world and you see what people worship, 00:15:26.149 --> 00:15:28.929 we get some concept, whether it's a strength 00:15:28.929 --> 00:15:32.029 or some power in the moon or the stars, and we 00:15:32.029 --> 00:15:34.190 take something and we get it where we can see 00:15:34.190 --> 00:15:37.129 it. And we actually, as human beings, will bow 00:15:37.129 --> 00:15:40.679 down to things that our own hands create. And 00:15:40.679 --> 00:15:43.759 Isaiah would later reprove his people and say, 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:47.080 you worship gods that you have made yourselves. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:49.460 They have ears and they can't hear. They have 00:15:49.460 --> 00:15:51.639 hands, but they can't feel. They have feet and 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:54.159 they can't walk. And he was contrasting them 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:59.460 to the real God. But we all do that. We just 00:15:59.460 --> 00:16:05.860 reduce him. Exodus 32, one to six is the first 00:16:05.860 --> 00:16:07.720 and most graphic story. Remember the story of 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:11.720 when the people were delivered out of Egypt. 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:16.000 And just try, you know, to not make it a Bible 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:17.840 story and try and imagine what it would have 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:21.919 been like. You know, for 10 generations, you've 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:23.980 heard about this invisible God who made some 00:16:23.980 --> 00:16:26.620 promises to some people that lived a long time 00:16:26.620 --> 00:16:29.600 ago and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and some guy named 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:31.720 Joseph. And you've heard the stories passed on 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:34.519 carefully and, but you're a slave and life is 00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:38.610 hard. And I mean, it's been 400 years. And then 00:16:38.610 --> 00:16:41.669 this Moses guy shows up. And then there's these 00:16:41.669 --> 00:16:44.269 wild things happening that happen to the Egyptians 00:16:44.269 --> 00:16:46.590 that don't happen to you. And since you've lived 00:16:46.590 --> 00:16:48.789 there, you know that every one of these plagues 00:16:48.789 --> 00:16:52.230 is an attack on one of the Egyptian gods. And 00:16:52.230 --> 00:16:55.190 so one by one, that God, this God, this God, 00:16:55.350 --> 00:16:58.490 the hail God. And the last God was the Egyptians 00:16:58.490 --> 00:17:00.710 believed that Pharaoh was God. And so his son 00:17:00.710 --> 00:17:04.309 would be the next God. And so the last plague 00:17:04.309 --> 00:17:08.009 was the firstborn children. And you didn't get 00:17:08.009 --> 00:17:09.670 it. You know, what's this blood over the doorpost? 00:17:09.829 --> 00:17:11.250 Oh, it was a bunch of weird stuff. Then pretty 00:17:11.250 --> 00:17:13.170 soon it's the middle of the night and everyone's 00:17:13.170 --> 00:17:14.910 saying, get out of here and get out of here now. 00:17:14.970 --> 00:17:16.730 And here's gold, here's silver and take your 00:17:16.730 --> 00:17:18.349 kids. And you know, you and a couple million 00:17:18.349 --> 00:17:21.269 people. And then there's this fire hovering over 00:17:21.269 --> 00:17:23.670 you. And then there's this wall of water. And 00:17:23.670 --> 00:17:26.109 you remember that night and the wall of water's 00:17:26.109 --> 00:17:28.970 up like 40, 50, 60 feet, this dry land. And it's 00:17:28.970 --> 00:17:30.890 like. You know, your kid's thinking you're going 00:17:30.890 --> 00:17:32.849 camping out and this is a weird experience and 00:17:32.849 --> 00:17:35.569 the water comes back. And I mean, you know, this 00:17:35.569 --> 00:17:37.950 is like you've seen power, power, power, power, 00:17:38.150 --> 00:17:41.450 right? And then you're 60 days in. You're just 00:17:41.450 --> 00:17:43.990 60 days in and, you know, it doesn't feel quite 00:17:43.990 --> 00:17:46.250 like a camping trip anymore. And you're in the 00:17:46.250 --> 00:17:48.789 middle of nowhere in wilderness. Wilderness is 00:17:48.789 --> 00:17:50.809 like desert type. And, you know, where are we 00:17:50.809 --> 00:17:51.809 going to get water? Where are we going to get 00:17:51.809 --> 00:17:53.569 food? Where are we going to live? And, you know, 00:17:53.589 --> 00:17:56.150 it's 60 days. And pretty soon, Moses said, because 00:17:56.150 --> 00:17:57.710 God said, we'll come to this mountain. It's Mount 00:17:57.710 --> 00:18:00.950 Sinai. And you get there and, you know, he disappears 00:18:00.950 --> 00:18:03.950 for a while. And, you know, then it's like, okay, 00:18:04.130 --> 00:18:05.730 you know, you guys are supposed to come out and 00:18:05.730 --> 00:18:08.640 you come out to the mountain. And you purify 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:10.940 yourself and just a bunch of weird stuff. What 00:18:10.940 --> 00:18:12.359 do you mean? You wash your clothes, don't have 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:14.359 any sex for a couple of days. And then they mark 00:18:14.359 --> 00:18:16.319 off this boundary. And if anyone crosses the 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:18.460 boundary, you have to die. And then you come 00:18:18.460 --> 00:18:20.660 out that morning, Exodus 19, by the way, is where 00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:22.720 we're at. And you come out that morning and everyone's 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:25.140 standing. And then pretty soon, pretty soon you 00:18:25.140 --> 00:18:29.809 hear this ram's horn. And it goes louder. And 00:18:29.809 --> 00:18:31.349 it's really, really sweet. And part of you wants 00:18:31.349 --> 00:18:33.130 to listen. Part of you is like, oh. And then 00:18:33.130 --> 00:18:35.289 you hear a voice. And it's God's voice. And you 00:18:35.289 --> 00:18:37.130 tremble. And the earth starts to shake. And you're 00:18:37.130 --> 00:18:39.329 face down. And you look up. And smoke is billowing 00:18:39.329 --> 00:18:40.829 out. And there's fire. And you're going, oh, 00:18:40.849 --> 00:18:44.150 my gosh. And you're just petrified. And then 00:18:44.150 --> 00:18:46.069 Moses speaks. And you hear his voice again. And 00:18:46.069 --> 00:18:48.190 you're Moses, Moses, no more. You just talk to 00:18:48.190 --> 00:18:50.809 him. He can't take it. And that's God. And whew. 00:18:53.089 --> 00:18:58.009 Right? This is a you are there moment. And then 00:18:58.009 --> 00:19:01.509 after all of that, get this. And then Moses says, 00:19:01.630 --> 00:19:04.049 that God, okay, I'm going to go up. He wants 00:19:04.049 --> 00:19:06.309 me to come and he's going to give me commands. 00:19:06.490 --> 00:19:08.589 You know what he wants? He wants to do a cutting. 00:19:09.130 --> 00:19:12.009 It's a covenant. And because of your background, 00:19:12.089 --> 00:19:13.910 you understand a covenant has to do with blood. 00:19:14.210 --> 00:19:16.789 A covenant has to do that. We'll make a commitment 00:19:16.789 --> 00:19:19.630 to God that we're saying that we would die before 00:19:19.630 --> 00:19:21.750 we break the covenant. And he's saying the same 00:19:21.750 --> 00:19:24.519 thing. And he's going to give us the. The agreement 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:26.680 of the covenant. What it is we're going to agree 00:19:26.680 --> 00:19:30.980 to. I'm going to go up and get that. Moses goes 00:19:30.980 --> 00:19:35.660 up. And then we're people, right? Have you seen 00:19:35.660 --> 00:19:36.900 him? I don't know. When's he coming back? I don't 00:19:36.900 --> 00:19:41.000 know. It's been a long time. Kids are getting 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.599 restless. This isn't a camping trip. Is he coming 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:47.700 back at all? Aaron, we need a God. I mean, you 00:19:47.700 --> 00:19:49.119 know, people are getting restless. It's getting 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:54.559 a little uptight here. We need a solution. okay, 00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:56.779 peer pressure is very powerful. Why don't you 00:19:56.779 --> 00:19:59.200 all take off an earring, bring it to me, and 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:01.839 he fashions a calf, and they put a golden calf, 00:20:02.019 --> 00:20:04.059 and from their Egyptian background, the bull, 00:20:04.220 --> 00:20:07.440 the calf, power, fertility, we'll call him Yahweh, 00:20:07.539 --> 00:20:09.220 because we don't want to get in trouble, right? 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:12.359 Syncretism, it always works. So we'll call it 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:15.019 Yahweh, and then tomorrow we'll bring your sacrifices. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:17.400 And it said they brought their sacrifices, and 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:20.880 then they began to express their worship in the 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:24.240 King James's revelry. It's like a really hot 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:29.359 weekend in Vegas. I mean, and you need to understand 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:32.359 all the worship, the ancient world built into 00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:34.920 all the fertility gods. It was sexuality, all 00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:38.740 kind of immoral ways. And then God looks down, 00:20:38.779 --> 00:20:40.339 sees what's happening, says, Moses, we got a 00:20:40.339 --> 00:20:43.859 problem. Now, here's the question I want to ask 00:20:43.859 --> 00:20:48.950 you. How in the world? Could you have that kind 00:20:48.950 --> 00:20:51.809 of experience with God, see those kind of miracles, 00:20:52.009 --> 00:20:54.789 that kind of power, actually hear His voice, 00:20:54.990 --> 00:20:58.970 see the earth shake, and then demand that you 00:20:58.970 --> 00:21:02.829 had to have something you could see? I want to 00:21:02.829 --> 00:21:07.529 tell you, it's human nature. And before we get 00:21:07.529 --> 00:21:09.730 like, I don't know, as an early Christian, I 00:21:09.730 --> 00:21:11.130 remember reading through the Bible and stuff 00:21:11.130 --> 00:21:12.569 like this. I'm thinking, man, these people are 00:21:12.569 --> 00:21:15.559 nuts. Or the disciples, you know, like... You 00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:17.380 know, Jesus would heal someone, and then they're 00:21:17.380 --> 00:21:19.400 uptight about not having bread. You know, I was 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:20.980 young and never read the Bible, and I thought, 00:21:21.059 --> 00:21:22.819 man, I wish I was there. Man, I wouldn't have 00:21:22.819 --> 00:21:30.859 those kind of problems. I do have a confession 00:21:30.859 --> 00:21:33.819 I need to make. So far, it's sort of a sign of 00:21:33.819 --> 00:21:35.700 spiritual growth. I've never come home after 00:21:35.700 --> 00:21:38.579 a long day of work and say, honey, just stay 00:21:38.579 --> 00:21:40.799 right here. I know I put a little statue in the 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:42.819 back room. I'm going to go pray to it. I've never 00:21:42.819 --> 00:21:43.940 done that. Just want you to know, I've never 00:21:43.940 --> 00:21:48.380 worshipped. But I've worshipped a lot of idols 00:21:48.380 --> 00:21:52.619 that I've created in my head. Idols like success, 00:21:52.940 --> 00:22:03.299 family, kids, education, prosperity, money, comfort, 00:22:03.480 --> 00:22:09.440 self -fulfillment. See, we don't worship idols. 00:22:10.460 --> 00:22:15.190 They actually used God, made a picture. worshipped 00:22:15.190 --> 00:22:18.049 it in a way that they could actually get, quote, 00:22:18.069 --> 00:22:19.950 what they wanted in the way they thought that 00:22:19.950 --> 00:22:22.950 would satisfy them with total disregard for the 00:22:22.950 --> 00:22:27.730 real God. And I'd like to suggest that we do 00:22:27.730 --> 00:22:33.910 the same thing. This is Living on the Edge with 00:22:33.910 --> 00:22:36.009 Chip Ingram, and you've been listening to part 00:22:36.009 --> 00:22:38.730 one of Chip's message, Seeking God, from our 00:22:38.730 --> 00:22:41.839 series, The Real God. Chip will be back shortly 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:44.259 to share some helpful application for us to think 00:22:44.259 --> 00:22:47.339 about. You know, we've all unintentionally projected 00:22:47.339 --> 00:22:50.539 some of humanity's worst qualities into our Creator. 00:22:50.920 --> 00:22:54.619 Many view God as moody, weak, unfair, impatient, 00:22:54.940 --> 00:22:58.019 and merciless. But those ideas couldn't be further 00:22:58.019 --> 00:23:01.140 from the truth. Through this series, Chip explores 00:23:01.140 --> 00:23:03.900 key Bible passages to reveal seven fundamental 00:23:03.900 --> 00:23:06.880 characteristics of our Heavenly Father, attributes 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:09.859 that reflect the very essence of His divine nature. 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:13.019 Join Chip on this journey to reshape your perspective 00:23:13.019 --> 00:23:15.599 toward God, which will deepen your relationship 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:18.460 with Him like never before. You won't want to 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:21.559 miss a single part of this study. Well, Chip's 00:23:21.559 --> 00:23:23.740 back in studio with me. And Chip, I'm really 00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:25.880 excited for our listeners to walk through this 00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:28.640 series with you. Take a minute and explain why 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:30.980 learning more about our Heavenly Father is so 00:23:30.980 --> 00:23:34.819 important. Be glad to, Dave. I touched a bit 00:23:34.819 --> 00:23:38.059 on this in today's teaching. We all have a warped 00:23:38.059 --> 00:23:41.740 view of God. Every denomination, every Christian 00:23:41.740 --> 00:23:45.799 comes out of some sort of lens that distorts 00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:48.779 who God really is. And I've been a Christian 00:23:48.779 --> 00:23:52.079 now for over 50 years. And I'm still pursuing, 00:23:52.259 --> 00:23:55.579 oh, God, would you take away the false views 00:23:55.579 --> 00:23:59.019 that I have and help me to see you clearly for 00:23:59.019 --> 00:24:02.359 who you are, your goodness, your love, your faithfulness. 00:24:02.579 --> 00:24:05.779 So much of our struggles, as A .W. Tozer said. 00:24:06.380 --> 00:24:10.220 is a false view of God or a warped view of God. 00:24:10.460 --> 00:24:13.920 So I just welcome our listeners to really dig 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:17.079 in. Don't miss a day. Or if you miss a day, make 00:24:17.079 --> 00:24:19.599 sure you go back on the app and listen to it. 00:24:19.700 --> 00:24:22.720 I just can't tell our listeners how important 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:27.220 it is that you, on your own, say, I want to know 00:24:27.220 --> 00:24:30.279 God, but I don't want to know him as I think 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:34.059 he is. I want to know him as he really is. He's 00:24:34.059 --> 00:24:38.619 a living, loving, holy, just, faithful, king 00:24:38.619 --> 00:24:42.220 of kings, lord of lords, who sees you as his 00:24:42.220 --> 00:24:45.500 precious child. If you get that clear in your 00:24:45.500 --> 00:24:48.829 mind and your heart, it changes everything. That's 00:24:48.829 --> 00:24:51.369 absolutely right, Chip. Well, I hope you'll join 00:24:51.369 --> 00:24:53.930 us for this entire series. And because every 00:24:53.930 --> 00:24:56.190 believer can learn something from this topic, 00:24:56.390 --> 00:24:58.670 let me encourage you to invite a few friends 00:24:58.670 --> 00:25:01.250 to listen with you, either through livingontheedge 00:25:01.250 --> 00:25:05.130 .org or wherever you listen to podcasts. Well, 00:25:05.150 --> 00:25:07.309 that here again is Chip to share some application. 00:25:08.049 --> 00:25:10.529 I don't know about you, but as I listened to 00:25:10.529 --> 00:25:13.609 the very end of today's program, I was convicted. 00:25:13.750 --> 00:25:15.930 Even though I was preaching, I was convicted. 00:25:16.349 --> 00:25:20.369 You know what I realized? I realize that unconsciously, 00:25:20.369 --> 00:25:24.730 the culture has so shaped my mind that when my 00:25:24.730 --> 00:25:27.549 life isn't working out right, when I'm not happy, 00:25:27.609 --> 00:25:29.349 when I've got a struggle in my marriage, when 00:25:29.349 --> 00:25:31.869 my car breaks down, or when I have an unexpected 00:25:31.869 --> 00:25:34.329 emergency, there's a part of me that immediately 00:25:34.329 --> 00:25:36.910 just says, what's the deal, God? Hey, what's 00:25:36.910 --> 00:25:39.029 wrong? You know, I'm kind of upset. How come 00:25:39.029 --> 00:25:40.890 you're not coming through for me? You know, I 00:25:40.890 --> 00:25:44.109 don't like your timing. And all those kind of 00:25:44.109 --> 00:25:47.289 thoughts are built around a false view of God. 00:25:48.109 --> 00:25:51.769 So much of this world's culture has crept into 00:25:51.769 --> 00:25:55.890 my thinking like I'm God and he's the one who's 00:25:55.890 --> 00:25:58.369 supposed to make my life work out instead of 00:25:58.369 --> 00:26:02.769 remembering he's God. And my privilege is to 00:26:02.769 --> 00:26:05.049 get to be rightly related to him through Christ. 00:26:05.410 --> 00:26:08.069 And then my goal is to walk in a way that pleases 00:26:08.069 --> 00:26:12.369 him. How about you? How do you view God? How 00:26:12.369 --> 00:26:16.170 do you see him? Have you unconsciously? I don't 00:26:16.170 --> 00:26:19.150 mean in some... terrible, selfish way, but have 00:26:19.150 --> 00:26:22.730 you unconsciously begun to view God as a self 00:26:22.730 --> 00:26:25.670 -help genie? Is he the one who's going to make 00:26:25.670 --> 00:26:29.250 everything work out your way? Or do you see him 00:26:29.250 --> 00:26:32.690 as the high, holy, sovereign of the universe, 00:26:32.910 --> 00:26:37.269 to whom apart from Christ, you absolutely have 00:26:37.269 --> 00:26:41.809 no hope? Yet in Christ, you are the center of 00:26:41.809 --> 00:26:44.849 his attention, and he loves you. Think about 00:26:44.849 --> 00:26:47.680 it, will you? Good word, Chip. Hey, just before 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:50.240 we close, I quickly want to thank those of you 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:53.140 who regularly give to Living on the Edge. You're 00:26:53.140 --> 00:26:55.099 making a big difference in helping Christians 00:26:55.099 --> 00:26:57.839 live like Christians. But if you're benefiting 00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:00.099 from our ministry and haven't started giving 00:27:00.099 --> 00:27:02.619 yet, let me encourage you to join the Living 00:27:02.619 --> 00:27:05.160 on the Edge team. You can do that by setting 00:27:05.160 --> 00:27:08.519 up a recurring donation at livingontheedge .org 00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:14.259 or by calling us at 888 -333 -6003. That's 888 00:27:14.259 --> 00:27:21.160 -333 -6003 or visit livingontheedge .org. App 00:27:21.160 --> 00:27:23.940 listeners, tap donate. And thanks for doing whatever 00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:27.039 the Lord leads you to do. Well, join us next 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:29.880 time as Chip continues his series, The Real God. 00:27:30.140 --> 00:27:32.940 Until then, I'm Dave Drewy, thanking you for 00:27:32.940 --> 00:27:35.660 listening to this edition of Living on the Edge.