Tag: creator

Your Works are Not Good Enough

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

Your Works are not Good Enough

“And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.”

(Re 20:13)

A time is coming when all will stand before the throne of Jesus. Judgment will occur. Those who are found wanting will be thrown into the lake of fire. Not a hopeful picture for us because judgment is based on our own actions. Yes, everything you have ever done will be judged. Every thought and action will testify against you at the judgment. 

You might be thinking, “That is ok. I have done more good than bad. I should be ok” While you might have lived a good life, your good works mean nothing to God. God is holy and we are not. Every action we undertake, no matter how good it is, does not earn us favor with a holy, perfect God. In reality, even our best works are not good enough. They are counted as filthy rags before the throne of God.

“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

(Is 64:6)

The only way we can hope to escape the judgment seat of Christ is if our name has been written in the book of life.

“And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

(Re 20:15)

The only one’s who have their names written in the book of life are those who have turned to Jesus, who have repented of their unbelief and have exercised faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. Only those who have turned from living in rebellion to God to admit and live as if He is King of all creation, will find entrance into the heavenly kingdom. 

Do you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Or are you hoping your good works will gain you entrance into heaven? My prayer for you is that you believe in former and not the latter. 

God as Our Creator | Part 2

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

Leaves Changing

Chances are if you started a Bible reading program this New Year, the first verse you read was Genesis 1:1. Even if you have not, it is a familiar passage to us all.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

This succinct statement is packed with application both for us individually and our worldview. In my last post in this series, I looked at how God as Our Creator applies to our worldview. You can read that post here. In this post, I will reflect on how God as Our Creator applies to us individually.

What are the individual implications of God being our Creator?

(1) If God is our Creator, we should listen to what He says to us and keep His commandments.

As our Creator God has authority over our lives. The writer of Ecclesiastes comes to this conclusion in the final chapter of his book. There the writer tells us if we want to find meaning in life, we are to fear God and keep His commandments. The reason that can be his conclusion is because God is our Creator. He is the one who made us, and He is the One we are to submit to as Lord.

(2) If God is our Creator, He is also our Sustainer.

God is the One who upholds all things. The reason the earth spins, the laws of science do not change, why we have a never ending supply of oxygen, why our crops grow, why anything happens the way it does, is because God sustains the universe. Without God holding all things together, everything would fall apart. Hebrews 1:3-4 says,

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

The writer of Hebrews makes is clear God upholds the world by the word of His power. Nothing more but His Word is needed to Sustain His own creation, which He also created by the Word of His mouth.

God as Sustainer means we fully depend on Him for everything in our life. To forget that means we will try to do things our own way. When we strike out on our own, leaving behind what we know about God, we act like a fool and repay God with sin instead of worship (Deut 32:4-7).

God as Sustainer also means that all creation depends on something outside of themselves. Self-help books and religious teaching that tells us to look inside ourselves to fix the problem has it wrong. Instead of looking inside ourselves, we must look outside ourselves to God. He is the only one who can provide an answer for the problems we face.

(3) If God is our Creator, True Worship begins when we see that we are but creatures and owe our Creator thanksgiving, praise, and obedience.

Worship is not solely what we do when we gather together on Sunday Morning. Rather True Worship is given with our entire lives every minute of every day. By living with the idea that God is our Creator who has authority over our lives and who is our Sustainer we set ourselves up to worship God because this understanding will lead to thankfulness, praise, and obedience. When these things characterize our daily lives, then we are truly worshipping God.

(4) If God is our Creator, He leaves us without excuse because He places His fingerprints all over creation.

Romans 1:18-32 tell us that God made Himself plain in Creation, but man did not submit to Him as God. Instead we worshipped the creation. As a result, God gave man over to the lusts of their heart, and because of our rejection of God we deserve to die.

The main thread that runs through these verses is that God has made Himself known to His creation. He has placed His fingerprint everywhere for man to see. Intelligent Design is evident in all creation, so man has no excuse for not searching out and worshipping God.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Can you think of any other ways God as our Creator applies to us individually?
  2. If God is our Creator and King, when we sin against Him, we are doing more than just breaking the rules. What are we doing?

God as Our Creator | Part 1

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals2 Comments

Leaves Changing

Chances are if you started a Bible reading program this New Year, the first verse you read was Genesis 1:1. Even if you have not, it is a familiar passage to us all.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

This succinct statement is packed with application both for us individually and our worldview. Let’s start with worldview.

Worldview

The first thing that may come to your mind when you hear the word worldview is:

What is a worldview?

A worldview is a set of ideas and beliefs through which we interpret the world and interact with it.

For example, as Christians we believe life is sacred, which means we believe abortion and murder are wrong, should not be practiced, and those who commit such acts should be punished.

Our example shows us that our belief shapes the way we interpret and interact with the world. Since it is a set of beliefs that shape the way we interpret and interact with the world, every religion, philosophy, or way of thinking has worldview implications.

How do we know which one is right?

As Christians, we believe our worldview is right because our God is the Creator of the entire world. We read that in Genesis 1:1. As the Creator, He interacts with His creation through His Word, the Bible, which necessitates the Bible be correct.

How do we know Scripture is correct?

Scripture is correct because it has proven itself to be true through both internal and external evidence. I don’t have space to go into all the evidence, so let me briefly point out that part of that evidence has to do with answering questions that every worldview must answer. Those are:

(1) How did we get here?
(2) How did the world get the way it is?
(3) How is it going to be fixed?

Scripture answers these questions. It tells us that God created the World, sin is the reason the world is the way it is, and Jesus is the way everything will be set right.

If Scripture could not provide these answers, then we should not allow it to operate as our dominate worldview. Scripture, however, does answer these questions, which means we can trust the claim of Genesis 1:1 that God is our Creator. As such, we should allow Him, through His Word, to shape the way we view the world.

Looking forward

In the next post in this series, I will look at how God as our Creator applies to us individually.

Question for Reflection

  1. Can you think of a worldview that cannot answer one of the three questions above?