Sermon Central
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He Is Not Like Us.
Contributed by Trae Durden on Apr 14, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: God is not like us, He made us in His image, but we have left His goodness and tried to find our own way.
WE ARE LIKE HIM, BUT HE IS NOT LIKE US!
“These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you; but I will reprove you, and set them in order before your eyes.”
Introduction:
God created man in His image. We are His image bearers.
We are like Him.
God has given us the mind to make decisions and decipher truth. We are like Him.
God put in us a heart that can love, serve, and sacrifice.
We are like Him.
God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, sound mind.
We are like Him.
1. We thought He was like us when we consider love.
a. Love is so often conditional with people.
b. Love is replaced with lust and infatuation.
c. Hollywood has done it’s best to sell cheap lust as love.
1 Corinthians 13:8-13; 1 John 4:7
d. True Love is rewarded with ridicule and sarcasm!
Lord’s name in vain!
2. We thought He was like us when we consider authority.
a. Authority is challenged at every level in our society.
b. When one claims authority in any area they are subjected
to all kinds of attacks, false accusations, and personal
destruction. Consider: Police Officers, Coaches, Judges
Presidents, and even elders in the Lord’s church.
c. No matter what the authority says, we then seek a higher
authority to change the first decision! Appeals court.
d. If we don’t like what the authority said we just don’t
accept the authority! We’ll find another one that agrees
w/ us!
e. Our sin is a rebellion of the worst kind! It is us spitting in
the face of God. We don’t like to think of it that way but
that is what sin is. Rebellion against God’s authority!
Psalm 119:89; Matthew 28:18; Titus 2:15
3. We thought He was like us when we consider punishment in hell.
a. Punishing our children is considered a crime! No punishment!
Proverbs 22:6 & 15; Proverbs 23:13-14
b. Punishment is so far off it doesn’t really affect us. Death Row.
c. We refuse to punish anybody for anything!
Comfortable Prisons, Television, Leisure time.
d. It is really hard to come up with anyone that I would send
to Hell! I just would make excuses for everyone! I don’t
want anyone to suffer that horrible eternity! Truth is, God
doesn’t want anyone to suffer that either. 2 Peter 3:9
e. But He allows us to choose our eternity. Like a teacher,
they don’t “give” you a grade, you earn it. You make it.
You do what it takes to get a specific grade.
2 Thessalonians 1:5-9; 2 Peter 2:4-11
f. If we really believed in the hell God tells us about in the
Bible, we would not be able to sit still! We’d have to teach!
4. We thought He was like us when we consider sacrifice.
a. Sacrifice doesn’t hurt, we don’t let it! Just an inconvenience.
We think God is just as self-centered as us! But He is NOT!
James 3:13-18; 1 Samuel 15:1-3, 8-11, 13-23
b. Our obedience is a real sacrifice! God wants us to obey!
c. Since God is all knowing, and all powerful, His sacrifice
wasn’t so bad for Him! Just inconvenient.
Mark 14:32-36; John 19:1-3, 15-16
We thought He was like us, but He’s not!
“These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you; but I will reprove you, and set them in order before your eyes.”
