Is God Created for Us?

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:” Colossians 1:16

From the very beginning of scripture God tells us that He created all things. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 For years I taught this simple truth to my Kindergarten students.  Many would accept this without question, while others would say, “But why?”  I would read to them Colossians 1:16. God created everything for Himself. And still some would say, "But why?" but that's a whole different topic!!!

While reading Crazy Love I found that Francis quoted Colossians 1:16.  Then he asked this question, “Don’t we live instead as though God is created for us, to do our bidding, to bless us, and to take care of our loved ones?” I was struck by how I do feel that way sometimes. 

In our media driven world all the propaganda is focused on one thing.  Think about yourself!  Lookout for #1! It’s warped our thinking of God. It's warped our thinking of ourselves too.  It’s made us selfish. Instead of thinking about what we can do for the Creator, we think instead of what we can do for ourselves or worse what can God do for us.

We’re taught in Sunday school to pray and ask God for our needs. To ask for blessings and good health. To ask for the desires of our hearts. Its here I think sometimes we go astray.  Here is where the focus is taken off of God and shifted to us. Don’t get me wrong, all of these things are taught in scripture, but if we’re not careful we’ll find ourselves expecting God to answer every request just as we asked Him too. Forgetting that He is the all-knowing One who does what is best for us.

You can check yourself by looking at your attitude when God’s answer to something you really wanted is no or wait. Do you get angry or frustrated?  Then your focus was on yourself rather than God.

Christians need a reminder that life is not all about us.  We were created for God. For His pleasure. To do His will.  When we question God or get upset because He didn’t do for us what we expected we need to remember this, “All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does what He wants with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. There is no one who can hold back His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?” Daniel 4:35 HCSB

Crazy Love-Preface

Francis Chan feels that our American churches are not doing well. I’d have to agree. Look around and you’ll see so many churches that open their doors week after week, but fail to open their hearts to God. So many of the pastors, deacons, staff and members are just “going through the motions.” And what’s sad is we are raising the next generation to do the same. It’s no wonder so many teenagers choose not to go to church after graduation; churches are closing their doors at an alarming rate and the false religions are abounding with new growth.

Chan says, “I grew up believing in God without having a clue what He is like. I called myself a Christian, was pretty involved in church, and tried to stay away from all of the things that “good Christians” avoid—drinking, drugs, sex, swearing. Christianity was simple: fight your desires in order to please God. Whenever I failed (which was often), I’d walk around feeling guilty and distant from God.” Looking back over my “religious” experience in church, I remember learning Bible “stories,” but not how they applied to my life. I remember being told not to sin because it made God sad. And just like Francis, I remember sinning and feeling so distant from God. But what I don’t remember is learning about God’s character-- Who He is. It wasn’t until just a few years ago that I started to discover who God really is. My view of God has been so small and narrow.

So Francis wrote, Crazy Love, for those of us who want more Jesus. Not just more church, but more of God Himself. He tells us, “It’s exhilarating to be part of a group of believers who are willing to think biblically rather than conventionally…” That statement struck me. I want to be a woman who thinks biblically. I praise God that our church, WOBC, has a Pastor that thinks biblically, but even being part of a wonderfully lead church, a person can be stagnant. Sometimes I look across the sanctuary and wonder how many of our people feel they have “enough God.”

Chan boils down what he thinks is the problem with American church. “The core problem isn’t the fact that we’re lukewarm, halfhearted, or stagnant Christians. The crux of it all is WHY we are this way, and it is because we have an inaccurate view of God.” Though his book we’ll look at who God really is and examine ourselves. He doesn’t promise it will be easy. It’s going to challenge us greatly. I am looking forward to our discussion in January!!

Just a heads up about the book. Francis asks for each of us to watch a video as we read each chapter. I’ll include the video for the next chapter at the end of my last blog about the current chapter. Happy Reading!