“SAY, ARE YOU DELUSIONAL? IF ONE WERE TO ASK THAT, THE VAST MAJORITY WOULD SAY ABSOLUTELY NOT! YET THE TRUTH IS, THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF HUMAN BEINGS ARE.”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about this shocking truth concerning how and who we think we are…

... Some years ago ABC-TV offered a 5-hour TV slot to actress Shirley MacLaine, to tell of her odyssey from a spiritual skeptic to New Age believer.  There in this 1987 TV series “Out on a Limb,” TV watchers were introduced to the lost city of Atlantis , the Great Pyramid, trance mediums, astral projection, and telepathic space aliens. Indeed, one found them all in "Out on a Limb." However, what was most dramatic was when MacLaine through the promptings of her spiritual guru guide, stood on a seashore and finally discovered who she was by crying out – “I AM GOD, I AM GOD!”

Now it’s all too easy to dismiss Shirley MacLaine as spiritual nut case, or to laugh at her vivid accounts of past-life love affairs and extraterrestrial cultural exchanges.  But, to do so is to underestimate the weight of her error.  These views of godhood are growing more and more in our society, socially and spiritually at an alarming rate. 

This New Age mini-series began with the words, "Shirley reaches out for the fruit of the tree, and goes out on a limb."  Yet, long ago in another Garden a certain pair of humans also reached out for a forbidden fruit in the promise of becoming deity.  The original sin in the Garden is therefore neither entirely past nor easily erased from the minds of their children. We the human race still is delusional to think that we can become gods or are already and just don’t know it.  Yes, our hunger for Godhood is real, and we should explore this in the only place we can find the truth, and that is the Word of God. But, let’s pause one more time for this musical moment and then I’ll explain this universal longing and quest deep in the heart of us all…

... Spiritualists, New Agers and even Liberal theologians as well hold to one basic teaching that attracts many. It is the idea that we are either gods ourselves, or a great portion of godhood is already ours for the taking. One the doctrines of Christian liberalism’s faith is,

“Our view of man is  all have a "spark of divinity" in them. To say that, is to say there is a bit of God in everyone for the human conscience is that "divine spark."

Spiritualists today, like their counterpart in false Christian thinking, display the same mindset and beliefs. Taken from the “Seven Principles of Spiritualism,” we find this teaching,

“We are all children of God, as such light from whom many sparks emanate. These sparks vary in brightness and are as different from one another as we are from each other. These sparks, of course, are us. We each contain the spark of God within us all.”

Now this popular and universal thinking of mankind is deeply rooted in our human nature. Although most prefer to not so openly state this, we surely live this way regardless. Today the push through New Age beliefs, Eastern Mysticism, and plain old arrogant agnostic humanity has come to believe, as Shirley MacLaine cried out – I AM GOD! But the question is, are we really? Are we a spark from God?

Well, the only place we can find the truth on this matter is not in search of a lost city of Atlantis , nor in astral projections, nor seeking reincarnation, or ascended Spiritual guides, but rather the only true and reliable guide, the Word of God.  You see my friend, when you search the Bible, you’ll find the truth about yourself as well as about the one true Creator God. So let’s do it now.

First of all the Bible tells us a most important truth often denied.

ALL THE UNIVERSE AND MANKIND IS A CREATION OF GOD – Yes, contrary to godless evolutionary thinking, the Scripture absolutely says,

Gen 1:1 (NIV)  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Gen 1:26-27 (NIV)  Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over … all the earth… 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

This, beyond doubt, tells us that there is One existent being who is above our power and ability, our Creator and God. Who is this being? The Bible alone tells us much about Him.  For instance we find,

GOD IS OMNIPOTENT! (Gen. 17:1; Exo. 20:11; Isa 40:26) – This Creator of all that exists outside of His universe is all powerful. We’re told that in six literal days God created all that exists outside Himself. The Bible further tells us there are no other gods that exist.

Gen 17:1 (NIV)  "I am God Almighty ; walk before me and be blameless.”

Exo 20:11 (NIV)  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them…”

Isa 40:26 (NIV)  Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

Yes God alone created all things, He alone existed before all things, and He alone will live on forever and ever. As such, none of us can ever sanely claim to be gods or the uncreated God who fashioned us all. Secondly,

GOD IS OMNISCIENT AND OMNIPRESENT  (Psa 147:5; 1 John 3:20 ; Jer 23:23 -24) – This attribute of our Creator God says He knows all things and is absolutely perfect in knowledge. Scripture says,

Psa 147:5 (NIV)  “Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.”

1 John 3:20 (NIV) “… God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”

Jer 23:23-24 (NIV)  "Am I only a God nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away? 24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD.

This means the creature is not God, nor can he ever have the same and equal ability to become God. Furthermore, New Age and Liberalism’s beliefs along with cults such as Mormonism that claim we are part of God, or can become gods is false. Drawing from the teachings of eastern mysticism and occultism, the New Age mindset sees everything as divine. All that is, is really God. All is one with God. God is not a personal and moral Being, but rather an impersonal principle, vibration or essence like "the Force" of the "Stars Wars" movies. The New Age challenges us to awaken our "God consciousness" through mystical methods such as Transcendental meditation, Silva Mind Control, Yoga, Self-hypnosis, Visualization, or participation in consciousness-raising programs such as “Lifespring” or “the Forum.”

All this is nonsense and worse, sin! The Bible reveals God is all powerful, all knowing and present everywhere. Now this last part denies “Pantheism,” the basis of New Age thinking that believes everything is God. God is transcendent of all Creation, but because of His greatness, He exists and is present everywhere. Now a third thing we learn about our Creator is,

GOD IS ETERNAL AND IMMUTABLE (Exo. 3:14 ; Mal 3:6; James 1:17 ) – God reveals to us through His Word that He never had a beginning. He always was and always will be. Moreover, He tells us because He is perfect in all His Being; He can never change or evolve. To do so would reveal imperfection, which He is not and can never be. Scripture tells us,

Exo 3:14 (NIV)  “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM…’”

Mal 3:6 (NIV)  "I the LORD do not change…”

James 1:17 (NIV)  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

God has created all living matter with a beginning and an end. However, mankind was created in God’s very image, the Bible says, and unlike any other life form we were granted no end of life. Yes my friend, in that sense we are like God having immortality but not eternal as God. Indeed, all human beings once conceived regardless of reaching birth or not, will live forever.  Now this important truth cannot be understood until we examine one more aspect of God revealed to us in the Bible. We learn that,

GOD IS A TRIUNE BEING AND PERSON (Acts 14:15 ; John 1:1-3; 3:16 ) – As God gave revelation of Himself, the completed Bible tells us God has revealed Himself to man in that He is a Person and has personality. What’s more He is actually three separate but unified Persons known as: God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit. We cannot explain this, but God reveals it. As such God’s personality can be known. The Bible never presents God as an impersonal abstraction such as a principle, an essence, or force. God is not an “it,” but a Person. The Biblical God performs the acts of a personal being. A reading of the Bible will show that God creates, God hears, God speaks, God judges, God forgives… He is he is not identified as a part of His Creation. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Roman church highlighted the biblical view when he wrote of those who deny God:

"They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised" (Romans 1:25 ).

Thus, God possess the attributes of personality and therefore is a Person, not some mindless all controlling force!

John 1:1-3 (NIV)  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Acts 14:15 (NIV)  "Men… turn from  worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.

John 3:16 (NIV)  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Yet in all these things, when God created Adam and Eve, and indeed put life in those created bodies, He did not make them gods, nor did He grant them any of His incommunicable attributes. No my friend, we are not a spark from God, nor can we ascend and become God, nor can we discover we really are God. We are not!

We are His creature, and thus we all are accountable to Him for what He says in His Word.

From Mormon temple rituals, to New Age gurus and their followers, humming and chanting will never make them gods. In fact, we are the opposite. We are not just a creature created in the image of God, but lost sinners desperately trying to find our way on a path of eternal destruction. You see my friend, the Bible tells us of the perilous state we are in and from whence we came. Listen to this now. Scripture tells us that when God created Adam and Eve the first human beings, He made them perfect like Himself. There was no evil, no sin, no disobedience to God’s commands or creation. Yet being made in God’s image brought the human race the ability to choose to obey and walk with God or not. God did not create robots, but living human beings who could willingly of their own volition love God in return for His love shown them.

However, to test this free-will response to God’s goodness of creation, God placed in the Garden of Eden, a forbidden literal tree He named the “knowledge of Good and Evil.” This fruit tree bore beautiful fruit, and as good as it looked it was off limits to mankind. One day, a fallen creature, one of the angelic world, God created along with man, came into the Garden of Eden and possessing and using the body of a snake, tempted the woman to disobey God’s command not to eat of this fruit. His promise was alluring and his claim astounding: Satan in effect said to Eve, you humans are no mere mortals. You can create your own reality as gods and goddesses. Eve’s desire and appetite was wetted, and she began to want to be as God. Listen to the text of Scripture,

The Temptation and Fall of Man

Gen 3:1-7 (NIV)  Now the serpent [Satan’s appearance] was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened…”

Indeed, this was the beginning of breaking off the lifeline to God’s goodness, care, love and

intimate fellowship God intended mankind to have for all eternity. Since God created Adam and Eve to live forever, God had to now prevent this from happening, now that they were in rebellion to Him. Exercising their own independent and inferior will to God’s, was the abominable sin that God decreed would bring death. First, it would bring separation from this world in which God placed man (physical death), and secondly it would bring separation from God Himself for all eternity in a place called Hell, with the final abode called the Lake of Fire (Second death). God said,

Gen 2:17 (NIV)  “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

Rom 3:23 (NIV)  “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Rom 6:23 (NIV)  “For the wages of sin is death…”

  Rev 20:14 -15 (NIV)  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

All of us who are born sinners and live that way in God’s universe, are under His death sentence. Yet, the severity of punishment that awaits all mankind can be cancelled because of God’s everlasting love and the fact He doesn’t want to punish any of us.

This my friend is the GOOD NEWS that the Bible tells us about. Yes, God devised a plan to save the entire human race. Now since God is just and holy, He cannot just forget sin, as all must be might right by payment for it. Since death is the just payment, God’s plan was to send a substitute to take the place of all humanity and thus grant them forgiveness through it. Thanks be to God, the one true God, He fulfilled this promise. Again those blessed verses and promise,

John 1:1-3 (NIV)  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

John 1:14 (NIV)  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 3:16 (NIV)  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Rom 5:18 (NIV)  Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

So, God sent His Son, the second Person and personality of the Triune Godhead to become a man and offer up His infinite life as a payment for our sins. Regardless of Shirley MacLaine’s infamous cry, “I AM GOD,” the fact remains we are finite being under judgment facing a terrible separation from the loving and kind God who created us. The fact remains, we will never become God, nor find out we are God. We are rather His creation and as such accountable to Him and His Word revealed to us.

The big question then is - have you sought to know the one true God? He has revealed Himself to us in the Person of Jesus Christ; And, all who come to Him exercising faith in His Person, His merits and work on the cross where He died for our sins, will be saved! God said in the Person of the Father and the Son,

Isa 45:22 (NIV)  "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

Mat 11:28 (NIV)  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Man’s delusion is great. We all live and operate as if we are our own gods. If you you’ve lived your life without surrender to the one true God and obedience to His inerrant Word, you’ve committed the most grievous sin in the universe, and for that the Bible says you shall die physically and spiritually in eternity.

Death is separation from all that exists around us. First, from the world we live in, from those we love and hold dear, and finally from all that God is. Since we are all created to live forever, as we are spirit beings, we too will never die, but live in agony apart from God’s goodness and grace.

That is what Hell is! It will be a place of mourning what is lost, suffering the loss of God’s gracious love and provision and being alone in darkness forever and ever. God is light and there will be no light in Hell. God is love and there will be no love there either.

But why suffer that when God offers you pardon, peace, and reconciliation beginning here and now? Most joyous of all He offers it to us all, free and fully paid for, through Christ’s death at Calvary . All anyone needs to do to experience God’s forgiveness and eternal love is turn to Jesus Christ, surrender their will to Him and call upon Him to save you, and most blessed of all – HE WILL!

Friend take heed, the Bible warns us not to put off this desperate need of all humanity,

2 Cor 6:2 (NIV)  For [God] says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.

... This idea of our own godhood is so popular today and growing. Becoming god or that we are god is man’s great delusion that began in the Garden of Eden. In fact, it was the very basis of sin that brought God’s highest creatures down to Hell. Yes, we live in a sense on the precipice of eternal death and destruction, and yet we also live with God’s hand reaching down to offer to rescue us. I’m reminded of Michaelangelo’s famous painting called the “CREATION OF MAN,” painted in 1510 AD on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Italy . There he depicts the hand of God reaching down with His finger to the helpless body of Adam to give him life! Indeed, God wants to give us all His life and joy but we must accept it on His terms. New Age beliefs and liberal Christianity all stink to high heavens with the abominable teachings we are a spark from God that just needs to be ignited. No, we are a cinder of crumbling dust that is dying and one day will be cast from the presence of God forever, unless we return to the one true God, Jesus Christ our Creator and seek and surrender to Him. I trust you’ve done that for your hope of tomorrow.