J. I. Packer once said, “It is impossible to worship nothing: we humans are worshipping creatures, and if we do not worship the God who made us, we shall inevitably worship someone or something else.”

And, interestingly, people tend to become like the thing they worship.

We live near Oakland, California, where the Oakland Raiders football team used to play. The Raiders mascot was a pirate and their fans were known for dressing up in fierce, intimidating costumes on game day. They were loud, proud and loved to boast about their team, even during a losing season because they saw themselves as Raiders.

It’s easy to recognize sports, arts, and hobby fans. We recognize “bookish” or “artsy” people by the way they talk, dress and act, and we’ve all met “rabid sports fans” who are unabashedly proud of their team.

But God made people with the capacity to worship so we could worship him. He is glorious, righteous, loving, merciful and just, and when we worship him we become like him. Sadly, we’ve been led to believe we should keep our relationship with God hidden from view. People won’t lift their hands while singing at church. but they jump up and down and scream at a concert when a band they love launches into their favorite song. Why are we embarrassed to talk about how great God is?

God doesn’t agree with that way of thinking. His enthusiasm for himself knows no bounds. He firmly believes that people everywhere should worship him.

There is No One Like the Lord

“This is what the Lord says – Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God . . . You are my witnesses. Is there any God beside me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” Isaiah 44:6, 8

The One who made the universe, and by whose word it all holds together, tells us that when he looks around the universe, he doesn’t see any other God. It’s not simply that other, lesser gods are unable to challenge his supremacy; it’s that there are no other gods.

Apart from the God of the Bible, there is no God.

The Egocentrism of God

In a sermon titled, “Is Jesus Christ Truth for the 21^st Century?” John Stott says,

“Nothing is as disturbing about Jesus Christ as the egocentricity of his claims, and the prominence of the personal pronoun in his teaching. He was, in fact, always teaching about himself.”

Apparently Jesus took after his Father because here in Isaiah God continually speaks boldly and without apology about his own greatness. Look at what he says in Isaiah 45:18-21:

“For this is what the Lord says—he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited—he says:
“I am the Lord, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,‘Seek me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right.

“Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save. Declare what is to be, present it—let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.”

These ancient and everlasting words have to challenge our thinking. What is our response to the God of the universe who demands that he alone is worthy of our worship?

God Hates Idols

God hates it when people waste their devotion on things less than himself. He laments the futility of it all.

“With whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared? Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it. They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer; it cannot save them from their troubles.” Isaiah 46:5-7

The Lord makes it clear that he is the only One who deserves our love and worship. He will not share his glory with another god.

“All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame . . . Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, ‘Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?’” Isaiah 44:9, 20

It doesn’t make sense that a person who could be in relationship with the living God would choose a blind, deaf, inanimate idol to worship instead, but people do it. And God is justified in punishing people who insult him that way.

Yet he continues to offer forgiveness and reconciliation to people who repent.

God Refuses to Give Up

Like the father in the story of the prodigal son, who watched everyday for his wayward boy to come home, God kept hoping that his people would return to him. His loving heart was so generous and forgiving that he was ready to sweep away their sins and start fresh with them as soon as they did.

“Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant. I have made you, you are my servant; Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” Isaiah 44:21-22

Oh, the unfathomable grace of God! He knows how weak and sinful we are; yet he waits for us and hopes we will come back to him. God never gives up on us – or anyone else – no matter how bad things seem. Knowing this should have an impact on how we pray for each other and ourselves. It’s always too soon to quit praying that people will repent and return to the Lord.

The Bad Example of Babylon

In contrast to sinful people who received God’s grace in Isaiah 44:21-22, Babylon is a lasting symbol of unrepentant and eternally condemned people. The citizens of Babylon believed that God would never deal with their arrogance and sin. They treated him as if he didn’t matter, and they would never have to answer to him.

“Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me . . . You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none beside me.’” Isaiah 47:8-10

The truth is that there is none besides God. He is the only “I am.” It is only the stubborn pride of people that makes them unable to see God for who he really is.

Reading Isaiah gives us an opportunity to decide where we stand on the subject of God’s supremacy and authority. Will we be like the people of Israel who returned to God and had their sins swept away like the morning mist? Or will we be like the people of Babylon who preferred to worship themselves and their idols and were swept away suddenly by the wrath of God?

It’s good to read these nearly three thousand year old words and remember that they are as true today as they were when God first said them. What will you choose: The way of the Great I Am, or the empty way of Babylon?

To hear John Stott’s excellent message on Jesus Christ as truth for the 21^st century, click on this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jddJqWrG3uw