Articles
When Man Becomes God
The gospel message of Jesus coming to earth as a man is inspiring and this world’s only true source of hope. It is this message that tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16), but also reveals that Jesus “was foreordained before the foundation of the world” to be the world’s Savior (1 Pet. 1:20), and that God planned this “according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Tim. 1:8-10), “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son” (Gal. 4:4).
And when the time came, Jesus “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:7, 8). It is this story of how “God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16) — how “the Word [Jesus] became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) — that has caused many to stop and take notice of the depths of God’s love for His sinful creation and how He provided an opportunity for salvation to the undeserving.
When we read, and when we seriously consider, the gospel story, we see a story of love, humility, and sacrifice — all in the effort to draw man to God that one might willingly give self in humble service to this God because of all He has done. At no point in this story did God arrogantly demand obedience; at no point in this story did God coerce or arbitrarily drag one into His circle without the individual’s consent, nor did He use His supreme power over His creation to force Him to obey; the foundational message of this story is that God did not demand sacrifice and service from us without Him first offering to us the greatest gift that demanded a sacrifice of His own. He gave us His Son.
The gospel message of God becoming man is one that, to many, is simply too incredible to believe, but which many millions have believed and were moved to become followers of Jesus Christ. Whether believer or unbeliever, though, none dispute that it would be the greatest act that man could ever imagine. An all-knowing, all-powerful God who would demonstrate such love to such an undeserving recipient, and who would lower Himself to literally become as one of His creations [a human being] and live and suffer as man does, defies human expectation and reasoning. But He did it!
The gospel story of God becoming man is wonderful and heartwarming, but the story of man becoming God [actually, man exalting himself to the level of a god] is not quite so heartwarming. Whenever we find stories of men exalting themselves, or others exalting them, to the place of a god, it is not a story that endears us to them, and the results are most often ugly, violent, destructive, and the cause for much evil. No sane man would imitate the one who would make himself a god when the results are honestly considered.
For example, during the time of the Roman empire, emperor worship was practiced throughout the empire [outside of Italy] and was seen as a measure of one’s loyalty to the ruler. It is for this reason many Christians were persecuted, for they would never recognize a man as a god. The Roman power, equating Christians with the Jews in their refusal to worship idols, saw their refusal as treasonous and many would suffer because of it. Not exactly demonstrations of love and mercy!
In the 1980s, a religious cult was formed in Japan that recognized their leader, Shoko Asahara, as a god. In 1995, this group was responsible for a sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subways system. You may recognize the name of David Koresh, a self-proclaimed “Messiah,” who suffered a tragic end, along with many of his followers after an FBI raid on his compound. You may also remember the name of Jim Jones, who considered himself God, and who then led his cult followers to commit mass suicide in late 1978. North Korean leaders are virtually deified by reason of the honors and stories that are told about them in official state literature in their public schools, and the oppression and suffering of even those who go along with the charade may never fully be known. Men who are declared to be gods — whether by self or by others — do not have a record of love, mercy, and self-sacrifice!
Not all men who were proclaimed to be gods went to such extremes and caused so much death and destruction. But, sometimes, it was an indirect assumption of the place of God that led to much evil, oppression, destruction, and death. As noted by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans, the Gentiles in times past, “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God” (Rom. 1:21). Having refused God the glory due Him, “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things” (Rom. 1:22); they made their own gods [idols].
And because “they did not like to retain God in their knowledge” (Rom. 1:28), they spiraled into deeper and deeper immorality and were “filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful” (Rom. 1:29-31). It is revealing to see that one of the characteristics of those who assume the place of God is that they are “unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful.” This is often the case when men become gods.
A casual look at the history of staunchly atheistic nations, particularly some of the communist countries in recent history, shows a clear trail of oppression, persecution, destruction, and death to any and all they deem ‘disloyal.’ Estimates range from 21 million deaths to almost 150 million, neither of which should make us feel at ease with a ruling government whose foundational principles are atheistic and, often, anti-religious. If you doubt the declaration that communism is militantly atheistic, read the book or watch the movie Tortured for Christ.
And then we have men who may have professed to have some belief in a ‘god,’ but whose lives reflected anything but a belief or respect for God and righteousness. Hitler rejected Christianity for the belief “that heroes were above conventional morality” and eventually suffered “exaggerated self-pride, believing himself to be more than a man.” [Allan Bullock, Hitler:A Study in Tyranny, p. 216.] While many political leaders may not have been responsible for so much death and evil as Hitler, it is troubling to see many politicians in this country pander to the ‘religious’ electorate in order to paint themselves as ‘believers’ or at least ‘on their side,’ but who are really self-serving, power-hungry egomaniacs who will turn on any they perceive as disloyal. I shudder to think what they might do if given the chance.
When God became man, hope was brought into a world that had been without; love was demonstrated in a world filled with hatred; peace was brought to a world filled with conflict and violence. It is in Christ alone that this world and any individual living in it has hope of something far better.
God help us — literally — when men deem to take the place of God. History tells us it will not end well. — Steven Harper
