Attitudes to God

Attitudes to God

Preceding articles: Getting to Know God by the Word given to man; What God tells about Himself; The Greatness of God and the Uniqueness of God

Today the majority of people are not so much interested in how life comes to be, the why of life and what man has to do in this world or what his place is in this universe.

All that we have considered so far of the greatness, the glory, and the majesty of the one God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, implies that He should receive reverent worship from frail mankind -- and so He does from the faithful all through the pages of the Bible.

But what are we to say about the attitudes towards God today, even among many professed Christians?

Firstly, religious opinions in Western civilisation have greatly changed through the increase in followers of other cults. It is now held by many that all religions offer their own way to God and are all equally "valid". People reject the great claims of Christianity to be the sole way to "salvation", expressed thus by the Apostle Peter:

"Neither is there salvation in any other (than Jesus Christ):for there is none other name under heaven ... whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

It is no wonder that, for modern man, God as portrayed in the Bible has receded from the centre of attention and is relegated to the fringes. A casualness and familiarity at times, even in religious exercises, show that God is no longer accorded the honour due to His Name. Even terms of holy significance like "Hallelujah" (which means "Praise the Lord") are bandied about to evident approval by profane comedians.

To this must be added the humanist and materialistic spirit which exalts the human mind, and has little thought for the existence of God or for His worship. Even these brief reflections upon the state of modern opinion show what a gulf exists between today's attitudes towards God and that manifested by Jesus and the apostles.

Continue reading: The Character of God