The Work of God's Hands; Not Ours

“In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.” (Zep 3:11 AV)

This verse gives us a clue as to what might have started the downward apostasy of the nation of Israel.  They became arrogant.  They became haughty at what the LORD had designed on the holy mountain.  They forgot the LORD brought them out of Egypt, planted them in Canaan, and provided the very means from which the temple arose.  They looked at the finished product as though their own hands and effort accomplished such a great temple and forgot it was the LORD who did it through them.  If they were the ones who did it, then they had the liberty to do with it what they wished.  Which explains how idol worship eventually found its way into the temple.  It explains how the pattern for the furniture given to Moses on the mount was replaced by a more elaborate pagan model.  It explains how Baal became the god they worshiped rather than the God who made it all happen.

Years ago, I visited the Parthenon replica in Nashville, TN.  It was probably one of the most influential places I have ever visited.  It never occurred to me how mankind could worship a false idol until I saw the image of the goddess Athena exhibited in this museum.  A very impressive gold-plated statue rising 42 feet, it is the largest indoor statue in the United States.  One could understand how mankind would worship such an object.  No so much because it was a real god, but rather, a work of men’s hands for which they would be very proud.  It dawned on me how self-exalting mankind can become.

The saints are not immune.  We can fall into the trap of forgetting that it is Christ who builds His church.  It is not we who build it.  We are the tools in the hands of the divine.  We are not the author who writes the book.  We are the pen in the hand of a ready writer.  I have seen many of God’s works fall into apostasy or even heresy because those tasked to lead the work of God have forgotten who it was who built it.  They forgot that Christ is the head of the church and if it experiences and success at all, it is because of the divine hand of the Master.  Because of this, He and He alone is the head.  He does with it as He pleases.  We are never the determining factor in what the church is or where it goes.  We have forgotten this.  We can rejoice in what the LORD has built, but never ever should we be proud of it.