YOU ARE NOT GOD!
                                       by
                                Brad T. Bromling

        Modern man is being told to view himself as God. As incredible as
    that may sound, it is a common cry of the New Age Movement. In truth,
    affirming self-deification is a major aspect of New Age meditation.
    However, the Bible does not so portray man's status relative to the
    divine. Clearly, God created us in His "image," but not in His
    "essence" (Genesis 1:26).
        In the Bible, only the wicked elevate themselves to the level of
    deity (see Ezekiel 28:2). King Herod abruptly learned the Almighty's
    opinion of such warped self-appraisal. Luke reported the event in these
    words: "So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his
    throne and gave an oration to them. And the people kept shouting, `The
    voice of a god and not the voice of a man!' Then immediately an angel
    of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he
    was eaten of worms and died" (Acts 12:21-23). Herod's death should
    serve as a reminder that God does not tolerate human self-
    glorification.
        This one teaching of New Age thought effectively eliminates the
    entire scheme of redemption---negating thousands of years of divine
    action. It denies the creative acts of Jesus (John 1:1-3), the
    miraculous unfolding of prophecy (I Peter 1:10-12), the providential
    preservation of the messianic seed (Galatians 3:16), the uniqueness of
    Jesus' birth and life, the significance of His pitiable passion, the
    joyousness of His resurrection, and the hope of His second coming. When
    man has declared his own deity, he has spit in the face of God, and
    personally participated in plunging the nails  through the hands and
    feet of the sinless Savior.  One might as well have been the soldier
    who thrust his spear through the Messiah's side, than to be the man who
    pompously claims his own divinity!


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                  Apologetics Press, Inc  All Rights Reserved

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