Luke 20:45-21:6, The Unity of God (6)

·       Col. 3:5-7; Eph. 5:5: Paul in both passages makes a clear connection between “idolatry” and “covetousness.”  We have noted that an “idol” is nothing in itself.  But how does idolatry come to have such a grip on the life of the idolator?  The answer is that it comes through his or her covetousness.  The lust for things is what is at stake.  As we sometimes say in our society, “just follow the money.” 

o   This was evident in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve questioned the promise of God that all their needs were met.  They longed for something else, something more, something God was not giving. 

o   This was the reason for Jeroboam’s establishment of the golden calves at Dan and Bethel.  His reason was that the people would go back to Jerusalem to worship and eventually would defect (1 Ki. 12:27).  So he established a system of worship, hiring priests from among the common people.  And he initiated a feast to compete with the popular “Feast of Tabernacles.”  All this was a means of controlling the population by satisfying their lusts.

o   We also could see this in Jesus’ earthly ministry.  The religion that revolved around the temple was all about the money.  The priesthood had become very political and made the leadership very rich.  It was the motivation behind the plot to kill Jesus (Jn. 12:48).  Read Jesus’ description of the temple worship in Luke 20:45-47.  It probably explains the motivation of the widow as well, believing that her relationship with God depended on her giving all she had.

·       1 Tim. 2:5-7: Here is a simple truth, but it is oh so profound.  There is one God.  Therefore, there is one Mediator.  Only one God has been offended by sin and must have His righteous character satisfied.  Every religion must deal with this issue; it is the point of religion.  How can people become right with their Creator?  In polytheism there are multiple gods and each must be satisfied.  Usually the calendar is full of different days set aside to make atonement with one of the many gods.  In Christianity there is one God.  And that God became Man in Christ Jesus, so that He could give “Himself a ransom for all.”  This “compound unity” (i.e. Triune God) is the only way that makes sense.  If God does not become Man then some other man must be found to satisfy the Creator.  That’s why in man’s religion there was always an emphasis on sacrificing the best so as to appease the god.  Perhaps it would be the king's son, or some virgin of great beauty, or whatever.  But as the Bible says, there were and are none righteous, none qualified to die for the sins of others, none but Christ Jesus!

·       James 2:19-20: Finally, here is a profound point.  Knowing the doctrine of the “unity of God” is not the gospel.  It will not save you just because you know this.  Perhaps you have left behind the idolatry of polytheism or the idolatry of your own lusts.  Perhaps you are doing all you can to eradicate covetousness in your own life.  But if you have not come to the only Mediator, the only one in whom salvation is found in His name, then you are still lost and without hope in this life and in the one to come.  Satan knows there is only one God.