The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Image Worship

Thank you Pilgrim for posting the article by Mr. Hoeksema.It could not have come at a more needful time.

The latest rage here in several of the local communities is the placing of a yard sign that says,"Happy Birthday Jesus".It seems as if I am waging a one man war against this blasphemy.One can hardly travel down a street anywhere without seeing at least one and in some cases one in every yard.When voicing my opposition to these signs I have been told ,among other things that I am ,"straining at a gnat",and "Oh,it's just a little sign letting people know that Christians live here."

Mr. Hoeksema is dead on when he says that violating the second commandment is a heinous sin,dragging down the glorious Creator of heaven and earth to man's own level.We Christians are to blame as much as the pagans we point our finger at when this subject comes up.

This is the part that does it for me,when Mr. Hoeksema says,"For the living God is the Creator,but an image is always the representation of a creature.God is the eternal One,but an image is the representation of a creature which drags God into the limits of time."

When asked by one lady why I didn't like those signs,I replied,"the Jesus that saved me doesn't have birthdays , He's eternal."She said to that,"Well, you don't have to be legalistic about it."

Sojourner, it does me much good to hear you say these things. I have seen many people on facebook using nativity scenes, and other graphics such as alleged pictures of Jesus at this time of year in particular, which violate the Second Commandment. They profess to be Christians but are perhaps untaught or are taught an antinomian view. They think they are religious but show themselves to be haters of the Laws which God has given man that he should obey them.

I am totally convinced that the rash and ever increasing violation of the Second Commandment in our day is due primarily to two serious issues:

1. The doctrine of the majesty of God has been woefully diminished to the point that what the majority of people understand of "god" is far removed from the GOD of Scripture. They don't even have a true understanding of "God is love". What is being preached and taught is as Hoeksema rightly described as an image derived from the creature. In other words, professing Christians and preachers have "anthropomatized" God; fabricating a deity after their own liking. This is the core element of IDOLATRY.

2. Due to #1 and even when the biblical doctrine of GOD is rightly preached and taught, the heart is either moved with an earthly infatuation with this false idol or when GOD is correctly displayed in all His glory as best as we as humans are capable of doing through true preaching and teaching, it is embraced only intellectually. For myself, the most vivid example of how a true Christian responds when he/she comes to realize who GOD truly is can be seen in the following passage:

To come face-to-face with the living God drives one to your knees in shame, humility and submission. And, let us not forget the record we have of Moses on Mount Sinai who was given but a tiny glimpse of GOD's "backside" which was so overwhelming that Moses glowed having been exposed to GOD's inexorable glory. (Ex 33:15-23; 34:28-35)

An "all too familiarity" in speaking of GOD is a terrifying indication that one's heart has probably not been exposed to the one true Living GOD.

Calls to mind Isaiah's experience recorded in chapter 6 [ASV] "1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts."