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Introduction:
“I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone.” How many
characters in television shows, movies, books and stories have we
heard make this claim to someone? Everyone wants to assert their
independence. Especially the young branching out from the
protecting wings of Mom and Dad. Sadly, it too often develops into
a habit with which we face all of life. It too often impacts even
our relationship with God. We must never face God with this
attitude. Instead, we must constantly recognize we need God. Discussion: I.
God doesn’t need us. A.
People imagine God in numerous ways, even if they will not
consciously put into words their image. Some view God as a kind of
Santa Claus, doling out gifts to good little boys and girls but
not so much with the naughty ones. Some view Him as a grandpa who
threatens, blusters and talks big, but in the end tells all the
grandkids just to come and sit in his lap for a big hug. Some see
a vending machine to whom they can place all the orders of our
desires and then complain He is broken if they don’t get what
they want. Some view Him as a vindictive despot who cannot stand
it when things don’t go His way, waiting to wreak havoc in the
lives of anyone who steps out of line. One of the most common
views is a lonely God. Some, believing they have struck on a means
to get us to worship and pray, have imagined God was a lonely
wanderer in need of relationship and fellowship and therefore,
created us to fill the void in His heart. B.
That, however, is not remotely the God we serve. God did
not create us because He needed us to fill or accomplish anything.
In fact, this view of God is merely a projection of our own nature
upon Him. We need relationship. We need fellowship. However, there
is nothing we can offer God that He needs. Paul made this
abundantly clear in Acts
17:24-25, saying God is not served by human hands. He is
the creator of the world, what do we possibly have to offer Him to
fill any need He might have? Psalm
50:12 says if He were hungry, He wouldn’t ask us. He can
feed Himself. He can care for Himself. He can entertain Himself. C.
We must understand this because if we believe God created
us to fill His needs, we will eventually believe God owes us
because we provide a need for Him. We can become like the Pharisee
in Luke
18:11-12. As you hear him pray, you can sense the
self-satisfaction. The Pharisee didn’t need God. Oh no, it was
the other way around, God needed the Pharisee and was lucky to
have such a wonderful servant on His side. The Pharisee was wrong
and left his prayers unjustified.
God Himself said in Job
41:11 no one has ever remotely given Him anything for
which He is indebted. D.
Please, do not misunderstand. God wants our service,
fellowship and relationship. But the amazing thing is in wanting
that, it is not to fill a void in His existence. Rather, He wants
it because He knows we need it. How amazing that God, without any
need on His part, wants to let us have a relationship with Him and
wants it so much that He sent His Son to die so we could (Colossians
1:18-20). II.
Why do we need God? A.
According to Acts
17:28, we are the offspring of God. Without Him we could
neither live, move or have being. I think at times we take
existence for granted. We are here and give little thought to the
power that brought us here. Beyond the creation of all things by
the unfathomable power of God, we are individually here because
God formed us (Psalm
139:13-14). Without God we would not even exist. Further,
now that we exist, without God we could not survive. Consider Matthew
5:45-46, what would happen to our existence if the sun
ceased to rise and the rain ceased to fall? God is the creator and
sustainer of those processes. Marita recently informed me of a
quote: “Remember, it is His air we breathe.” If we want life,
we need God. B.
What is the purpose of life? Why am I here? What is the
answer to the great questions of life, the universe and
everything? Humans are naturally curious. Just ask any parent of
toddlers and young children. “Why, Daddy, why?” or “Why,
Mommy, why?” It is maddening. Eventually, unless the curiosity
is squelched by insensitive parents, we all get around to
wondering what is the meaning behind our existence. According to Ecclesiastes,
Solomon landed on that question. In his search for meaning, he
tested life with pleasure, wisdom, folly, stimulants, works,
possessions, legacies and found only this: “I hated life,
because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is
vanity and a striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes
2:17, ESV). However, this was only about life under the
sun. This was an investigation of life without God, without the
spiritual, without what is beyond the sun. When Solomon brought
God and the spiritual realm beyond this life into the picture, he
suddenly had meaning. “Though a sinner does evil a hundred times
and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those
who fear God, because they fear before him. But it will not be
well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a
shadow, because he does not fear before God” (Ecclesiastes
8:12-13, ESV). There is a purpose, there is a meaning and
Solomon finally concluded, “The end of the matter; all has been
heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole
duty of man” (Ecclesiastes
12:13, ESV). There is no meaning to life without God.
Without God, we are mere blips in an accidental world that will be
forgotten shortly after we are gone no matter how great we have
been in life. If we want meaning, we need God. C.
Romans
3:23
says we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Ephesians
2:1-3 says we all have walked according to the passions of
our flesh and were by nature children of wrath. According to Romans
6:23, the wages of those sins are death, that is,
spiritual death, an eternal damnation away from God’s presence.
We need forgiveness. Without God, we cannot gain it. According to Romans
3:24, God justifies us as a gift by His grace through the
blood of Jesus. According to Ephesians
2:4-5, we have been saved by God’s mercy. We need
forgiveness, but we cannot earn it. We can merit it. We cannot
buck up and plow our way through the rest of this life achieving
forgiveness. We can only gain forgiveness by the mercy and grace
of God. I
John 1:8-9 is clear, if we want forgiveness, we need God. D.
Regrettably, we often view forgiveness and righteousness as
the same thing. They are connected, but they are not the same. We
need forgiveness in order to be righteous, however, forgiveness
does not equal righteousness. According to Matthew
5:6, only those who have a deep and abiding hunger for
righteousness that will ever be satisfied in this life. If we
hunger for money, fame, power, influence, pleasure, happiness we
will always be disappointed. However, when we hunger for
righteousness, we will be satisfied. However, that will not take
place because we can accomplish our own righteousness if we want
it badly enough. That will happen because if we want it badly
enough to do anything God says to get it, He will give us
righteousness. Paul’s main goal, according to Philippians
3:8-11 was to know Jesus so he could have righteousness
and thereby gain eternal life. But he understood, he could not
have such righteousness on his own. That kind of righteousness
only comes from God. If we want to overcome sin and live righteous
lives, we can only do so through God and through the righteousness
He gives by faith. If we want righteousness, we need God. E.
As Americans, we pride ourselves on our independent
strength and power. We can pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and
make our own way. Every once in a while we may need a little nudge
here and there, but we are even embarrassed to admit that. Sadly,
because of this, American Christians are becoming, on the whole,
spiritually weak and nominal. Most of us balk at challenges that
go beyond attending assemblies and many fall away easily because
we can’t handle Satan’s heat. Some have white knuckled their
way through many hardships and then finally given up because they
decide it is just not worth it or they just can’t take anymore.
If we are relying on ourselves, I believe God will allow us to be
pushed until we finally come face to face with our own weakness.
In that moment, we will either give up or realize real strength
only comes from God. Consider II
Corinthians 12:7-10, isn’t that exactly what God did
with Paul? As Paul said
in Philippians
4:13, “I can do all things through him who strengthens
me” (ESV). If we want strength to face life and overcome, then
we need God. F.
Life is hectic. We face storm after storm after storm.
Whether we are talking about childhood, adolescence, young
adulthood, marriage, parenting, middle age or senior years
something is always hammering away at us. Whether it is in school,
on the job, at home, in the neighborhood or among brethren strife
is a common part of life. Perhaps that is why anxiety disorders
are among the most common mental disorders in America, affecting
40 million of the U.S. adult population. That is more than one out
of every six adults facing some kind of anxiety disorder. I have
no doubt some of those are caused by true medical concerns that
need medical diagnoses. However, how many have come about because
people don’t have God in their lives at all or have a wall
between them and God such that they are not fully relying on Him?
In Philippians
4:6-9, Paul explained if we cast our cares upon God and
then think on God’s things, the God of peace will be with us and
His peace which passes all understanding will guard our hearts and
minds. Satan is attacking us with anxiety. For many, our number
one defense is not going to be medicine, but a relationship with
God. If we want true inner peace, we need God. G.
We are in a constant battle. Satan is attacking us at every
turn (Ephesians
6:12). We are facing an enemy who is too strong for us. We
are simply too weak to be victorious. If we try to face this
battle on our own, we are destined for failure. That is why Paul
urged us to “be strong in the Lord” and “take up the whole
armor of God” (Ephesians
6:10-11, ESV). As I
Corinthians 15:57 says, we gain victory over sin, Satan
and even death by God through Jesus Christ. According to I
John 5:4, only those who are born of God can overcome the
world and gain victory by faith. Without God, we lose the battle
and the war. With God, we are victorious. No doubt, Revelation
can be a very confusing book. If we get bogged down in any one of
the pictures and symbols, we might spend years wallowing in
confusion. However, when we back up and see the book as a whole,
it has one unified message. God wins and those who stay on His
side gain the victory. If we want victory, we need God. H.
Finally, we began by pointing out that we need God to have
physical life. Without Him, we could not exist. However, every
other point we have made has actually been leading to our main
goal. Without God, we cannot possibly have eternal life. Romans
6:23 explained that the wages of sin is death, but God’s
gift is eternal life through Jesus Christ. Eternal life is God’s
gift. We read of Paul’s goals in Philippians
3:8-11 to know Jesus and gain righteousness from God.
However, that wasn’t his endgame. The reason for those goals was
to attain resurrection from the dead. He wanted eternal life. In John
5:28-29, Jesus told of a coming hour in which everyone
will hear the voice of Jesus and come forth from the grave. But
only those who have done good will attain the resurrection of
life. The rest will face the resurrection of judgment. We,
however, cannot do that much good on our own. Only through the
righteousness from God can we “do enough” to attain this
resurrection to eternal life. If we want eternal life with God in
heaven, then we need God in this physical life on the earth. Conclusion: We struggle to grasp this. However, there is nothing God has done or has asked us to do that is because He needs something from us. Rather, we need God. We are the dependent ones and He is the source of strength and power. No, He is power and we must come to Him to have power and life eternal. Are you relying on God?
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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