The idol factory!

Idols of men’s minds and hearts take us away from the true God and our true humanity. This is why idolatry is so devastating for our human lives. We were made to be with God; we must not make gods to be with us! To make god’s to attend our every whim ends in self worship and then violence to forcefully get men to worship us.

Calvin’s 11th, and 12th chapter is about idolatry. It is very relevant in our day. Today 15 points summarize these chapters.

1. Though the revelation of nature, Scripture, and Christ teach that God is one, fallen man in brute stupidity grope after images and love to give God a shape. But it does not stop here. A myriad of images (idols) are set up and worshipped in the place of the one true invisible God.

2. The church has this advice from Calvin, "God's glory is corrupted by an impious falsehood whenever any form is attached to Him. Therefore in the law, after having claimed for Himself alone the glory of deity, when He would teach that worship He approves or repudiates, God soon adds, 'Thou shall not make for yourself a graven image, nor any likeness [Ex 20:4]'” (Pg, 100).

3. Why? As soon as we seek to express God by a visible form, at that second we depart from God, sully his majesty and bring God into captivity by our own opinion and imagination.

4. What makes us do this? Sin. "Corruption of nature drives all peoples as well as each individual to such great madness" (Pg.,104).

5. Idols and images are the works of men's heads. They are expressions of ideologies, passions, lusts, and hatred. They can be sorrowful or comic. Stupid or wise. It depends on what men want at a given time. There should be something for everybody all the time so they myriad of idols. Idols reflect men’s minds. (Is 2:8; 31:7; 27:19; Hos 14:3; Mic 5:13; Ps 115:8)

6. "So it goes. Man's mind, full as it is of pride and boldness, dares to imagine a god according to its own capacity; as it sluggishly plods, indeed is overwhelmed with the crassest ignorance, it conceives an unreality and an empty appearance as God. Man's nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols" (Pg., 108).

7. "Idols and images of God are not the school of the Holy Spirit. AIn the preaching of His Word and sacred mysteries He has bidden that a common doctrine be there set forth for all", says Calvin. (Pg., 107)

8. Those who love and learn from idols of any sort commit fornication against God. (Jer 2:27; Ex 6:4ff; Is 40:19-20; Hab 2:18-19; Deut 32:37).

9. God has given art such as paintings and sculptures by His common grace to man for His own glory. However, "we believe it wrong that God should be represented by a visible appearance, because He Himself has forbidden it [Ex 20:4] and it cannot be done without some defacing of His glory" (Pg., 112).

Art is good and to be enjoyed. They do express human thoughts and feelings. And obviously people can have beautiful thoughts and feelings as can be seen in art forms. Art is not wrong, what’s wrong is making god our creation.

10. There is only one true God. This true God is the only One that is to worshipped. Scripture makes it very clear that anything belonging to God's divinity, majesty or Person is not to be transferred to another. (Ex 20:3-11) True religion binds the mind, soul and conscience to the one true God as revealed in the Bible, and it (the Bible) does not give any earthly object the slightest opportunity to represent God.

11. But man's depraved mind and heart will, as Calvin writes, "neither cleaves to the one God nor manifest any delight in honoring Him" (Pg., 117).

But thankfully God is jealous.

12. Man without a jealous God would be without hope. "But God, to claim His own right, declares Himself a jealous God, and a severe avenger if He be confused with any fictitious god [Ex 20:5]" (Pg., 117).

13. Not only is God jealous, which is good for us, but He is also holy and has commanded and imposed lawful worship. God binds man to worship Him properly. This is wonderful grace, because as Calvin states, "by it a bridle has been imposed upon men, to prevent their sinking into vicious rites" (Pg., 117). God is dishonoured when men worship and serve images. (Gal 4:8; Matt 4:10; Rev 19:10; Acts 10:25).

14. Zech 14:9. "God will be One, His name will be One." Jehovah God has nothing in common with idols. Man commits sacrilege against the one true God whenever they bow before, pay homage too, or reverence any object other than the invisible God.

15. The church must judge herself by saying with Calvin, "It does not please God to be worshipped superstitiously, whatever is conferred upon the idol is snatched away from Him" (Pg., 109).