But the Bible tells us something very different about who God is, who Jesus Christ is, who the Holy Spirit is, and what is mankind’s relationship to God. Let’s search the Scriptures to see just how dangerous it is when one begins to believe that they are equal to God. Here are some of the topics that will be covered:
(1) ARE YOU GOD, TOO?AM I GOD?
(2) IS THE NEW AGE PHILOSOPHY REALLY “NEW”?
(3) GOD’S TRUTH EXCHANGED FOR A LIE
(4) WHY IS THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT SO POPULAR?
(5) IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD?
I originally wrote these pages to give to a person I know who has become interested in the new age movement. Interestingly enough, after reading this, the person has become very standoffish towards me. All I can say is “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? (Galatians 4:16)
(1) ARE YOU GOD, TOO? AM I GOD?
When you first read some of the new age literature, it sounds pretty harmless. You read of love and oneness and peace and truth. It all sounds very positive. You may even see some Bible verses referenced — verses such as “the Spirit of God dwells in you” or “God loves you, you have been chosen.” But the new age literature then takes it a step further. The new age belief system teaches that since God created you and the Spirit of God lives in you, then you, too, must be God. This is where the new age spirituality has now twisted God’s Word and has entered into a dangerous, rebellious position against the only true and living God. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about who God is and whether or not we can ever be His equal.
Isaiah 42:8, “I am the Lord; that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.”
Isaiah 45:5, “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me.”
Isaiah 44:6, 8, “Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.”
Isaiah 43:10, “…I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no saviour.”
Isaiah 45:18, “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is none else.”
God’s Word is very clear that there is one God and that He does not intend to share His glory with his creation, period! But now we have this “new age” teaching that says, “You, too, are God.” But as we will see, this type of mindset isn’t really so new after all.
(2) IS THE NEW AGE PHILOSOPHY REALLY “NEW”?
Wanting to be equal to God, is nothing new. Let’s read of the first created being who desired to be as God. His words are in Isaiah 14:14. “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.”
Who said these words? Lucifer, Satan, the devil himself. As a matter of fact, Satan later even filled Adam and Eve’s heads with the same foolish notions. He lied to them and told them to go against God’s instructions. Satan said, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil..” (Genesis 3:5).
Whenever you hear someone whisper to you, “you can be like God,” they are repeating the words of the devil himself! They are giving you evil counsel that will lead you to a place of ultimate destruction.
Let’s see how God felt when Lucifer wished to become equal to Him. Ezekiel 28:2, 7-9 reads, “…Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God … behold therefore, I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.”
Satan will fall and be cast into the lowest depths of hell because of his desire to be as God and because of his rebellion against God, and the same fate awaits all others who choose to elevate themselves to equal standing with God. Let’s read additional verses that describe what awaits Lucifer because of his wanting to be as God. Isaiah 14:15-17, (Speaking of Satan) “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?”
Hell was created for satan and all of the angels who joined satan in rebellion against God. People of this day who desire to model satan’s wish to become as God have the same fate awaiting them (hell) if they don’t realize who the one true and living God is and turn from their sins and accept God’s gift of grace.
(3) GOD’S TRUTH EXCHANGED FOR A LIE
We all have the true knowledge of who God is written on our hearts, but new age spiritualists choose to exchange the truth of God for a lie. Romans 1:18-20, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”
People, including new agers, know in their hearts who God is and that they themselves are not God, but they choose to become vain and worship themselves as God. The rest of Romans speaks on this:
Romans 1:21-23, “because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man…”
When you begin to think that you are the same as your Creator, it is similar to a vase created by hand out of potter’s clay turning around and saying to the potter, “I am you.” That clay will never become that man who formed it, and you will never become God. Romans 9:20 speaks on this: “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay?”
The Bible clearly shows that we are not God, and no matter how good we think we are or how much kind work we do or how enlightened we become, we will never attain equality with God. Romans 3:23 reads, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” And Isaiah 64:6 reads, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags.” And 1 John 1:8 tells us, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” So if God’s Word is telling you that you fall short of God’s glory and that your righteousness is as filthy rags, and some sinful man is telling you that you, too, have God potential, who are you going to believe?
(4) WHY IS THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT SO POPULAR?
People are attracted to new age teachings and beliefs because the idea of being God-like is much more attractive than the knowledge that you are a sinner who deserves hell. But what are you going to say when you die and come face to face with the one true righteous God? When God shows you how you’ve broken every commandment and how you rejected Jesus Christ as your Savior, will you tell Him then that you qualify for heaven because you, too, are God? Hebrews 9:27 tells us, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” And Romans 14:10, 12, reads,”…For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ…So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” If you do not today open your eyes and see that you are not god-like and that instead you are a sinner in need of a Savior, you will face the sad truth later when it is too late for you.
God made a way for us to be able to stand before Him on judgment day innocent, a way for us to be adopted into His family now and forever. No, you cannot be God, but you can be a child of God. But it is nothing that we can do in and of ourselves. It was something done for us long ago at Calvary. Romans 5:8-9 reads, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
Don’t let the new age way of thinking deceive you into rejecting God’s gift of salvation. People who practice new age principles have nothing in common with God. Someone who disobeys God’s Words found in the Bible is someone who doesn’t even have fellowship with God. John 8:47 tells us, “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” New agers reject Christ, deny the existence of heaven and hell, distort the truths of the Bible, and are in rebellion to God.
You only have two choices: You are either for God or against Him. If you reject God and the sacrifice God made for you by having Christ die at Calvary for your sins and instead choose some man-made spirituality, then you will die in your sins and eternally be separated from God. John 8:42-44 reads, “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me; for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do…”
New age spirituality in all of its different forms and names is really just man’s attempt to get away from the one true and living God. We are given many warnings against such teachings. Jeremiah 23:16-17 reads, “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you; they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.”
And Colossians 2:8-10 warns, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.”
These verses are warning you not to fill your mind and heart with useless words from sinful man. New agers promise happiness and fulfillment in a man-made lie. God’s Word tells us, “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”
(5) IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD?
In conclusion, there was only one man who ever walked the earth who could claim to be God: Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 3:16 reads, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up unto glory.”
And John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” And John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
And in Hebrews 1:8-9, God calls Jesus God. “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”
Jesus was not just an enlightened master or teacher, and Jesus did not claim to be teaching mankind the truth; He claimed that He was the Truth. In John 14:6, it reads, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” What Jesus taught is important, but what is more important is who Jesus is. Jesus is God, and He is our only way to approach God. 1 Timothy 2:5 tells us, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all…”
Again, what are you going to choose? New age spirituality or Jesus Christ as your Savior?
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