Acts 17:25
Neither is worshiped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.
Neither is worshiped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.
The hand of God wrote on the tablets of stone. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them.” We still find such images in the world today. Statues and shrines are erected and worshipers gather around them to pray and give oblations. Such religions can also be found in America. I live down the street from a buddhist temple, and they have erected a 25-30 foot goddess statue in the middle of their yard. I am ignorant of the purpose of the statue, but it does appear to be a shrine made to attract followers to come and worship. Christians must be careful when erecting buildings or statues to honor saints. Buildings are erected to provide a place for believers to gather together to worship, and we want to respect the house of God, but scripture clearly states that we should not confine God to a place . “seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” (V24) We are the church, and should bring God with us to the house of worship. Many preachers and writers have preached and written on idol worship in our day. One need not make a statue to worship an idol. In a nutshell, anything that comes between you and God is an idol. The list of things are as diverse as there are people. We live by faith alone, and we serve a God who desires all of our hearts. Worshiping Him in holiness requires that we give to God all that we love in this world and place our love and affection to the things above (Col 3:1).
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