Is God an Egomaniac?

John 3:17-18

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How do you view God? As a loving deity who cares about you? Or as an egomaniac who demands believe in me or else I’m sending you to hell?

I think there are a lot of people in our world today that view God in that latter way. They view God as demanding that we believe in him or else. And many people would say, well, that’s really unfair. After all, God doesn’t present himself to us directly, right? He doesn’t speak to us audibly in our ears, at least not usually. He doesn’t show his person to us that we can look upon him or talk to him. And so how can God make such demands?

Yes, God’s existence maybe isn’t so overt, and maybe it is found in the shadows, but there is clear evidence of God’s existence. In fact, it is so clear that all peoples and cultures that have existed since the beginning of human history have believed in a god. And the reason is, is because they observe the world around. They see the design in creation and in themselves, and they are led to that logical conclusion that if there is a design, there must be a designer.

Not only this, we think about all of the peoples and cultures around the world, even today, that we all have a standard of law of right and wrong. And while there may be are nuanced differences between those codes of law, in general, many of them are the same. Do not murder, do not steal, do not commit adultery. And why is there the standard of law? It’s because it’s a universal law that is written on our hearts. Yet there are so many people in our world today that don’t go to that logical conclusion that if there is a universal standard of right and wrong, there must be a standard giver. God himself.

And yet God’s approach to us isn’t one to demand believe in me or else, but instead his approach to us is one of love. He sees our fallen condition. He sees what we deserve for the things that we have done wrong: punishment and justice. And yet he in love, wants us to be spared from all of that. Consider what Jesus Himself said in John chapter three.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. The one who believes in him is not condemned, but the one who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. (John 3:17-18 EHV)

You see, God has revealed himself to us in his body. The body of Jesus Christ in literal flesh and bones. And God has shown that Jesus Christ is God as he claimed to be, not just by his words, but also by his actions, by his miracles, not the least of which, of course, was his miracle of rising to life again from the dead on Easter Sunday. The fact that the tomb is empty proves that Jesus himself is God, and therefore is able to save, just as he has said. God is not an egomaniac who needs us to feel good about himself. Rather, he is a God of love who cares for you.

So God’s desire for you isn’t believe in me or else, but instead believe in my Savior. Believe in Jesus, the one that I have sent to rescue you from the judgment you deserve. From the guilt that you know in your own heart of the things that you have done wrong. Jesus has come to make satisfaction for that sin, and to give you life, and to give you hope, to give you a future. Believe in him and you will not be condemned. Amen.