Anyone but him!
From the fall into sin every human heart has felt that way. Adam and Eve hid. Cain complained that his offering was rejected, and killed his brother instead of changing his attitude. From that moment various gods proliferated, the Lord diminished among the people on earth.
Anyone but him!
All paganism is the desire to break God and to his power into more manageable pieces. Sun gods, storm gods, animal gods, the spirits of our ancestors, Olympian gods, who govern each facet of human life, gods who are a little like us, emotional, greedy and pliable, these are the gods people chose over the Lord. Better to have many gods to manipulate than One wo is unchanging.
Anyone but him! In science we trust. Our trust in science is certainly a more sophisticated form of paganism. Instead of worshiping and trusting the creator, the Lord with the power and wisdom to establish the laws of nature and maintain all he has made, we break God up into parts we can understand. We divide the world into fields we can control and manipulate. We are always testing the boundaries of what we can do. On one hand, this is far superior to the superstitions of the past. Our reason comes from God. Our attempts to understand the world can help us understand God. We can only apply science to our lives because a rational God designed a rational world. On the other hand, science doesn’t ever say what we should do. Science avoids the most important question: what is good?
Anyone but him!
I am my own god. I am the master of my destiny, and my desires the measure of morality. Whatever I can do, I should be allowed to do. My freedom, my personal autonomy, is the most precious treasure. Our desire to have anyone but him divides God into millions, even billions, of gods, all named “me”
Anyone but him!
When those gods fail us, when they cannot keep us safe. We need to find a new power to govern life. Politics has grown in its power over people’s lives as they have removed the Lord from them. The president, the courts, the party, the resistance, they will save us from this hour. Anyone but him!
They are right! The Lord and his Anointed One are the greatest threats in the universe. He does restrain our hearts. He does rebuke our desires. He does condemn our sin. He will hold each of us responsible for our failure to use and our abuse of his creation and our failure to love and the harm we do to each other. We should say, “Anyone but him!” But we cannot escape. We cannot hide. God reacts to our rebellion as we might react to the ferocious barks from an adorable little puppy, “Isn’t that cute!” The one who is seated in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. (Psalm 2:4)
The Lord then changes our perspective. Instead of “anyone but him”, the reality: No one but him. I have installed my King on Zion. (Psalm 2:6) How thankful we can be that the Lord is so terrifying! The enemies that would take advantage of you, who are able to destroy you are powerful. The world is full of evil. The forces outside our control are too many to calculate. Yet, the Lord’s Anointed reigns. The Messiah defeats them all.
No one but he could accomplish this. He is the only begotten from all eternity, God from God, light from light, begotten not made. For us, for sinful human beings, he became human. For the weak, he set aside his power. For mortal flesh, he met death and his body rested in the grave. Therefore, God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11)
We cannot be surprised when people take their stand against the Lord. That is one of two logical responses to his power. Instead, let us trust in him and his grace. No one but he can save you and restore you. He breaks the true chains of sin and death and gives to you the true freedom of his love.