A Plea to Return to God

Of all that God created, the only creation created in His image is man.

- Genesis 1:26-27 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

The sun is beautiful, but it was not created in the image of its creator. The moon and the stars are exquisite, but they were not created in the image of their creator; the plants in the plant kingdom and the animals in the animal kingdom are amazing, but none of them were created in the image of their creator. We can search throughout creation and we will never find an image bearer of God, the creator, other than man. Is that by coincidence or is it by intentional and strategic design of the creator Himself?

While I do not know what your answer is to that question or if you answered it at all; but what I do know is that everything God does, He does purposefully and with the end in mind, and creation is not exempt. From the beginning of the creative work of God, to the end of that work, God purposefully created everything and everyone with the end in mind. In other words, in God’s design, everything has a purpose, and its purpose is purposed with the end in mind.

- Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

So, If I am to make this national plea for a return to God, then I must return to purpose, and if I am to return to purpose, then I must return to the beginning of God’s work of creation; and if I am to return to the beginning work of creation, then I must return to God, the creator.

As stated in the introduction, man is the only created being that bears the image of God. He was created in His image, after the likeness, both male and female. It is imperative that we understand that this image upon man was not a flesh and blood image. John 4:24, makes it perfectly clear that “God is a spirit.” God has no flesh and blood body; therefore, the image of God upon man refers to the immaterial part of man, this would entail, the mental, moral, and social aspects of man. If we take a closer look at this God image upon man, this is what we will see:

First, encompassed within this God image upon man is the ability to make sound judgment. This relates to the mental aspect of God’s image upon man. God has given man the ability to reason, and to make conscious choices and decisions for himself. Keep in mind that this image upon the unregenerate man is marred and in desperate need of being renewed by the Spirit of God.

Second, encompassed within this God image upon man is seen in the moral conscious of man. This relates to man’s ingrained sense of knowing right and wrong. Again, keep in mind that this image upon the unregenerate man is marred and in desperate need of being renewed by the Spirit of God.

Lastly, encompassed within this God image upon man is a social aspect. Man has a need and a desire for fellowship. God himself said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helpmeet for him” {Genesis 2:18}.

When we put all these aspects of the image of God upon man together, we can see that man has been blessed with freewill, yet, it is a blessing given unto him by God with the intent that he would choose him as he exercise this gift of freewill. As we know, that was not the way things worked out in the garden of Eden with the first man, Adam, nor is it the way things have worked out with man since.

Unfortunately, the natural inclination of man is to exercise his freewill in an antagonistic way towards God; that is, to oppose His will and His ways. Instead, man’s inclination is to exercise his freewill to choose his will above God’s will, and his way, above God’s way; as a result, man’s choices do not reflect the image of God, nor does his choices reap the blessings of God.

God has blessed every man with freewill, and we can choose as will, but we do not get the choice to choose the consequences. The consequences of our choices are engrained in the choice itself; and that, my friend, is the scary part. If the image of God upon me is marred, and my natural inclination is antagonistic towards God’s will and His ways, then surely, the consequences of my choices will not be those that God has desired for me, nor will they yield blessings for me.

Take note of what God says in Deuteronomy 30:19; notice that He even goes so far as to tell us which to choose, “choose life,” and then He tells us the consequences of our choice, “Both thou and thy seed may live.”

- Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

I said all of that just to say this: Any time we, individually or as a nation, choose our will above God’s will, and our way rather than God’s way, we are choosing death, and the consequences are just that, death, physical and eventually, if not repented of, eternal.

So, it is here that I make this national plea for a return to God. Let’s be honest, as a people and as a nation, we have chosen to live independent of God. We have chosen our will above the will of God; our way, rather than God’s way, and as a result, we are suffering under the consequences of our choices. Hatred, division, anger, strife, disobedience, selfishness, greed, sexual immorality, identity and gender confusion, drug addictions, racism, murder, and violence, are a few of the consequences of our deadly and destructive choices. Keep in mind, these are consequences to choices we made independently of God. They are consequences to choosing our will over God’s will, our way over God’s way. To add to our plight, is the downfall of the systems upon which we depend; for instance, there is the downfall of our economic system, political system, educational system, and every other system upon which our nation depends upon.

While we do not want to admit it, this present condition of our world, is a grim picture of what life is like when man tries to live independent of God. For years we have ignored Him, rejected Him, and dismissed Him and His Word from our society. Not only have we ignored and dismissed Him, but we have done likewise to his Son, Jesus Christ, the ONLY Savior of the world; and as a result, we are suffering under the consequences of our choice to live independently of God.

And while it may be difficult for us to admit, our consequences from choosing our will instead of God’s will, continues to drive us further and further into darkness; But all is not lost. If there is breath in our body and we are still standing as a nation, there is hope. The key is, will we grab hold of that hope and live; or will we continue to dismiss the God of hope and die; As for me and my house, we choose hope. We choose life. We choose God.

How about you; Do you choose life that you and your seed may live? Are you ready to admit that as a people, and as a nation, that we have lived our lives independent of God long enough and that it is time we return to Him and live? Can you see that the present condition of our world is a grim picture of what life is like when we dismiss and ignore God, His Word and His Son, Jesus Christ?

While I do not know what your answer to those questions are, I do know that if we would return to Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He will gladly receive us unto Himself and turn our lives and our nation around. How do I know that? Because He has done it before, and if He has done it before, then surely, He can, and will do it again.

So, where do we begin our turn around at? Well, we begin where the prophet Isaiah instructed the children of Israel to begin:

- Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

We can also begin our turn around by heeding the instructions of the prophet Isaiah in 2 Chronicles 7:14

- 2 Chronicles 7:14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

While you may not agree with anything I have said thus far; I am sure that the one thing we can agree on is that we need a turnaround in this nation. We need God to bless this nation once again. If our nation is going to survive, then we cannot continue to travel down the road that we are traveling and expect to experience the blessings of Almighty God. We need a turnaround, and not just any turnaround, but we need a God kind of turnaround, that is, the kind of turnaround in which the path leads us back to Him.

So, in my closing I make this plea to you and to the United States of America: Let us return to the Lord our God, and let us pray that in his mercy, he will heal our land and turn our heart back to Him. Beloved, let us humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways so that in His mercy he will heal the land and set our world back on the right path; that is, a path of holiness and righteousness. Let us humble ourselves and call unto him for deliverance from the brutality of our enemy. Let us call upon Him that He may abundantly pardon us for the multitudes of our sin. Let us call upon Him that he may grant us an abundance of grace to turn our hearts back to Him. Beloved, let us grab our families and come back to the altar of our God. Let us return to the lover of our soul, our Lord, our God. Let us return to our God and serve him in the beauty of holiness. Let us return to our God and love him with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind and with all our strength; and then, beloved, let us love our neighbor as ourselves. Let us be kind to one another, let us show compassion towards one another, let us be patient and long suffering towards one another. Let us bear one another’s burdens; and let us pray for one another and do good towards one another. I leave you with the following Scriptures:

- Psalm 34:14-16 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. 16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

- Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

God bless and keep you is my prayer.

Beverly Scott