The 'God' Who Wants To Make Us Happy - Breaking The Second Commandment

   The Apostle Paul warns us of not trusting in other Gospels (see Galatians 1). There really only is one Gospel, at least one that is true. The rest are false, but they are very evident. They were evident in Paul's day, and they are still circulating around today. Many of them are the same ones, but recycled and repackaged.
   We hear references today, from prominent 'Christians' about God wanting to make us happy or fulfilled. Authoritative 'Christians' will even tell us that. Here are the words from a counselor of Amy Grant, while she was going through the process of wanting to get a divorce from her husband: "God made marriage for people. He didn’t make people for marriage. He didn’t create this institution so He could just plug people into it. He provided this so that people could enjoy each other to the fullest." This is what is being taught as Gospel in many places. Problem is, you won't find this anywhere in the Bible. God did not create marriage so that people could enjoy each other to the fullest. God created marriage because it was the first institution on earth. It is a foundational block that societies were to be built upon. It is also a vivid picture of Christ's relationship to the church. If marriages crumble, then societies will fall apart. 
  We cannot use God as a means to an end. God is the End. Our relationship with God is the goal He has for us. We are so tempted to believe that our marriage (or something else important to us) is the goal of our lives. If only we could have a happy marriage... 
  Relationships are hard because we are all born selfish. We, by default, do not really love others like we should. We can't, because we are depraved. We are born in sin. Only a redeemed person with a new heart from God can love others. We will not love our spouses the way God intends for us to, until we are born again and growing in our love for God. 
  None of us are going to be truly happy regardless of whether we are married or not. We might have seasons of happiness during our lifetimes, but it will only be temporary. Happiness is not our goal though. God is. What God wants us to have is so much richer and deeper than happiness. God wants us to be filled with His joy. But only those who know Him will have this joy. Those who are still living for themselves cannot have the joy of the Lord. It is not even in their realm.
   Trying to serve the 'god' who makes us happy is violating the Second Commandment. The Second Commandment says that we are not to make for ourselves any graven images of God to worship. That simply means that we are not to come up with ideas of what we want God to be like, then trust in whatever this 'god' is. People in America worship this 'god' who wants to make us happy. He is talked about in churches throughout our land. But he is not the true and living God of the Bible. Only the God who is described in the Bible is to be worshiped. And only the God of the Bible knows what is best for the people He created. Anything else is a false substitute that will ultimately betray us.