Men and women throughout history have had trouble trying to conceive of God and what he does. When God seems to need our help, we invent a new Bible passage. “God helps those who help themselves” is one most people think comes from the Bible. It doesn’t.

God has come down to us and given us a clear revelation of himself. But instead of taking God at his word, we like a neat little package we can handle and manipulate. We prefer to put God on a shelf, dust him off when we need him, sprinkle a little theology on our lives, and then put him back on the shelf until next time. It’s convenient and trouble free.

Of course, basically you don’t need that kind of god. The world understands that. He becomes just a crutch to get you through the troubled times. Atheists are right when they say that such a god is just superstitious, wishful thinking and unnecessary.

We know better. The apostle John describes us as “dear children . . . from God” (1 John 4:4). It wasn’t that way originally. Because of our sinful nature, we were opposed to God—his enemies, not his children. We thought like the rest of the world. But God’s grace in Christ has made us his children—adopted and changed.

Interestingly, John says that because we are God’s children, we listen to God’s message. Yet so many around us don’t see the value of listening to God. For them, it makes more sense to sit and read the newspaper or camp with the family rather than to go and hear God’s Word. John suggests, “They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them” (1 John 4:5).

So what is the viewpoint of the world? Click on the TV and pay attention. The world is focused on ego, power, control, gratification, money, and pleasure. It’s hard to find anything else. The world’s viewpoint has no horizon beyond what anyone can see or imagine. For the world, God, if he is needed at all, is in his little package, which, they think, is relatively unimportant.

We have a different vision. As children of God, our viewpoint starts with believing in Jesus Christ. We treasure forgiveness, life, and salvation. We also understand that God’s power is hidden in the gospel—a power that has brought us to faith and that keeps us in faith. If we want to grow as Christians and if we want our churches to grow, using God’s power—the gospel—is essential.