“Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

Acts 14:8-15

8 In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

Today’s title is “God Or Sinner”

One of the most fundamental sins of humanity came from the desire to become like God. That was exactly what the Serpent said to Adam and Eve when it tempted them. In the dialogue between the woman and the serpent, the woman did not directly say that she wanted to be God. But her actions did say that. So we can say from this that sin was started when man harbored a wrongful desire to be like God. Doesn’t God like us to be like Him? That was what Serpent insinuated in tempting Adam and Eve to break the covenant with God. But is it true? The answer can be yes and no. It is true that no creature can become like God if becoming like God means assuming the creatorship and sovereignty of all. It only belongs to God the Creator. At the same time, God wants us to be like Him in many ways. He created us after His own image. He crowned us with glory and honor, power and authority like Him. So we often see god-likeness in man. But when a man is filled with such godliness or Christlikeness, he or she recognizes deep humility before God no matter how glorious or powerful he gets. I believe that’s exactly what was going on in today’s passage. God has given Paul His power and authority. With power and authority, Paul performed supernatural healing. He raised the lame who had never walked from birth. The Greeks believed that Such power only belongs to God. Therefore, Paul and Barnabas must be gods in their minds. When Paul and Barnabas heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: “We too are only human, like you.”. Surely Paul and Barnabas didn’t want to God or like God as the serpent tempted. They knew they are wretched sinners like anybody else. They were just happy to be sinners saved by true God. They wanted everybody else to be like them. That was the gospel message that they proclaimed everywhere. Did you ever want to be like God? I believe we all should. I want to be like God and like Christ in so many ways. I want to be righteous, pure, wise, and loving like God. Yes, I want to be filled with glory and power like Him. But what’s even more clear to me is that I am a wretched sinner. I am just glad that God forgave me for all my sins and still loves me. How about you? What do you want to be, God or sinner?