According to Christian researcher George Barna (www.barna.org) 70% of Americans and 93% of Christians believe that God is the all powerful creator and is still in control of the universe today. This number is shocking considering how many people also believe that the universe was created in a Big Bang and that human life is the product of evolution. Many want to say that God created by use of these but in doing so God isn’t much of a creator at all.
From cover to cover the Bible depicts God as all powerful. In Genesis He is the creator of the universe. In Revelation He is the victor over evil and the everlasting God whom we have hope of being with forever. This is one of the most basic Christian beliefs and this explains why so many people, Christians and non-Christians alike believe in some kind of all powerful God.
But if people believe that God is all powerful, why do they live their lives like there is no God? The answer is that we want it all. We want the security of a God who is there in times of trouble and we want Him to leave us alone when things are going alright. What we really want is a genie in a bottle. That way we can have a wishes granted when things get tough – sicknesses, financial difficulties, relationship troubles – and then we can put a cork on him when we don’t want to hear about how we should live our lives to avoid some of these problems.
After 9/11 we saw the hypocrisy of our legislators standing on the steps of the Capital singing God bless America when some of those same people are fighting to have the name of God removed from our currency, our courtrooms, and our pledge of allegiance. We want God’s blessing so long as it comes with no strings attached. We want an all powerful creator God who has absolutely no expectations of us, will let us live our lives as we please, and will come running to rescue us when we need help. And then of course we expect Him to go away again and not bother us once we’re past our time of need.