God Never Ask

God never ask anything of anybody about anything. This statement is made because in the last ten years I am hearing someone say, and I am seeing it written that God ask us to do something. I remember the first time that I heard someone say that God ask us to do something. One of the deacons in the church that I was attending at the time was trying to encourage the people to tithe. The deacon said, “God just ask us for ten percent.” I remember thinking to myself. God does not ask us to give ten percent. Instead, He commands us to give ten percent. I did not say anything because I was giving the person the benefit of the doubt that they meant that God probably will not do harm to anyone if they do not pay their tithe, but if the people in the church do not tithe the church will suffer financially. Yet, the statement haunted me. Later, I saw it written, “God asks us to” do something. Over the years I have heard and seen this increasingly. Now, it is not the purpose of this article to debate whether or not we should tithe. Rather, this article takes issue with the notion that God ask us to do anything.

In the Bible it is not recorded that God ask anyone to do anything. God makes covenants with Himself and with people. When God created the first man and woman, “God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28, NASB). God does not make a request. God does not ask the humans their opinion. God does not ask them how they feel about what He is commanding them to do. God commands them not to eat of the tree in the middle of the garden. If they disobey they will die (Gen. 2:17). The serpent convinces the woman who convinces her husband that they have the right to decide for themselves what is best for their lives. They disobey God’s commands, and God banishes them from the garden. When we say “God asks us,” are we being like the first man and woman? Are we claiming that we have the right to choose for ourselves what is best for us? If God only ask us to do something does God have the right to unleash His wrath and punish us? Do we believe that God has wrath, or are we caught up in the modern idea that a loving God cannot do anything that will cause harm to anyone? If so, how do we understand the Christian doctrine of Sanctification? How does God separate the holy from the unholy; the just from the unjust; the righteous from the unrighteousness? Why does God command instead of asking us to do something?

The writer of Genesis records, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (1:1, NASB). God exists before anything comes into being by God’s commands, “Let there be light” (1:3). With these two statements Moses establishes God as the sovereign creator of all things. Everything comes into being by God’s sovereign authority. God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. God is all powerful from the beginning to the end. Everything is in His presence from the beginning to the end. God knows all things from the beginning to the end. For these reasons, God never asks us to do anything. Let us look at these attributes of God and contrast them to human characteristics.

First, God is sovereign. This means that God has the right to determine the boundaries of His creation. God created the worlds and determined according to His own will how the universe is to operate. The consistent rotation of the sun, moon, and stars makes us aware that the universe operates by certain laws. “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands” (Psalm 19:1, NASB). Psalm 8 tells us of God’s glory and the dignity of mankind. “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man, that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him” (Psalm 8:3-4, NASB)? God is our creator and has the right to sovereign authority in the universe.

The Christian doctrine of salvation assumes the sovereignty of God. Jesus came to reveal the Father to the world. He died a vicarious death on the cross because the sovereign God demanded the death of a sinless human being so that God forgives sins and justifies the ones who surrender their lives to Christ. You and I have no choice in the matter except we can accept or reject God’s offer of salvation to us.

God never ask because God is omnipotent, the source of all power. This means that God has the power to enforce His sovereign authority. The United States of America has a military. The Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard give the government the power to defend the country’s boundaries, it laws, and the citizens of the country. God has the power to make covenants and to defend the covenants against all enemies. God has the power to make promises and to keep them despite all opposition; especially spiritual forces that oppose the rule of God. Since God has the power to defend covenants, we have the assurance that God is faithful to His promises.

God has the power to bring about change in our lives. We believe in Jesus Christ and trust Him to be our Lord and Savior. If we do not believe that this is true, why do we pray to God making requests for our needs and desires? God gives the believer the gift of the Holy Spirit to help shape and mold our character by transforming our minds to be like Christ. By nature we do not come up to the standards of God. “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are you ways My ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are MY ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isa. 55:8-9, NASB).

God never ask us anything because God is omnipresent. Nothing is hidden from God. God sees everything from the beginning to the end. God does not need to send out intelligent agents and spies to know the strategies of Satan, His enemy. Everything in the universe is in God’s view. The enemy cannot launch a surprise attack against God. Because we cannot see what will take place in our lives, God gives us directions, instructions and laws that will get us safely to the destination that God plans for us.

God never ask us anything because God is omniscient. God knows everything from beginning to the end. Throughout history God has demonstrated His supreme knowledge by sending His prophets to foretell things that take place in the future. The prophets told of the coming Messiah who would make the knowledge of God known to humankind. The prophets told of His birth, His death and resurrection, His ascension into heaven, and His return to establish a new heaven and a new earth. Can we know all that God knows? How can we make the right decisions for our lives since we do not know what will take place in our life in the next moment?

Finally, God never ask us anything because of human limitations. The United Nations which was established to bring about peace in the world has proven to be ineffective in stopping wars between nations and kingdoms. The governments in the world can only enforce laws when crimes are committed, but law enforcement agencies are proven to be unable to stop crime. God does not ask us what we think that we should do about the problems in the world. God knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know me when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all” (Psalm 139:1-4, NASB). Have you considered that human problems continue unsolved in spite of our best intentions and efforts because those who are in positions to make decisions place their own thoughts and ways above those of God?

If God were to ask us to do anything we would not make the right choices. Therefore, God does not surrender His sovereign authority. When we seek to make our own choices we violate the laws that God established to keep His world functioning in the way that God intended from the beginning. God never ask us anything because God gives us His commands so that we can conform to His ways. When Jesus returns God will bring about the completion of His plans to have a kingdom where there is peace and harmony between God and His creation. Since God has such magnificent plans for His world and His people, do we really want God to ask us anything?