Isaiah 46 / Lord’s Day 35 (Q&A 96, 97, 98)

Summary: The Reformation brought some significant changes to our worship practices. While some Reformed churches, like Calvin, will include works of art depicting Christ in human form, long gone are the days of trying to worship God through statues or images. So then what does this commandment have left to say to us? Isaiah 46 hints at at least two problems with images: they distort God’s majesty, and they seek to give the worshipper some kind of control over God’s power. Though we may be very good about not making physical images for worship, we still have plenty of ways in which our ideas about God (i.e. mental images) distort his glory or seek control for ourselves. As such, our task is to continue to shatter our ‘images’ of God against the truth of his word. And when we do that, we discover a God who’s far greater and more satisfying than any distortion we may have in our minds.