Worship
“I will declare your name to my
brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises" Heb:
2:12
Worship, is a highly personal act that we preform together. Even in a gathering of many our Lord still meets us as individuals. Worship is an expression of our grasping who the great God is and deepens and grows out of our relationship with the Creator God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Worship, helps us to understand our proper
practical relationship with our God. Worship, helps us
to be re-calibrated and be renewed spiritually.
Worship
From the very beginning the people of God have
always worshiped. After being called by God. Abram the Patriarch and the “father
of the faithful” built an alter and worshiped the Lord.
"Abram traveled through the land as far
as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites
were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I
will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared
to him."Gen:12:6-7
Old Covenant
Under the Old Covenant, which the Lord had made
with the Children of Israel, there were elaborate sacraments, rituals and
ceremonies, a specific day of the week, Holy days and times of
worship, all presided over by a sanctified priesthood
who ministered first in the Wilderness Tabernacle then at the
glorious Temple of God at Jerusalem.
The structure of worship was highly
formalized, but the end was always the same; that God's people of Israel
would come to know the Creator God and serve Him alone.
In whatever way worship is conducted, the most important
thing is, that, the God of the Holy Bible be the object of all our worship both
public and private.
"I am the LORD, and there is none
else, there is no God beside me"Isaiah:45:5
A Book of Worship
All through the pages of the Scriptures we see
Patriarchs, Prophets, Priest, Kings, Apostles and everyday people worshiping
the Great God. Sacrifices offered, prayers uttered and hymns are sung,
all in an expression of worship and
adoration toward and for the Great God.
Spirit and Truth
The New Testament its self gives us very
few specifics regarding the liturgy or “format” of worship of the first century
Apostolic Christian Church. The very first Christians had been Jews and
had been familiar with the Temple worship at Jerusalem and the Synagogue system
that was found in the small towns and communities scattered around Palestine
and the Roman Empire.
For a time, the early
Christians began to meet together, at first, in the Temple
courts.
"Every day they continued to meet
together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together
with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the
people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being
saved." Acts
2:46-47
"One day Peter and John were going up to
the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon."Acts:3:1
However, it became obvious to the early
Christians, either by revelation or necessity, that they could not stay in the Temple
courts or the Synagogues. Christians then began to meet when and where
they could, often meeting of the first day of the week (Sunday) in order to
have a weekly reminder of the Resurrection of Jesus. The early Christians, by
the late first century came to call the first day of the week, The Lord’s Day.
The Christian Community sought to
worship in "Spirit and in Truth" with now
a focus upon our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus himself stated that the worship of the
true God would be more than just prescribed rituals at a given place and time,
but rather, would transcend all such conventions. That the worship of the Great
God would be "in Spirit and in truth".
Jesus in His discussion with the Samaritan
woman at Jacob's well in the village of Sychar speaks of this worship "in Spirit and in truth”.
"Our fathers worshiped on this mountain,
but you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.
Jesus said to her "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on
this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You what you do not
know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is
coming, and now is here , when true worshipers will worship the Father in
Spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God
is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth"
. The woman said to Him, "I know that the Messiah is coming (He Who is
called the Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all theses things". Jesus
said to her,"I who speak to you am He". Jhn: 4:20-26
Jesus, in this conversation with
the Samaritan woman regarding worship, connects the revelation of his
Messiahship to the proper worship of God, that is, when we come to believe in Jesus,
we are then free to worship the Father as he always intended us to do, that is
"in Spirit and in truth" in the person of Jesus. We
are no longer bound to a given place or time to worship, as Jesus
said " neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship
the Father." We are now in a relationship with God not in
a religion.
Revelation and Worship, Theology and Doxology
This speaks to us that when we come to believe
in Jesus, when we see who Jesus is, and that in Jesus alone we have the most
complete perfect revelation of the Great God, and we come to see that Jesus is
fully God and yet fully human, the one who saves us, then we are
truly free of "religion”.
This truth was addressed by the Theologian Karl Barth when he said "right Theology leads to right Doxology".
Right Theology centered upon our Lord
Jesus always will lead us to a right worship of God in the
person of his Holy Son Jesus and this leads us ever deeper into
this relationship with the Triune God, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit.
Worship in Jesus
In the epistle of Hebrews, written to the Jewish Christians, who before their conversion and coming to faith in Jesus, saw their relationship with God through the view of the Old Covenant centered at the Temple of God at Jerusalem, and derived their identity from that relationship. Now, their identity was to be found in Jesus, not in a ceremonial religion.
The Holy Spirit moves the author of the
Hebrews Epistle to address this very thing. The Holy Spirit
constructs, using Old Testament Scriptures, the "Divine Conversation “that God has within himself,
and then the author elaborates upon this "Divine Conversation ".
Speaking of worship, The Holy Spirit inspires
the quote from Psalm:22:22 to speak for Jesus
regarding the worship found in the Christian Church. This verse teaches us a
powerful truth regarding worship, our’s and, more so, the humanity of Jesus'
worship of the Father.
" He says,: “I will declare your name to
my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises. “And again,
“I will put my trust in him. “And again he says, “Here am I, and the children
God has given me" Heb:2:12-13
This tells us, that it is Jesus
who truly leads us in worship when the body of the Church comes together,
and who, through the inspiration of the Spirit preaches, that is "declares your name" and who, as well, leads in
the adoration and lifting up of Hymns to God "in the assembly I will sing
your praises.". It is Jesus' perfect worship of
the Father, as our divine High Priest which we are participating in, and
with him.
Only Jesus can worship the Father perfectly. Jesus,
in his humanity lives perfectly and worships perfectly. Our
worship would not be able to be thus. Only Jesus can do this, for he is fully
God yet Fully human. We, in union, through his humanity, are able to
worship.
The Open Door in Heaven
While on the Island of Patmos St. John the
Apostle sees a door standing open in Heaven and hears the invitation "come up here". St. John then finds himself,
by way of this open door, in the heights of Heaven, there St. John witness
the Heavenly worship of the Great God Rev:4:1-11.
Jesus is that Open door through whom we gain
access to and join in with the Host of Heavens worship of the Great
God. In John 10 Jesus tells us he is
the Door, or gate through which we enter.
Jesus is there in Heaven and by Jesus
alone we join in worship God. This also tells us that when we worship, even if
we are few in numbers, as humanity may count numbers, we are in fact,
surrounded by an innumerable company of heavenly worshipers of God and from our
Great God's eternal vantage point we are seen to have joined as part of an
eternal host of worshipers.
Drawn to Worship
Jhn: 6:44 tells us that "no man come to me unless the Father draw him”. This “being
drawn” to Christ is not just at our moment of conversion, but all our lives.
This means, that through the Holy Spirit we are always being drawn to Jesus all
our lives, led by the Holy Spirit to
worship our God in the person of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit will gently,
relentlessly lead us to come to our Lord. It is the Holy Spirit who will
lay it on our hearts to come and worship, to pray to read the word of God to
come into the midst of the Church and gather to join in worship.
We of our own selves would rather attend our
own pursuits. St. Paul wrote "there is none who seek
after God" Rom: 3:11. If
we are worshiping the Great God, it is because we have yielded to and chosen to
respond to the Holy Spirit's lead to do so.
In Spirit
When we worship, the Holy Spirit will
speak to us regarding the very Son of God; Jesus Christ and give us an ever-deepening
revelation about Jesus, and in doing so, we receive a deeper revelation of
the Father whom Jesus came to reveal to us.
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to
you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will
testify about me" Jhn:15:26
The Holy Spirit will speak to us about
and glorify our Lord Jesus.
“I have much more to say to you, more than you
can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into
all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears,
and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is
from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs
to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what
he will make known to you.” Jhn: 16:13-15
Jesus is the perfect revelation of God, "he who sees me sees the One Who sent Me" Jhn:12:45
"Jesus answered, “I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me If you
really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him
and have seen him.”
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and
that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip,
even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has
seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?Don’t you believe that I
am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not
speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing
his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in
me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves."Jhn:14:6-11
When we come to our Lord Jesus to worship, we
come to all of God the Father, the Son the Holy Spirit. "for in him all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" Cos:2:9
Our Priesthood
All who are Christians are called to be a
Priesthood to our God. Our lives should be lives of worship which
honors our God and reflects the transformation which we have in Jesus
Christ.
"But you are a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the
praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once
you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy."1Pet:2:9-10
St. Paul wrote to the Christians at Roman,
that living lives of worship is reasonable and our responsibility as Children
of God who have been transformed through Christ.
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers
and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.Do not
conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his
good, pleasing and perfect will." Rom: 12:1-2
Our lives should declare the praises of
God in how we live and conduct ourselves. Worship in an ongoing part of our
lives it does not just begin and end when we come together, but always in how
we live is an act of worship. Eternal life is not just a state or duration of
life but rather a quality and way of life that brings glory to God.
Gather Together
Heb: 10:25 admonishes Christians to "not forsake the assembling of yourselves together”. The
Greek word for Church, Ekklesia,
comes from the classic Greek of Athens, it refers to a summoned
assembly of the people who came together to govern. This body had two words
that were to govern all their proceedings, Isonomier meaning Equality and Eleutheria meaning Freedom. That is, all had the equality and freedom
to participate in this gathering of the Ekklesia.
When the church comes together all
should be able to participate the worship of God. It is God himself who summons
us to gather and worship in freedom each using their gifts for the good and
building up of the whole.
When we gather, Jesus Christ by way of the
Holy Spirit, makes his divine presences known. Jesus gives a greater revelation
of who he is.
The Early Church understood through the
Scriptural narratives that when the Disciples came together after the
resurrection, that Jesus was there in their gathering together
also. They understood that, through his post resurrection appearances,
Jesus was establishing for us, that when the church is together, he is there
also, this is true even for us today and forever. John: 20:19-28, Mark:16:14, Luke:24:33-49, Matthew:28:16-20
When we Christians gather to praise him, our
Lord makes himself known to us in a unique way. Psalm:
22:3- tells us that "God inhabits the Praises
of His people."
Our praises of him does not "work up" his presences, but
rather, it shows us what is already true, that Jesus is with us.
God Works in The Worship
At the very outset of the creation, the
Angelic Host sang praises as God brought the natural universe into being.
"Where were you when I laid the earth’s
foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely
you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings
set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all
the angels shouted for joy? "Job: 38:4-7
If God created the natural universe at
the Angles' songs of praise, what might our Lord created, while we, who
are Children of God sing praises to him?
We are doing far more than just
singing songs or socializing we are involved in the workings of God;
beyond anything we might have ever imaged. God works as we worship.
Worship is a vital part of the Christian life.
We are called to join in and Worship the Great God. the Holy Trinity, the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Benediction: May we each and all worship the Great God in
the person of his Holy Son Jesus Christ that we might come to know him ever
deeper, today tomorrow and forevermore. Amen
Rev.Todd Crouch, Norman, Oklahoma
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