We were made for God's glory; made to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. To understand why were created is to be able to live in response to our designed purpose. What is the starting place of understanding our purpose? The proper response of the creature to the Creator is to worship. In Jesus' discourse with the woman at the well, we discover Jesus' most detailed teaching on the subject of worship.
In His conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus confronts her moral state and her deeper need for love (John 4:7-19). Ultimately, her need for forgiveness and acceptance would only be found in a relationship with Jesus, the Saviour of the World. The beginning of understanding worship is to understand who Jesus is and to understand our need of Him.
Worship begins not with what, as in “what should I do”, and “what is required of me”, but rather, who? Who is the one I am worshiping and then what does He require of me? Once we understand that we are to surrender our lives to the One who is the ultimate, the Lord of All, then we can begin to learn how to live out that worship. A redeemed man or woman, very much aware of the depths of his or her sin and very much aware of the great cost that was paid by Jesus on the cross to atone for that sin, is someone who spends the rest of life, with the desire to honor Jesus with all they are. Worship of Jesus Christ our Saviour is a lifelong expression of extravagant devotion and extreme submission.
We need to know what kind of worship pleases God. We need to understand what the Bible commands us concerning worship. Hebrews 12:28-29 urges us, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” The One we serve is a consuming fire, so the heart properly postured is essential in acceptable worship. In contrast to acceptable worship is false worship.
The religious leaders of Jesus' were meticulous worshipers, yet the sum total of their worship amounted to zero for their heart was not in their worship. They worshiped with impure motives and the object of their worship was not really God but themselves. Jesus said of them in Matthew 15:8-9,“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
In John 4:23-26, Jesus teaches the woman, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Jesus teaches us that worship is the right response to God who is worthy of all glory and honor. The Father He taught, is seeking worshipers, that is you and I, who will worship in spirit and in truth.
The words “spirit and truth” can function on more than one level. Certainly we need to worship according to the truth revealed in God's Word. Our worship is to be “by the book”. Also, worship needs to be true, that is, coming from a place of deep sincerity, which is a true offering. It is not pretentious, not hypocritical or deceptive, but a real representation of who we are and what we intend. Worship is also to be “in spirit”, that is, from our innermost self, from the depths of our heart. This worship from the heart engages our mind, emotions and body. Paul teaches in Philippians 3:3 that worship is led by the Holy Spirit who is our Worship Leader. “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”
Worship is not limited to a place or a time, but is the lifelong preoccupation and delight of a redeemed child of God. Worship as a lifestyle calls us to consider who God might be glorified in all of our words and actions, with every breath, outside and inside the walls of corporate worship, for He is worthy. In spirit and in truth, let us press on to be those who love to worship the One who has love and redeemed us.
- Jody