Worship and Our Identity (part 1)
JCC 31.01.10 am
The first in a series on worship
This is the second of the 4 pillars we are to build in this church
Worship is a broad term we use in Church
We say it but don’t really understand the full meaning behind it
Some have said that it defies explanation
Illustration: Merriam-Webster defines worship as, “to honour or reverence as a divine being or supernatural power” or “to regard with great or extravagant respect, honour, or devotion”
Ill: William Temples says, “Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose -- and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin.”
Since I started searching the word about worship, I realise how little I know
What’s more frightening is the little I know of His presence
There have been intimate times which I cherish, but not enough
Times when I could tangibly touch Him
In the beginning:
God’s creation was very good
The human heart was in perfect harmony with God and all creation
The object of man’s desire was the Lord
Satan knew the powerful relationship that God had with man
After all he was said to be the worshipper before man or anything on earth was created
Read: Ez 28:13-17
The deepest desire of Satan after his fall was to ruin man’s relationship with the Lord
He understood what worshipping God really meant
After all, didn’t he also try and tempt Jesus to bow down and worship him?
We have no idea of the effect on our lives because of the fall of man
Many of us have forgotten the real purpose of our creation from God’s point of view
Whatever was created, was for Him
Rev 4:11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honour and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."
Tozer put it this way:
“God stood the first man on his feet and said, ‘Look around, this is all yours, and look at me, I am yours, and I’ll look at you and I’ll see in your face the reflection of my own glory. That is your end, that is why you were created, that you might worship me and enjoy me and glorify me and have me as yours forever’”
Do you realise Adam and Eve had something none of us have ever experienced?
Sinlessness
True intimacy with the creator, because nothing stood between them and Him
A deep awareness of who He is
An understanding of the mind of God
Freedom to partake with Him and just enjoy Him
They were perfectly beautiful in every way
Image a world where sin does not exist
Where the Lord doesn’t have to veil His face
Where He is your all in all
God came and walked among them
He came to them daily. Why? For the time of worship
We don’t read that God had this same relationship with the trees, or animals; just man and woman
Only Adam and Eve were able to give God what He desired=worship
Then it was lost in a moment of time
Adam and Eve lost the most precious thing there was
They spiritually died which meant they lost fellowship with the Lord
They grew old and ugly as sin took hold of them
They experienced pain, breakdown in family life, a son murdered, then physical death
By them seeing themselves and making coverings of fig leaves they started religion
And we still have the same problem today where man tries to cover his sinful nature
Fig leave religion where man relies on his own ways to cover himself and tries to please a God they cannot see, let alone hear
The foundation of true worship is to bring God pleasure and man in the sinful nature can never do that no matter how hard he may try
People say because of this one tragic event we now see the diseases and poverty, the hate and violence of men, the depravity of sinfulness in sexual perversion
But the real tragedy is that the purpose for being created was gone
Why do we now exist?
Man has no purpose without the Lord
There is nothing to live for without the Lord in your life
For eternity doesn’t start when we die and depart this earth, but it starts as soon as we find Him again
Or in reality, when He finds us
He seeks after His creation like there in the garden
When He finds us, He covers us
He covered Adam and Eve by killing the first animal
The first blood offering as a sign of what God now expected to cover sin
That blood covering is now our through the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God
Image how they felt, having everything, and then having nothing
What was their biggest lose?
It wasn’t the garden, or the authority they had there
Many will say that we need to take back the authority they lost
But how many say we need to regain the relationship
The most important thing they lost was Him!
Losing Him means losing who you are
Illustration: A man wakes in hospital to find he has no recollection of who he is; all his identity is gone. He learns he was beaten and robbed and everything he had was taken from him. No one knows who he is or where he is from
This is what Satan did to the human race
He stole the identity that gave purpose
People walk around in a spiritual coma
They have no real idea who they are and why they exist
People search for the answers to their existence
They look in many places
They look into everything to try and satisfy that purpose and identity
Until Jesus enters the heart, there is the God shaped hole in every human being
Nothing can fill it, but Him
We have heard it so many times, but it is still true today
Again this is where religion steps in to try and fill the gap
All religion ever does is address the external condition but can never change the internal condition which is the root problem
Satan will offer and provide everything to prevent you from finding the true source of your identity
Your identity is in Christ, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and body
The word of God calls us back to worship
The Holy Spirit calls out to us
Read: John 16:13-15
Verses like:
Ps 45:11 So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him
Ps 95:6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker
Is 6:3 And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!"
Constant worship filled the temple of God
Compare this to the church today
There is a love for everything but this
But you might say, ‘I love worshipping the lord’
Almost everything in our churches today passes for worship, yet we have to discern if it reflects the mind and nature of God
Does it please God?
There are rituals and routines, but a passion for Him and His presence is missing
I said last Thursday at the churches together meeting, 30 people turned out to the cinema they started at St. Mary’s, but only 5 of us turned up for the revival prayer meeting
Where are our priorities?
People will fill places like Vineyard and go for the music, the after service bar (which I’m sure William Booth would turn in his grave at)
Most people are looking for emotionalism
The next spiritual fix like a junky
Following after the next outpouring
Travelling miles even across the world to get it
When all the time, it should be within you
Is it a different Lord, a different Jesus?
Can Jesus not be found in the solitary places and the quiet places too?
Is the Holy Spirit only moving where there is noise and hype?
Is that your desire to get a ‘spiritual fix’
The prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel worked themselves into a frenzy
The religious people who served foreign gods had noisy orgies
I’m not saying we have to be quiet
I’m not saying we cannot make a joyful noise to the Lord
But let’s get the foundation right
Get back to God, not external things
True revival of worship will lead to an intensified manifestation of the presence and glory of God
I want that in my own life and in the life of this church
I don’t want religious rituals and observances
I’m not content with a glimpse of Him
I want everything Adam had in the beginning
And don’t tell me I can’t have it, because God says I can through Christ
I am spiritually alive to Him
I have purpose and identity in Him
I am a new creation
Redeemed by the blood of the lamb
Holy and acceptable in His sight
I can enter into His presence and into His courts with praise and worship
And so can you!
Don’t be robbed any longer
Don’t settle for second best when you have the best already
Anything other than spontaneous worship to the Lord is superficial and artificial
The day of Pentecost saw the out-pouring of the Spirit which was worshipping God
This is what turned the hearts of the people to ask, ‘what is this?’
It stirred up something within them they were searching for
And that was the reality and presence of the Lord in their heart
There was no worship leader other than the Spirit of God
No music, no planning
It restored the purpose of being a worshipper
Jesus said that the stones would cry out and worship if we didn’t
All creation is groaning and waiting for the true worshippers
The women at the well was faced with her religion in light of true worship
People have no idea where they are going, who they are, or where they have been
She said, ‘come see a man who told me everything I ever did’
She saw her identity was in Him
Her purpose was in Him
Not in the mountain, not in the religion she grew up in
Her religion did nothing to change her innermost being
The bible is filled with prophets, apostles and people testifying to the purpose of man is to sing His praises
Come and unashamedly enter His presence and worship Him
God placed a new song in your heart, an instrument that plays a symphony to Him
Can you hear it deep in your soul?
Isaac Watts wrote these words of a hymn: (1674-1748)
“I’ll praise my maker while I’ve breath;
And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers;
My days of praise shall ne’er be past,
While life, and thought, and being last,
Or immortality endures,”
