|
Introduction
As an
individual who has lived for more
than seven decades, there are
spiritually enriching experiences.
Two outstanding ones are the
remembrance of the Lord and
worshipping God the Father. When,
by the gracious Holy Spirit, one is
led into an understanding and better
yet an appreciation of the glories
of the Eternal God, it becomes so
overwhelming that there is a
minuscule feeling akin to that of
Ezekiel (Ezek. 1:28), or John on the
isle of Patmos (Rev 1:17). The
Father desires worshippers and when
we respond to His desire, there is
opened a vista of boundless wonders
concerning the excellencies, power,
prerogatives, and person of God as
God and the Father. The words of
Isaiah reverberate through the mind
with the unanswerable question, “To
whom then will ye liken God? or what
likeness will ye compare unto him?”
(Isa. 40:18); or the Psalmist, “Who
is like unto thee?” (Psa. 71:19).
The answer sounds forth with a
clarion clarity:
“Have ye not known? have ye not
heard? hath it not been told you
from the beginning? have ye not
understood from the foundations of
the earth? It is he that sitteth
upon the circle of the earth, and
the inhabitants thereof are as
grasshoppers; that stretcheth out
the heavens as a curtain, and
spreadeth them out as a tent to
dwell in: That bringeth the princes
to nothing; he maketh the judges of
the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall
not be planted; yea, they shall not
be sown: yea, their stock shall not
take root in the earth: and he shall
also blow upon them, and they shall
wither, and the whirlwind shall take
them away as stubble. To whom then
will ye liken me, or shall I be
equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up
your eyes on high, and behold who
hath created these things, that
bringeth out their host by number:
he calleth them all by names by the
greatness of his might, for that he
is strong in power; not one faileth.”
(Isa. 40:21-26). Simply put, God is
worthy of all worship because of who
He is, the power He welds, and the
unalterable purposes He pledges.
Another observation is, before a
person can worship either a god or
the only true God, there must be a
knowledge of that individual and
either their real or imagined power,
and consequently a degree of awe for
that god / God, something that I
fear is greatly missing today. The
scriptures inform us of the evident,
“The fool hath said in his heart,
There is no God” (Psa. 14:1). There
are millions who say this openly as
avowed atheists, but there are many
who don’t say it openly yet are
living the atheistic lifestyle.
The atheistic lifestyle is living
for today and not eternity, acting
as if God does not see or know, as
if there will never be any
consequences for that which is done.
God has a resplendence, a
majestic gloriousness man knows
little about. Worshipping God the
Father is to be in awe of His
excellencies. Nothing of creation
is necessary for His positioning or
assist His continuance in any way.
He created angels and ranks of
celestial beings. He created the
earth and the many “laws” which
cause it to function in perfection.
We Worship God Because:
|
1. |
He is unknowable by man as
the scriptures declare: |
| |
|
a) |
“Lo, these are parts of His
ways; but how little a
portion is heard of him? But
the thunder of His power,
who can understand?” (Job
26:14). |
| |
|
b) |
“For who hath known the mind
of the LORD? Or who hath
been His counselor? Or who
hath first given to him, and
it shall be recompensed unto
him again?" (Rom. 11:34-35). |
| |
Without His gracious
unveiling of His Person and
glories, our knowledge of
the Almighty would be
minuscule, if we knew
anything at all. We would
possibly think that there
had to be a power, a wisdom
and understanding behind all
creation but little else.
It is the Father’s desire we
should worship Him for our
enrichment, the infinite
greatness of His abilities,
provision and
thoughtfulness. Sometimes I
look at the stars and wonder
at not only the number, but
the size of some of them,
and in particular the
brilliance of their light
which travels millions of
miles, and yet we see them
with the naked eye. Then I
consider the vastness of the
distance between them and
marvel at the wisdom and
power of my Heavenly
Father. Surely this gives
comfort and is reason to
worship, for surely the God
who controls the earthly
elements is more that
sufficient to guard my life. |
| |
|
2. |
We worship the Father,
because he desires it. |
| |
|
a) |
The word “seeketh” (Jn.
4:23) is the same word as is
used for Mary and Joseph
when they sought the Lord (Lk.
2:45, 48); Zacchaeus when he
wanted to see the Lord (Lk.
19:3); and Pilate when he
wanted to release the Lord (Jn.
19:12). This not a casual,
shrug of the shoulders
seeking, it is an earnest
longing. This is the
longing the Father seeks to
find from the heart of man. |
| |
|
|
3. |
Of His self-sufficiency |
| |
|
a) |
God is all sufficient and
needs nothing, yet He does
seek worshippers. Why does
God seek such? We
understand and are assured
that God does not seek
worshippers to boost His ego
or have a “look at me”
attitude. He is not a
narcissist God who needs to
be respected and held in awe
for having the
characteristics of depraved
humanity, that is, His own
imagined enhanced
exaltation. God needs
nothing and no one for He is
all sufficient. He is not
enriched by the worship of
the individual for the
individual is only able to
worship because the Holy
Spirit has enlightened the
individual as to the wonder
of God or the blessings of
God. The worshipping
individual is in fellowship
with God and as such
acknowledges His glory. |
| |
|
|
|
|
4. |
He desires it, for it is
pleasing to him |
| |
|
a) |
He seeks man personally, and
of their own volition, to be
desirous of pleasing God.
It is as it were, such an
individual is giving God a
gift that they are sure He
would be delighted with and
they are enriched by. In
worshipping God the
individual receives a
greater appreciation of God,
His values, and virtues. |
| |
|
|
|
|
5. |
He is a jealous God (Ex.
34:14). |
| |
|
a) |
To understand God being
jealous, perhaps an
illustration will help. A
young man is very much in
love with a young lady whom
he has been courting for
considerable time. Then
along comes another fellow
who seeks to woo her. The
young man is not interested
in sharing her, he wants her
all to himself. Over the
time they have been together
he has shown his love by
countless little gifts,
delightful romantic dinners,
and now that an intruder has
come along, he
being jealous of her will
“fight” for her affections
exclusively. God had shown
to Israel his abundant
kindnesses in that He had
redeemed them by blood,
delivered them by power, had
the words of law spoken
unto them, then had it
written with the finger of
God on tables of stone which
Moses broke, and then
written again by God. The
people were very aware that
they belonged to God and
since it was a suzerain
covenant, as one made in
those ancient days between a
superior and inferior, it
was their obligation to love
the Lord their God with all
their heart and mind. They
were not to have “spiritual”
association with any other
gods nor be in fellowship
with any of their
worshippers. God wants full
unreserved devotion and
conformity to Himself.
Therefore, He says, “Thou
shalt worship no other God:
for the LORD, Whose name is
Jealous, is a jealous God”. |
| |
|
b) |
Those who are saved are like
Israel, for we also (but on
a higher level) are redeemed
by blood, delivered by
power, and brought into a
covenant relationship where
God says, “I will put my my
laws into their
hearts” (Heb. 10:16); “I
will put my laws into their
mind” (Heb. 8:10). God did
not say “options” or “if it
is agreeable to you”. It is
our obligation to worship
God by the fulness of
unrestricted and undivided
love. This is the truth of
Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your
reasonable service. And be
not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that
ye may prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God.” |
| |
|
|
|
|
6. |
For His bountiful provision
(Deut. 26:10) |
| |
|
a) |
The worshipping of God in
this passage is very much
that of an individual
showing gratitude as he
recounts the history of his
people, going back to Jacob
going down into Egypt and
the numerous
blessings of God on Israel
(Deut. 26:1-60). Being
enslaved by Pharaoh they
cried unto the Lord and He
brought them forth with a
mighty hand and outstretched
arm. They were brought
through the great
wilderness with signs and
wonders into the promised
land that flowed with milk
and honey (Deut. 26:9). Now
having received the
blessings of God in the
abundance of produce and
sharing
it as God had commanded
(Deut. 26:12-13), the
individual brought his
basket full and worshipped
before the Lord. There was
a recognition that God had
provided and his act of
worship was in words and
material presentation. |
Space forbids the developing
of the following reasons to
worship God the Father:
|
|
We ought to delight in
worshipping God because: |
| |
a) |
Of His Lordship: “So shall
the king greatly desire thy
beauty: for he is thy Lord;
and worship thou him” (Psa.
45:11). |
| |
b) |
Of His worthiness: “Exalt ye
the LORD our God, and
worship at his footstool;
for he is holy” (Psa. 99:5),
“Exalt the LORD our God, and
worship at his holy hill;
for the LORD our God is
holy” (Psa. 99:9). |
| |
c) |
Because of the unspeakable
glory of His person and
attributes: “Thine, O LORD,
is the greatness, and the
power, and the glory, and
the victory, and the
majesty: for all that is in
the heaven and in the earth
is thine; thine is the
kingdom, O LORD, and thou
art exalted as head above
all” (1 Chron. 29:11). |
| |
d) |
From the human perspective,
when we worship God we: |
| |
|
|
i) |
Enter the sphere of the ete rnal
consequently where there is
a deepening perspective of
God concerning time and
eternal verities. |
| |
|
|
ii) |
The liberation which God has
secured by the work of
Christ (Gal. 5:1). |
| |
|
|
iii) |
A greater wonder of Christ
in every level: |
| |
|
|
|
|
1. |
His condensation and
incarnation (Jn. 1:14) |
| |
|
|
|
|
2. |
His humanity (1 Tim. 2:5) |
| |
|
|
|
|
3. |
His death (Rom. 5:6, 8) |
| |
|
|
|
|
4. |
His
resurrection (Mk. 16:9) |
The Blessing It Bestows
As we worship and there is opened to
our hearts and minds the infinite
greatness of His Being, like a shaft
of light there comes a wonder at the
condescending grace of God in
accepting my kindergarten worship,
presented in toddler’s words and
childish way
of expressing the incomprehensible.
|
. . . . Rowan Jennings |
|
 |
| |
|
