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Introduction
In our perhaps unconscious
perception of life, it is lived on
two levels, the spiritual and the
mundane. This
is natural for we live in a world of
the seen and felt. In contrast to
us, the Lord did not have a split
perspective on life. Every natural
human work He did had a spiritual
perspective. When as the Carpenter
He made a yoke, how perfectly it
would have fitted the animals. He
could have lifted it to God and
said. “This was made for Thy glory”
for He came to glorify the Father (Jn.
17:4). All the miracles He
performed, the messages He gave, the
discourses He spoke, were all geared
toward the spiritual proving that He
was the Christ, the Son of God and
bringing God and the Father into
view. Nothing was done for the sake
of doing it. Time was not wasted.
Life, while totally living the
normal human life, was lived on the
spiritual level.
Dr. Luke, the writer of the Acts of
the Apostles, began his declaration
to Theophilus by stating, “The
former treatise have I made, O
Theophilus, of all that Jesus began
both to do and teach” (Acts 1:1).
The order is significant because it
does not say, “what Jesus taught and
did”, it is, “that Jesus began both
to do and teach”. Furthermore, the
Lord said, “But the hour cometh, and
now is, when the true worshippers
shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth: for the Father seeketh
such to worship him. God is a
Spirit: and they that worship him
must worship him in spirit and in
truth” (Jn. 4:23, 24). This being
so and the Lord as our example, it
is expected that He also would
worship the Father and in truth!
Someone will observe that we read of
the Lord praying but not of Him
worshipping, a statement which is
quite true. He did tell the Devil,
“Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God” (Matt. 4:10). But I am not
aware of anywhere where we read of
the Lord “departing into a desert
place to worship”. The reason is
quite simple, the entire life of the
Lord was one of worshipping God! To
those familiar with the burnt
offering, the ascending offering of
Leviticus chapter one, it prefigured
the un-fluctuating perfections of
the Lord constantly ascending to
God.
However, before considering the
“Christ who worshipped”, I deem it
important to consider what worship
is. In these days of “worship
songs” and “worship leaders” with
all sorts of loud receptive music,
which so often is unbiblical and
without harmony, the question is,
when tested against scripture, “Is
any of this worship?”. What is
worship? Worship is a spiritual
experience.
Worship is the results of the Holy
Spirit’s unveiling to the human
heart, that recognizes rights
and glories of God, being ideally
automatically responded to.
Christ
not only recognized
God’s rights, but lived in devotion
to God.
When considering Abraham and Isaac,
at the time of worship not a word
was spoken. It was activity of a
man responding to the rights of God
for the glory of God. The offering
of the sacrifices and the building
of the Tabernacle were acts of
worship for they were done by the
enlightenment of God, for the glory
of God, having recognized the rights
of God. Therefore, I say that the
entire life of the Lord was a life
of worship.
Jesus the Worshipper of God the
Father
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When I say that the entire
life of the Lord was a
continual worship I am
reminded of the frankincense
when it was put on the
altar. The fragrance of it
rose to the nostrils of God
as a sweet smelling
fragrance (Lev. 2:2; 6:15).
The Lord’s life was a
continual living for the
glory of God by every
thought. All He wrought was
done for God’s
glorification. He ever gave
God His rightful place, did
everything according to His
will, in His way, and in His
time with the purest of
motives. It is easy to read
the gospel narratives and
listen to the parables He
spoke and the miracles He
wrought, but fail to see the
purposes that caused each of
them. His will was to
finish the work God gave Him
to do. There could be no
wavering or casualness, or
doing God’s will
reluctantly. God loveth a
cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7)
and Christ had to give all
to God cheerfully. This was
worshipping in spirit and
truth. Some of the ways in
which I see the Lord
worshipping God the Father
and giving Him His rights
(Rev. 4:11) are: |
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a) |
His willingness to come into
this world and be a human
being. |
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i) |
We often hear the words of
Isaiah and applying them to
God and the Lord, “Whom
shall I send, and who will
go for us? Then said I,
“Here am I; send me” (Isa.
6:8). Then when the body
was prepared, it is my
understanding the Lord
entered that body for it is
written, “A body hast Thou
prepared me” (Heb. 10:5),
whereupon He could say, “Lo,
I come to do thy will” (Heb.
10:9). Saul who became Paul
was a young man, a man
zealous of the law in
extremity. When He, seeing
the Lord, said “Lord, what
wilt Thou have me to do?”
(Acts 9:6). But this was a
major characteristic of the
life of the Lord from His
birth. He could well have
said, “Thou art my God from
my mother’s belly” (Psa.
22:10). In becoming human
the Lord had already humbled
Himself, taking the form of
a servant and becoming a
little lower than the angels
was made in the likeness of
sinful man (Phil. 2:7).
What an act of worship that
was. |
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b) |
Christ and His life |
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i) |
It is astounding trying to
grasp that everything about
the life of the Lord was for
God’s glory. That was the
goal, love was the motive
and cheerfulness was the
attitude. It was not an
easy life He lived, for men
love darkness rather than
light (Jn. 3:19) and since
John was a burning and a
shining light (Jn. 5:35),
how much greater was the
Lord who was the Light of
the world (Jn. 8:12; 9:5).
Every miracle was a sign,
wonder and power. A sign of
who He was, the power of God
flowing through Him for all
was done by the power of the
Holy Spirit, and the wonders
indicate the effect His
miracles had on others. |
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c) |
Christ in Gethsemane |
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i) |
In coming to Gethsemane one
is entering a thrice holy
place where there is
displayed the beginning of
the supreme act of worship
the Lord could give to the
Father. Gethsemane is so
sacred one would venture
into it with great
reverential awe. Others had
come and kneeled before Him
(Mk. 10:17) but in
Gethsemane the Lord kneels
and begins to pray. One can
almost feel the reverential
pleading of the Lord when He
prays, “O my Father” (Matt.
26:39). This was no light
speaking to God. It was a
man with an intensely
burdened heart for the glory
of God, willing to endure
whatever it necessitated to
bring the ultimate glory to
God by defeating the works
of the devil, and laying the
foundation for reconciling
the whosoever to God. See
the wonder of this act and
words of worship when God is
given His supreme right over
a human. Not in compliance
which is obligated or
demanded, but in an
unreserved bowing of His
will to the will of God.
That is worship. As we
listen to the words when the
Lord not only kneels but
lying prostrate on the
ground, how much anguish
must have filled the hearts
of the three disciples.
They evidently could see His
form in the Olive grove as
they heard His strong
crying. I remember seeing
my father cry twice. As I
heard his anguish it broke
my heart. It was not a soft
weeping but the cries of
agony. The Lord is praying,
pleading with strong crying
and tears and speaks the
words, not of resignation,
but of glorious worship,
“Not my will, but thine, be
done” (Lk. 22:42). I cannot
imagine the deep thrill that
must have filled the heart
of the Father as He saw a
man on earth so completely
unreserved in devotion to
God and worship of God. |
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d) |
Christ in the trials |
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i) |
In life we all come into
situations where we are
slighted, mocked or
humiliated. It is not only
exceedingly embarrassing,
but how little the
individual feels, longing
for it all to be over. When
I read of Herod’s men, the
chief priests, the scribes
and the elders mocking Him
(Matt. 27:41), all I can say
is, “It must have been
dreadful beyond words”.
Then there was added to the
mocking, the humiliating by
the soldiers; the suffering
from the crown of thorns;
the buffeting with the
fists; the blind folding and
His being used as an object
of mirth. Even the drunks
sang a song about him. How
amazing is He in that He
took all their mockery and
felt sorry for them, even
praying later that the Lord
would forgive them. He took
it to
be fully fitted to be our
High Priest and doing it all
for the glory of God. It
was worship, giving to God
His rightful place of utter
supremacy, having ones will
completely yielded to God. |
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