Genuine Worship – Part 2B (Worship, not Religion)

Exodus 20:3-5 “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them (worship) nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.”

I’ll pick up on my notes from an outstanding lecture on “Worship” that I heard. The Bible acknowledges that mankind is incurably religious. When God called the Jews out to be His people, consecrated and set apart to be a holy nation, they were not the only religious people in the world. He made it clear that we (His people) shall have no other gods before Him and no craved images to worship and serve. This is a faith that is different than all other religions, where our focus and center is on the character of our omnipresent God Himself. Not a god like other nations, who have a god that is tangible, a god they see, a god that is contemporary, a god that is relevant based on their selfish desires, a “golden calf” god that they can get “excited” about as they are engaged in religion celebrating the theology of the humanity-centered world. That is a theology (study, belief & worship) that distorts and corrupts the very character of the true Creator God, a theology that moves away from the true and honorable worship of our Maker, to the worship of creaturely man-thought up and man-made things. Worshiping them as if these human-devised and man-made things could deliver us from anything; praying and offering false worship to these other gods that are deaf and dumb, can’t see or do anything. They are not omnipotent, but an impotent substitute for the “living” God. God demands genuine God-centered worship.

Romans 1:16-23 & 25 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man. Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

The eternal power and deity of God revealed in His Creation clearly and manifestly in the world. Yet, the primary sin of the human race is the take the knowledge of God and suppresses that truth to hold it in unrighteousness, then exchange that truth for a lie to serve the creature rather than the Creator. The most basic sin that we all commit is the besetting proclivity for idolatry … and idolatry involves religion. But, even the Christian religion can be idolatrized, when we strip God of His true attributes and place “self” at the center of our worship by substituting something other than God Himself; the knowledge of the true God - the authentic God of our life and salvation. This is what Pastor Tracy was writing about – keep Christ (God the Son) central and don’t worship “ worshiping”.

Psalm 147:1 Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.

We are living in a day where we are subtly being told that what counts is “feeling good”, being ministered to in our psychological and self-esteem needs,  having a place where we can feel warmth of fellowship and have a sense of belonging and relevance in humanistic friendship, because true knowledge of God’s nature and character, his whole Word in holy Scripture divides to stir up controversy and debates. We’re being told that we don’t need church doctrine; we need “life”. But that doctrine (principle beliefs of God held and taught with authority in life application) is “life”, because that Theology is the genuine knowledge of God, which forms our life. Come to a sound understanding of God first, because our lives will never be brought into conformity with Christ until we first have a clear understanding of the original form, of the model, of the ideal of true humanity that is found in Christ Jesus, that leads to “genuine worship”.

Nehemiah 9:5-7 “Stand up and bless the Lord your God forever and ever! Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise! You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You. You are the Lord God.”

In Christ, Brian