Daily Friendship with God #19 Worship
Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you (Genesis 22:2) …. And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” (Genesis 22:5)…. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. (Hebrews 11:17-19)
The story in Genesis 22 is used as an allegory of God sending His only begotten Son Jesus as a sacrificial offering to die and then rise from the dead. Leviticus 1:3 1 Samuel 1:3, 2 Kings 17:36 as well as others scriptures ties together the idea of offering to sacrifice. In the context of Genesis chapter 22, three important foundational concepts are found. The first is Love the second is Offer up (sacrifice) and the third is Worship. Love ultimately comes down to what you are willing to Offer up (sacrifice) and that act of sacrifice is worship. One of the definitions for the word Worship means to bow down, prostrate before a superior in honor and respect. When we love someone we honor and respect them. When we love we are also willing to offer up or give of our time, treasures and talents.
Rom 12:1 - I call upon you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service/worship. (Romans 12:1)
God calls each of His followers into the deepest form of worship by inviting them to offer up/sacrifice their life to God, as an act of worship. Please note it does not state a dying sacrifice, rather it does say a living sacrifice. Being a living sacrifice means as you live you will give or offer up your will to do His will as an act of worship. This may sound really scary, but one thing to consider is whenever God calls us to give He is always going to give something better in return.
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32)
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be in Fellowship with His divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
(2 Peter 1:2-4)
Jesus modeled offering up His will just before He sacrificed His life by dying in our place. This is why scripture here does not tell us to be dying sacrifices.
He(Jesus) knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:41-42)
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21-24)
To worship God you have to know (have regard for, cherish, pay attention to) Him. This starts with salvationwhich comes through faith in the gospel of Jesus.
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
Once a person is saved they do not need to go to a place to worship God for God is Spirit and all who know Him can worship Him in their spirit no matter where they are. This means His followers worship Him from their hearts in the truth of His Spirit that is within them. Worship is not predicated on our physical location in a particular building. This is not to say that we cannot worship Him in a building, but if we do, we do so because we are united to the Spirit of Truth that lives within our hearts.
And because you are children of God He has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”(Galatians 4:6)
God’s Holiness is foundational for our worship
Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His footstool— He is holy. (Psalm 99:5)
Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the LORD our God is holy. (Psalm 99:9)
The Devil has a goal for your worship, it is for you to worship him.
And he(the Devil) said to Him(Jesus), “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:9)
God tells us what His plan is for your worship
Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' ”(Matthew 4:10)
There are many forms and expressions of worship such as singing and bowing down.
All the earth shall worship You And sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name.” Selah (Psalm 66:4) ….Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. (Psalm 95:6)
Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon states the following concerning worship. To bow.. out of honor to show superiors as well as to equals.. to honor God with prayer. To Submit oneself
To Christ as King who is to be worshiped as being God over all . Based upon this understanding prayer and submitting oneself is an act of worship.
Worship by Serving
“You shall not bow down (worship) to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars. (Exodus 23:24)
“You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve. ”(Luke 4:8b)
This shows that when a person worships anything they end up serving what they worship.
Worship by Bowing Down, and Giving
And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Mat 2:11)
When we encounter God to worship Him, the natural results is presenting to Him our treasures such as Gold (monetary offering), Frankincense (prayer as incense) and Myrrh (our devotion to honoring the anointed Christ’s life which includes His birth, death and resurrection.)
Worship is ongoing in the eternal realm.
The twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne ( Revelation 4:10)
Who you Worship produces the lifestyle you will live.
But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.(Revelation 9:20-21)
Worship can come from self and not from a heart of towards God as Jesus said.
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”(Matthew 15:8-9)
Matthew 15 also shows that Teaching is a form of worship as well as that Worship is a matter of the Heart. Insincere worship comes from the condition of the Heart and produces religious man made teachings that are not from, or of God.
Understanding God’s view of Angels and worship
Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind (Colossians 2:18)
But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him. (Hebrews 1:6)
Prophecy promotes the revelation that leads to the worship of God.
if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.
The word that is used the most in the New Testament for worship in the original Greek language is proskyneō and it has the following as its primary definition. “To kiss the hand to Kiss towards one, as a token of reverence. This means that the foundation of the action of worship there is affection towards God. Next in its definition that affection is shown by kneeling or prostration to do homage (honor and respect to God) or make obeisance(humble submission and respect) whether in order to express respect or to make supplication. At the core of true worship towards God is respect. The meaning of respect is a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited(drawn out) by their abilities, qualities or achievements.
Take some time and worship God bowing down before Him. Let Him know how much you admire Him for His ability and achievement to save you from sin and death. Worship Him taking note of some of His qualities such as His righteousness, faithfulness, grace, goodness, and His eternal love which you are experiencing now and forever.