Worship

I once heard a story about a preacher who was asked to preach in a church that had no pastor. He arrived at the church with his scripture passage selected and his notes prepared, ready to share the word with the flock. As he opened his Bible and prepared to read the scripture for the day, his gaze fell on a small brass tag attached to the old pulpit. The five simple words on that tag caused him to pause. In the few seconds it took for him to read that tag, an atmosphere of worship permeated the building unlike anything that he or the congregation had ever experienced before. The five words were: “Sir, we would see Jesus.”

Hebrews 1 (ESV)³ He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Worship is the appropriate response to God’s self-revelation. It is that which overcomes us when we truly seek after the Father – and then realize that He was always there, standing right beside us. This passage contains a beautiful picture of the way God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. All of scripture is a description of Jesus and Jesus is a reflection of God. Who then is this Jesus? He is an exact representation of God. What does Jesus do? He is the power that sustains the universe in one of His mighty hands. What did Jesus do? He came to earth as a man, lived a sinless life, offered Himself as a sacrifice for all mankind, and demonstrated His victory over death when He rose from the tomb. Where is Jesus now? He sits in the place of honor at the right hand of the Father continually making intercession for all who truly claim Him as Lord and Savior. How could one respond in any way other than to worship this revelation from the Father?

The Bible tells us that Heaven will be a place of constant worship. This has caused some to say that our corporate worship is a rehearsal for Heaven, but we have to be careful with this type of description. The tendency is to put worship in a box and schedule when we will pull it out and put it on. This can lead to the idea that we endure this life so that we can worship God when we get to heaven. Our existence then becomes a test of our resolve to hang on until He comes back again. That is not what the Bible says.

Scripture tells us that we begin our eternity with the Father at the moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We are seated with Him in the "heavenly realms" (Ephesians 2:4-7). In Hebrews 12:22-24 the Bible tells us that our worship is nothing short of entering the heavenly presence of God. The writer repeats the phrase – “You have come” – several times in this passage indicating that we are already in that place of constant worship. This life isn’t a tailgate party, getting us ready to go in to watch the game. We are already there – as participants.

Every time a Christian breathes a breath, someone is looking at them saying, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” Not only that, but they assume they are seeing Him because we claim Him as Lord. If we are not lifting Jesus up in worship, all they will see is our puny attempts at righteousness, and they will be disappointed.

Worship is not restricted by time and place. Worship is not an action – it is an attitude.

We serve an awesome God!!!!!