By: Ricardo Barber
Worship is the expression of love toward God, bowing down inwardly in one’s heart. John expressed that love toward Jesus by revealing the majesty, wonder, work and uniqueness of Christ as the Son of God. Do we today express that same love? Do we really worship the Savior as he was revealed in the Old Testament and self-disclosed in the New Testament? He is the creator and sustainer of the universe. John said in his Gospel that it was Christ that Isaiah saw on the throne high and lifted up,
“But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them. “These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him (John 12:37-41).”
How are we not impressed with him? John had a close intimate commune with the Son that drove him to his face. He had an inner reverence that was rooted in his right thoughts about God and his visible actions reflecting God. True worshippers worship with their lives. This is the fundamental problem in the church.
The glory of God is not honored.
The holiness of God is not reverenced.
The greatness of God is not admired.
The power of God is not praised.
The truth of God is not sought.
The wisdom of God is not esteemed.
The beauty of God is not treasured.
The goodness of God is not savored.
The faithfulness of God is not trusted.
The commandments of God are not obeyed.
The justice of God is not respected.
The wrath of God is not feared.
The grace of God is not cherished.
The presence of God is not prized.
The person of God is not loved.1
Piper goes on to say that this disrespect is opposite of worship. “Worship is not a gathering. It is not essentially a song service or sitting under preaching. Worship is not essentially any form of outward act.”2 These are merely things we use to express worship. Jesus says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24).” Jesus is saying that worship is a lifestyle. The external part of the worship would be of no value if it is not agreeing with the internal state of the worshippers. Worship must be done from the heart, from the inside out.
The purpose of our worship is to glorify, honor, praise, exalt, and please God. Our worship must show our adoration and loyalty to God for his grace in providing us with the way to escape the bondage of sin, so we can have the salvation he so much wants to give us. The nature of the worship God demands is the prostration of our souls before him in humble and contrite submission.
Worship in Hebrew means to “bow down” with respect. It occurs 171 in the Old Testament. In the Greek New Testament this same word is used for worship. It occurs 26 times in the Gospels mainly when people would bow down before Jesus. The Book of Revelation uses it frequently (21 times) because the angels and elders in heaven often bow down before God. The interesting thing is that it only occurs once in the epistles, Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. It doesn’t occur at all in the letters of Peter, James, or John.3 How is the church suppose to know how to worship if none of the epistles write about this subject. It started with Jesus teachings on worship in John 4:20-24. I first like to add that I am fascinated at the number of times in the New Testament that the statement “in him” or “through him” occurs in reference to Christ. Everything was and is fulfilled and found in him. The Jews main place of worship was the temple. The temple in the Old Testament pointed to him. He is now the place of worship. Jesus identified himself as the true temple. “There is One greater than the temple (Matt. 12:6).” In him is were we meet God, not in formal ceremonies, outward rituals, or localized activities but in a personal, spiritual experience with him at the center.4 In John 4:20-24 Jesus uses the Old Testament word for worship to move it from the outward form to an inward reality. He said the hour has arrived when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth in verse 23. How so? It has arrived in him. True worshippers would not be those who go from place to place and shows or uses all the outward forms. They only would be counted true worshippers who worshipped in spirit and in truth. Worship “in spirit” means heart worship in contradiction to all formal, material, carnal worship. Worship that is led by the Holy Spirit and is mainly an inner experience opposed to an outward experience. Worship “in truth” means that it must be done according as God has specified in the Bible. One writer says, “In spirit regard the inward power, in truth the outward form. The first makes strikes at hypocrisy, the second at idolatry." John avoided using the Hebrew word because he and the other writers wanted the essence of worship as Jesus taught to be clearly understood. We worship by our very lives. Our love for Christ should be reflected in our conduct. “If you love Me, keep My commandments (John 14:15).”
John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 206.
Ibid.
Ibid, 216.
Ibid.
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