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to Alpha Omega Net *** Forthshining Christ's Life
Summary
"Jesus said, '...Worship the LORD your God, and serve Him only'" (Matthew 4.10, NIV).
"And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul". (Deuteronomy 10.12, NASB).
We are instructed to:
1. fear (revere, hold in awe) the LORD
2. to walk (live) in HIS ways
3. to love God
4. to worship Him and serve HIM ONLY.
"Worship" has been the core of God's dealing with the writer for sixteen months - and He has now concluded this part of His discipline, to be opened again at His good pleasure. What He has planned for the next letter hasn't been revealed. It's HIS business - and submission to His will is the only possible course for the believer. So be it.
In the scripture cited above (Deuteronomy 10-12) the Hebrew word for "serve" is one that means to labor, to serve, to submit - and in reference to mankind's shallow understanding it usually means servile, slavish toil. But when dealing with the things of God it means to WORSHIP, and in some places in our Bible has even been translated "WORSHIPPER" - it is so used concerning those who served Baal.
Moses, according to God's instructions, said to Pharaoh in Exodus 8.l, "Let my people go, so that they may serve me". The NIV and Moffat translate the word under consideration as "worship". I deem it a truer translation for today's dissertation - because to worship Him is to serve Him, and to serve Him is to worship Him.
Worship that ends with the worshipper, id est: a worship that is concerned mostly with religion expressed in ritual and ceremony - in a "faith" unrelated to the life of GOD, must be rejected by the TRUE worshipper. ALL life is to be lived as WORSHIP OF THE LORD, and of HIM ONLY! The will of God is to be expressed fully on earth just as it is in the heavenly places; how often have we prayed - "Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven"?
In another place it is written of the Almighty, "...His servants will serve Him. They will see His face..". (Revelation 22.3-4, NIV). Here the word "serve" is a translation of the Greek "latreo", meaning to serve or worship. It's used 21 times in the New Testament and is translated four times as a form of the word worship. Whether used in relation to God, the tabernacle (Hebrews 13.10), the created thing, (Romans 1.25) or heavenly bodies (Acts 7.42), the word serve leads us to bear our lives as a separation in explicit WORSHIP OF GOD. Remember! "For WE are the circumcision, who in spirit are serving (latreuonteV) God, and are boasting in Christ Jesus, and not trusting in the flesh." Philippians 3.3, my translation, with Baker's Greek-English New Testament).
To live totally in Him in absolute surrender to His will is serving which becomes WORSHIP, because we seek to exalt Him in everything we do or say. This is quite the opposite of works of the flesh, because it is forth-shining HIS LIFE as a never-ending and constantly increasing worship of the Creator.
Most of present day "user friendly" churchdom adjusts to the whims of the age. Even though they offer many programs, culture-involvements, and "packaged-gospel" works that can be beneficial to mankind, these things usually hinder people from completely giving themselves to what is the highest of creation's priorities: WORSHIP OF GOD IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH! Even so, deep still calls to deep, and the Spirit continues to draw us onward, nearer and nearer to God so He may draw near to us. The promise of reconciliation is lauded by the Psalmist;
"You have made known to me the path of life,
You will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
(Psalm 16.11, NIV)
JOY IN YOUR PRESENCE! Job cried out,
Oh, that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might come to His seat.
Look, I go forward, but he is not there,
And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
When He works on the left hand,
I cannot behold Him;
When He turns to the right hand,
I cannot see Him.
But He knows the way that I take;
When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.
(Job 23.3,8-10, NIV)
No amount of self-effort, no matter how "religious" and ardent that soulish striving may be, can produce awareness of God. Any fervent activity we might direct toward the consciousness of God's presence will not deepen that blessed state. We, as did Job, can simply believe, trust, and WORSHIP GOD right where we are. We may not know where God is but God surely knows where WE are, and He'll process us, try us as gold - perhaps even in the furnace of affliction - and He'll bring us forth in the victory of Jesus Christ the Righteous!!
David had confidence in God's presence and recognized that God knew where he was:
O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my
lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
You know it completely, O LORD.
(Psalm 139.1-4, NIV)
This may seem to some that David thought of God as present only to him or perhaps to the nation, Israel, at most, but it's plain that David recognized God's UNIVERSAL PRESENCE - and didn't fret at his lack of understanding:
Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?
or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there;
if I make my bed in hell, behold,
Thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morningand dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea;
Even there shall Thy hand lead me,
and Thy right hand shall hold me.
Psalm 139.7-10)
Just because we don't feel His presence doesn't mean He's not there. We can worship Him ANYTIME, ANYWHERE WE HAPPEN TO BE - BECAUSE HE IS. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to exhort the Hellenic pagans of God's omnipresence by using one of their own poet's revelations - (Aratus, a poet from Paul's province of Cilicia) "In Him we live and move, and have our being; as certain also of your poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring'." (Acts 17.28).
The pagans to whom the Spirit spoke had built an altar or stone memorial to "a god not known", therefore to them, unseen, unfelt, unheard, and somewhere else. They didn't even expect to know Him.
Worship is NOT a one act play, to be performed on a weekly, daily or hourly basis. It's NOT a single venture into obeisance, as one might experience with a great earthly potentate. Worship IS a response of our spirit to God's Spirit, deep calling to deep - and of our knowing that "Lo, I am with you always". (Matthew 28.20). His grace has made it possible to maintain an attitude of worship before Him at all times in all places. Because of this grace every daily task becomes an approval of His ways - an altar whereat to worship Him. When we accept His will and praise Him IN and FOR all things, we are worshipping all that He IS and DOES as He directs our steps. Simply believing His promises, rejoicing in His tender mercies and acknowledging in our hearts His LORDSHIP is worship readily acceptable to the Most High.
In Luke 22.42 Jesus expressed such worship in a few plain and beautiful words; "He prayed, saying, 'Father, if it is Thy intention, carry aside this cup from me. However, not my will but Thine be done." (Concordant Literal New Testament). In effect, Jesus simply said, "My humanity desires that this cup be removed, but if Your will is different from my desire, then I don't want my will, but your will."
Never should we settle for less than God's will. The restrictions of our humanity will never allow perfect meshing of His and our will until we are swallowed up to become ONE WITH HIM. Yes, we often pray "Thy will be done", because we desire the better (or more) rather than the not-so-good (or less) - but until complete surrender to His will is consummated we have not truly entered into the essence of worship. Thank God for His lovingkindness, in that when we finally do give ourselves to Him in toto, and worship Him in Spirit and reality, we enter into a relationship with Him that is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us. (See Ephesians 3.20-21).
HIS PRESENCE and OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM - these are essential for true worship of our Almighty One. The degree of intensity of our worship depends on where we are in our union with Him. One may follow His entourage from a distance, bow the knee before Him even if He is far off - even if He is but dimly perceived. A man may join in the tumult and shouting of the crowd, and make obeisance with them as the Great One passes by - but in these activities there is a lack of intimacy necessary for true worship in the way HE wants - Spirit and reality!!
Fear not! The more He is revealed to us as distant members of His Body, the Church, the more we become conscious of Him in our life - and the more dynamic will be our worship. Then, the more we are cleansed of self-worship, will-worship, idol and devil worship, the purer shall be our worship of Him.
In unmixed, unaffected worship, prayer is more than the bent knee or bowed head as we offer our petitions to the LORD, - because true worship in spirit and reality causes our life to become a living prayer. In the same way praise is much more than uplifted hands, words gushing from the lips to magnify Him - because our whole life becomes a praise to Him. When He has processed us to the state of being in which there is total acceptance of HIS will, total submission to HIS purpose - then we become a LIVING SACRIFICE TO THE ALMIGHTY.
Such a life of surrender acknowledges HIS LORDSHIP and our nothingness without Him; - our life is an "out-living' or "forth-shining" of His life - as that of the Christ's is.
No, true worship CANNOT be restricted to an outward act of obeisance. Worship in spirit and reality is a continuous living offering to Him, to His glory and praise.
Words fail, as they must, - because the closer one comes to that which is of pure SPIRIT, the fewer human words, spoken or written, there are to impart that which is believed, known, and experienced in the realm Spirit-reality. Such knowledge and experience defies expression. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so is the immeasurable (by human standards) expanse between that which can be expressed in earthly terms and experienced in Spiritual (heavenly) reality.
As an example: We see a mountain from a great distance with its snowy caps and jagged peaks; we consider its beauty awesome, and we can use words to describe its spectacular beauty. As we approach the mountain the more we are astonished at its greatness and it fills our field of vision. Descriptive phrases begin to fail, because the mountain is "too much with us" and we are fenced in with our own Lilliputian stature. We can't comprehend or perceive the whole mountain, and if we begin to climb it for a while we probably look back at the valley from where we began - looking AWAY from the mountain to focus on things that are farther away from us - and so appear smaller.
As we climb we are aware of individual rocks, crags, trees, folds of earth and fields of mountain growth - not distinct when we viewed the mountain from afar - but not the less a part of the mountain. Then we may stand by a 100-foot tall tree or a towering crag of granite - and again self is dwarfed by a thing that can't be entirely apprehended. We can't take it all in or embrace it; again we turn our back on the tree or crag and look back at what appears small because of the distance. The entire mountain is too great and complex for human comprehension.
The limitations are in US. We simply cannot absorb, nor can we express such greatness.
Thus it is in God's holy realm of the Spirit. WE MUST EXPERIENCE HIM TO REALLY KNOW HIM. We long for that great day of FULLNESS that the Holy Spirit declared in 1 Corinthians 13.9-10,12:
"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I also am known."
"...we see through a glass, darkly" - or "we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror" (NIV). Literally "we shall see en ainigmati!! - in a riddle, or obscure representation of reality. All of our natural life is just a parable of spiritual truth; the true meaning is in the realm of spirit, in the reality of God. I believe that's why the Father wants worshippers who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth - far beyond form and dead ceremony, from outward cold ritual; such worship HE desires is worship that flows from our STATE OF BEING IN HIM.
Let's not find fault with beginning our worship from "afar off"; we have to see the mountain before we appreciate it. It may be a most elementary form of ritual, such as saying "amen" to another's prayer, but we must start from where we are right now, as He reaches out to draw us. Then as we are "changed into the same image from glory to glory", we can leave the first steps of worship, and surrender more and more to HIM. John said, "He must increase, I must decrease" - and His increase in us brings us to BECOME that for which HE apprehended us - TO BE ONE IN SPIRIT WITH HIM. Then our life - natural, spiritual - all of our life - becomes a LIVING SACRIFICE - soul, spirit, and body a oneness whose existence is in and for the worship and glory of God.
Let the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in thy sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
(Psalm 19.4)
Praise the LORD, O my soul;
ALL MY INMOST BEING, praise
His holy name.
(Psalm 103.1, NIV)
Always He returns us to the words, "in spirit and in truth". These words remain before us and challenge the deepest of our being, because this is the way we truly desire to worship. So - we must be crucified with Christ until we live no more but Christ lives in us - and our prayer remains: whatever God means by these words, that's what we desire to have fulfilled in our life.
Beyond words of ours, beyond our pitiful forms and rituals - INTO HIM - and the unlimited flow of His SPIRIT -
WE WORSHIP GOD!
To HIM be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, to the ages, forever and ever.
AMEN