
What is Christian Worship? Why and how do you worship? Worship is all about God, not you. So, instead of asking what you can get out of worship personally, ask how you may worship God as He intended. Christian worship is NOT religious worship. That is because Christianity is not a religion, Christianity is the dynamic spiritual life of Jesus Christ in action through the Christian.
Christian worship is not: man-centered or event-centered, but it is Christ-centered. Christian worship was established by Jesus Christ. The primary purpose of the redemption of mankind was to restore man to be a worshiping creature! It was not to get a man out of hell and into heaven, but to restore man to experience Life As God Intended, a worshiping person made in the image of God, in-dwelt by Christ’s life, to live and worship to the glory of God. This cannot be overstated. Man will never glorify God –if man is not functioning as a worshiping creature.
In Christian worship the Christian participates in what Christ continues to do as the living Lord in our lives. True Christian worship is a response to and participating with the activity of Jesus Christ, within us toward God. Our faith response – glorifies God, as we allow for the expression of His character through our behavior. God intended worship to be a lifestyle. Worship should not be just one part of our life, it should be the whole expression of our life, permeating all our life.
Jesus is and has always been, the only expresser of God. We are not imitators or copycats of Christ, but we are invited to participate with Him. As with everything in the Christian life, we worship only by the grace of God. “Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Every facet of the Christian life is to be an expression of worship.
Worship occurs as we allow for the total expression of the life of Jesus Christ in our behavior. Worship is about a relationship. Enjoying a close relationship with God will inspire worship. Worship transpires when God’s people are inspired by God, to tell Him about “the worth”, they see In Him. God is the object of our worship and the inspiration of worship. “Whatever goes around comes around.” As Paul penned, “For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things.” God is both the focus of worship and the means of worship. All that He is worthy of comes from Him. Worship is derived from God.
Everything starts with Him and ends with Him. We were created for His glory – but only God can glorify God. God is only glorified by what God does. It is only as we are receptive to His character, that we worship and thereby glorify God. As we express His grace, we worship Him. We can expect God to provide everything necessary to make worship possible. We are always dependent upon God to worship. We have no resources of our own to worship. His indwelling Spirit energizes our worship. He is the source and object of our worship. Worship is recognizing God for who He is. Worship is not something optional to being human, but is the very essence of experiencing life, we all worship something or someone all the time.
It might be said, “We are never more – truly ourselves – as God intended, than when we worship God. Life As God Intended is a fully functioning worshiping human being. Apart from worshiping As God intended we are not fully being ourselves or expressing ourselves to the glory of God.
May I leave you with the words of the apostle Paul, “Christian brothers and sisters, I ask you from my heart to give your bodies to God, because of His loving-kindness to us. Let your bodies be a living and holy gift given to God. He is pleased with this kind of gift. This is the true worship that you should give Him.”
Living the Victorious Life
Living the Victorious Life
Living the Victorious Life