Getting Started - What is Worship?

Before writing anything about our worship services, or thoughts behind why we do certain elements of worship on Sunday mornings, I wanted to provide my theology of worship. Everything we do stems from the following beliefs:

We all worship something. Some of us worship money, some social status, others sports teams, food, recreation, travel – most of us worship ourselves. Those who follow Jesus worship the One True God, Yahweh, but often we do not stop to consider who it is we worship, who we are in relationship to the Creator, or our response to Him.

Who is God?: Attempting to answer this question is a daunting task. When I look back over my notes from Lincoln Christian Seminary’s Systematic Theology class, I read the following, “God transcends finite human categories…Theology speaks of God adequately because it speaks of God by analogy,” because we do not have the words to describe God. Yet God has revealed himself to us through His Word and His Son.

God is the initiator of worship because He is God. God has always been and will always be the Triune God who has revealed Himself in creation, the redemption and salvation of humankind through His Son Jesus Christ, and still speaks to us today through the Holy Spirit inspired Living Word.

I could list over 350 names, titles and descriptions of God found in the Bible, including I AM (Exodus 3:14), Judge (Gen. 18:25; 1 Sam. 24:15), Deliverer (Ps. 104:7), The Way (John 14:6), Righteous One (Acts 3:14), and the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33). But the one characteristic that defines God is love (1 John 4:8-9). John tells us, “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” In his gospel John tells us “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (3:16 NIV) All descriptions of God ultimately come back to this foundational characteristic – God is love.

Who Am I?: Because we have a God that is defined as love; because we are created in God’s image (Gen. 1:26) and we are known intimately by the Creator, we know with certainty that we are the object of his affection.. The Psalmist tells us, “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:15-16 NIV)

While we are made in the image of the Creator, because of the Fall (Gen. 3) we are separated from God by the chasm of sin. Romans 5:12 states, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned…” In fact, we are told that we are born enemies of God. (Romans 5:10 NIV)
Yet, even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. (Eph. 1:4), and this was accomplished through God’s own Son Jesus Christ. God’s redemptive plan is first revealed in Genesis 3:15 and continues to unfold in the patience, mercy and love of God towards His people in the Old Testament, ultimately fulfilled in His beloved Son Jesus Christ. Romans 3:23 declares, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

In the greatest example of love the world has ever known, Jesus served as the once and for all sacrifice. (Heb. 9:26) Because of this act of love, those who believe in Him are new creations (1 Cor. 5:17), the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21), not condemned (Rom. 8:1), sealed in Him (Eph. 1:13), Holy and blameless (Eph. 1:4), raised up with Christ (Col. 3:1), forgiven (Col. 3:13), justified (Rom. 8:30), sanctified (Heb. 10:10), perfected (Heb. 10:14), beyond reproach (Col. 1:22), complete (Col. 2:10), redeemed (1 Cor. 1:30), a citizen of Heaven (Phil. 3:20), and beloved (Col. 2:12). This is why we worship Jesus Christ – our Savior King.

How do I respond to God: My response to a sovereign God can be nothing less than my entire life; everything that I am – mind, heart, soul and strength; whether this takes place in the workplace, home, shopping center, softball diamond or in corporate gatherings of worship at church.

Worship in the Old Testament was marked with ritual sacrifices and offerings. But in the midst of the law and all of the regulations handed down in the Torah, God was still concerned about the motives of the people. He spoke through the prophets saying, “These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.” (Isaiah 29:13 NIV), and “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know Me, more than I want burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6 NLT) Behind of all the rules and regulations in the OT lay the foundation of all worship – the heart.

When we look at the New Testament we do not find prescriptions for worship as we do in the Old Testament. In fact, very little is actually taught about worship directly. Instead of teaching about rules and regulations of worship, Jesus taught about the heart. He taught that the Father is still looking for worshippers who worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23), in essence saying, “Love the Lord your God alone and love Him with everything you have.” This sounds very similar to the heart of the law, the Schema found in Dt. 6:4-5 and the greatest commandment as told by Jesus in Mark 12:29-31; love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength.

My response to God is based on the story that I see played out through the entire Bible. God has always wanted and still wants the hearts of His people. More than anything I can do for God, he wants me – he wants my heart, and my entire life is a sacrifice to Him. I pray my life is a pleasant aroma offered to the only One worthy of being worshipped.

Well this will be by far the longest post on this site. But I wanted to establish a foundation to build on. Tell me what you think? How would you define worship?