Recap: For All God’s Worth
To follow Jesus – to grow intimate relationship with the Father in his Son by his Spirit – we prioritize and practice devotion to God’s Word, and to Worship. God’s Word is his self-revelation to us. Our response to his self-giving disclosure is worship: the gift of our self in responding disclosure and full surrender of ALL who we are and possess, to ALL who he is and has done for us, that God may possess us in utter mutual delight. When you encounter Someone so significant, so beautiful, so majestic and all loving, you cannot but respond with awe and adoration. Think of the moments when beauty breaks through – seen in creation, in people, in the arts, in God’s goodness to you, and above all in Jesus of Nazareth – tears of appreciation and joy well up in you… that is worship… because God is Ultimate Beauty!
‘Worship’ comes from ‘worth-ship’, meaning ‘giving God all he’s worth’. Worship is: For All God’s Worth! Who or what is more worthy of our worship, of our love and our lives? Thus worship is both an act of loving God (proskyneo, in church and in personal times with God) and a lifestyle of serving God (latreuo, all we do every day is for God)… or is it? God is not our butler, at our beck and call, “You rang?” – there to serve us whenever we need him.
A Kingdom View: Worship is Heaven on Earth
A ‘Kingdom view’ of worship is this: the promised end of the world, God’s future Rule and Reign, the Kingdom of HEAVEN, has already come to earth. It broke into human history in the man Jesus of Nazareth. What is the picture of worship in heaven… now come to earth? Continue reading Following Jesus by Practicing Worship – Part Two
