We will Worship

Genesis 22:3-5 (NIV)
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.
4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

What does it mean to worship?  Contemporary worship seems to be focused on the instruments, the arrangements and the singers.  The more the merrier, the more modern the arrangement the more we can sing, the better sounding the voices the more “heavenly” our worship services will be.  Of course there’s nothing wrong with good instrumentalists, arrangements and singers – the Lord does provide skill to those He chooses to serve Him.  But to focus on these things and think that this is the heart of worship is farthest from what God desires from us.

Abraham told his servants - “we will worship”.  What was he and Isaac going to do to worship?  I believe this incident in Abraham’s life shows us what true worship is all about.

Genesis 22:1-2 (NIV)
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

A few years back the Lord had blessed Abraham and Sarah with a son, born in their old age, just as He had promised.  Now He was asking Abraham to let him go.  God was not asking Abraham to dedicate his son, or to give Isaac back to the Lord in his heart, or through prayer.  God was asking Abraham to offer his son as a burnt offering to Him!  What a request!  Some people may even question God in this area - “who does He think He is to ask something like that from Abraham?”.

What is important here is how Abraham saw God, who God was to Abraham.  When God asked him to offer his son, Abraham without any hesitation began to prepare everything that he needed for the sacrifice, and headed towards the place God told him to go to.  This was not the first time that Abraham obeyed God like this.

Genesis 12:1 (NIV)
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

And Abraham did exactly that, he left his people, his father’s household and went where the Lord wanted him to go.  He obeyed.

Who is God to command Abraham to do this?  Who is God to even ask him to offer his son as a burnt offering?  He is God.  The Almighty, the Sovereign.  And Abraham saw God that way.  Abraham recognized God for who He was, and obeyed.

Here is the heart of worship.  This is where worship begins and ends.  Not in songs, not in offerings, not in rituals, but in God.  When Abraham recognized God as who He was, and obeyed him with all his heart, no complaints, no protest, no question – he was already worshiping God.  This is the heart of worship that God seeks from His people.  God doesn’t want people memorizing songs, enjoying the melody, clapping their hands and junmping with their feet.  God wants His people recognizing who He is, and living a life that corresponds with that understanding, with that knowledge.  Worship begins by knowing in our hearts that God is God, that He is worthy of our worship, and our obedience.  In our hearts there is no one else, nothing else, that sits on the throne except God.  And our hearts naturally bow down.

This is where worship begins.  This is where all our songs come from.  We may not even know the words, and yet our hearts worship!  And this is where worship ends – after all the songs have been sung, after the instruments have stopped playing, and there is no one else in our hearts – God is still God.  He is still sovereign.  Actually, worship does not end, only songs and instruments and worship services.  But our worship never ends.

John 9:35-38 (NIV)
35 … "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
36 "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him."
37 Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you."
38 Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.

Who is God in your heart?  Is He the Sovereign One, with all authority in your heart, that you fear Him above all others and all things?  If He would ask you to offer as a burnt offering someone, or something, that you love – would you?  Your answer will tell if you are worshiping God or not.

God our Trainer

Psalms 144:1-2 (NIV)
1 Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.
2 He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

The passage above is a call to surrender, a call of total dependence upon God.  First David proclaimed that the Lord was his Rock.  The Hebrew word referred to either a cliff or a sharp rock protruding from a mountainside, or a rock or boulder.  Not a stone, or a pebble, or a rock that anyone could carry.  This was a strong, steadfast and reliable rock.  That's who our God is.

He is a fortress, a stronghold.  In another psalm David said:

Psalms 18:2 (NIV)
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.

Our God is meant to be a refuge, Someone we run to, where we hide in.  That's who God is, who He wants to be in our life.  The world teaches us to believe in ourself, to rely on ourself, our own strength.  For some people it is a shame to be relying on anyone but ourself.  But not with God.  God wants us looking to Him, looking at Him as a refuge.  And why not, for He is a strong refuge, reliable, unbreakable!  David proclaimed that God was his deliverer, his shield.  Everything David needed God was it.  His total dependence was on God.

But take a look at verse 1 again:  "Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle."

Yes, God is our refuge, and we are to hide in Him, depend on Him.  But He also TRAINS.  Hiding in God does not mean that we just sit down and do nothing.  There is a battle to fight, and taking refuge in God does not mean that we are exempted from it!  In fact, when we take refuge in our Rock, our fortress and stronghold it is there that He trains us to face whatever it is we are facing!

As we hide in God, resting in His presence, meditating on His promises, it is there that God strengthens us, inspires us to continue through the storm.  It is there that He assures our hearts that He is with us always.  Everything we need our God will provide - as we take refuge in Him.

And His training is extensive!  Look at how He trains us - "who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle".  David being a warrior knew that it wasn't only specific areas of his body that needed training, but every area - even his fingers!  The muscles in his fingers needed to be strong enough to be able to grip his sword firmly through every swing, every attack, to ensure victory.  And his fingers needed to be strong enough to last the whole battle!

As we take refuge in God as our Rock, fortress and stronghold He promises to equip us with everything that we need - everything, for the daily battles that we face.  Peter knew this, and wrote:

2 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 

Everything we need.  David knew even his fingers God would strengthen.  We also need to know and believe that every thing we need, in every area of our life, both spiritual and physical, our Lord will take care of it.

Caught Up in the Grace of God

What happens when someone is caught up in God’s grace!  God’s grace is usually defined as “unmerited favor”, or a favor bestowed upon us that we are not worthy of.  True.  But God’s grace is more than just a definition.  It is a working, God working, God’s working, in our hearts, in our lives.  What happens when God moves in the life of a person?

1 Corinthians 15:9-11 (NIV)
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

Paul’s statements here sort of summarize what happens when God’s grace comes and continues in the life of a Christian.  It affects the very heart, the very personhood, the very nature of the person who is a recipient of God’s grace.

First, Paul said “I am the least…”.  and he “did not deserve to be called an apostle”.  Who is this man speaking, or writing?  This was Paul the apostle.  God’s instrument who brought the gospel to the Gentiles.  He had given his life, his time, his every effort for his Lord and for the gospel to reach every heart, every Gentile.  He was the one God used to write majority of the epistles that we have in the New Testament of the Bible.  And yet he will claim that he was the LEAST, that he DID NOT DESERVE to be called an apostle.

This is what happens when God’s grace comes upon a person.  It strips us, it exposes us, it reveals to us who we really are!  When a holy, righteous, magnificent and glorious God stoops down and graciously touches the life of a person, that person realizes who his God is, and who he really is – nothing.  Our sinfulness is exposed, and we can do nothing but bow in shame before God.  That’s the working of the grace of God!

There is no Christian who has experienced God’s grace who does not have this feeling in his heart.  He may struggle with it, his pride wanting to come back up again and again, but deep in his heart that Christian knows that he is the least, that he does not deserve.  And we bring that attitude, that sensing in every area of our Christian life – in our walk with God, in our serving God, and in our relationship with one another.  How important this is for ministry, for mending broken relationships, for working together for the gospel of Christ!

But it didn’t stop there – the grace of God doesn’t stop there.  God continues His work.

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

God’s grace had stripped Paul naked.  But God did not keep him that way.  God’s grace took the broken heart, the crushed spirit, and took it, filled it with His power, and used it.  Paul knew he was nothing.  But it did not mean he would not accomplish anything for God.  The grace of God will crush you, but He will also take you and use you for His glory and honor.  By the time grace touches your heart, you know you are ready to be God’s instrument.

“I am what I am”.  Paul had accomplished so much for God.  He worked harder than all other apostles!  Paul knew that.  But he also knew that it was not he, but the grace of God that was with him.

The grace of God works through a Christian, and allows him to be a powerful and effective instrument for God that will build His kingdom for His glory!

Because of God’s grace, Paul also had the focus.

11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

Whether it was I or they.  It did not matter to Paul.  Christianity, the ministry, the gifting of the Lord, is not about us, or who we are.  It’s all about Him, and His gospel.  That’s why Paul could say that whether it was he or the others, it did not mean anything.  What was important was the grace of God working to bring the gospel to the world – this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

A man and woman touched by grace does not think of himself/herself.  It’s not about recognition, praise, exaltation of himself, but the exaltation, praise and recognition of God and the gospel, all through His grace!