God Wants To Be Worshipped

God Wants To Be Worshipped

6/4/16

The title of this article should come as no surprise to anyone who believes in the authority of God.  It also should ring some bells in the land of atheists as well for all sides of the spectrum will be represented when this phrase commences.  God is a holy and orderly God, one that requires His children to live and act in a certain manner, separated.  It is through this separation process that He wishes for us to understand well enough that we worship Him in the same manner, separate from other types of worship.  The way we worship God is a concept that many of us need to stop and think about before we attend any other type of service where worship is proclaimed, for to God it must come totally from the heart.

Over the past few decades or so, there has been a significant rise in the number of praise bands and worship leaders that have come onto the church scene.  There have been thousands of recordings of these songs and hymns during this time period and while many of these songs are divinely inspired and bring us closer to God, we must contend that all actions of these presentations should be conducted through true and holy worship instead of worldly aspirations.  It pains me to think that any worship leader could stand before a congregation and present the message of God through a worship setting but voluntarily live in an ungodly lifestyle.  It is through this type of belief and allowance that we have either become careless with the meaning of the word worship or we have never understood its meaning at all.

The Bible presents us with many methods and examples of worship and while not all of them strictly are demonstrated through music God’s Word is quite clear about our lives being sanctioned through worship and how obedience is its trigger for successful worship.  Hey, can anyone take a guess as to where I will be referencing my biblical examples?  You got it, Genesis.  God continues to amaze me with all of the information that this first book of the Bible contains and how much of this important information many of us have overlooked or not even realized.  It is this information that allows us to begin to understand God and how He wishes us to live out our days on this earth. 

This information also gives us the tools of how important it is that we know what our lives mean and how God sees us through His eyes through our obedience.  This information should arrest our habits and throw them out the door especially when we understand just where worship begins and how it should be expressed.  When we hear the word worship being used many of us immediately think about music.  There is nothing wrong with this thought for music is a part of worship and it is mentioned several times throughout the Bible as a form of communication to God. 

Many times in my younger days I had many instructional lessons from my parents, and as anyone who personally knows me those instructional moments had a purpose, and that purpose was to keep my mischievous mind under control.  But as most of us must acclaim, when these instructional periods presented themselves to me I was already beginning to plan how I would get around this information.  Not knowing exactly what I was setting myself up for when I got caught afterwards.  Now, I did not do this all of the time and at one point some of my ignorance towards these sessions actually came back to bite me and I had to learn things the hard way.  But it was through this disobedience of mine that I have witnessed in my own children and many times now, I wish I had stayed away from those rebellious moments of my youth. 

Ever heard of the phrase “worships the ground they walk on”?  It is this concept that comes into play here during this passage of the Bible that we are about to discuss.  I know that there have been a few people in my life that I have had this type of admiration for and according to my parents it has shown through me even when I do not see it myself.  It is this type of relationship that should be in place when we worship God and if that closeness is present in our worship then we shall have the same type of closeness and obedience in the remaining portions of our relationship with God as well.  And if we do not and the other parts are unequal, then we cannot be equally yoked with God then, and something has to give.  One cannot worship in this manner until one accepts the relationship in like manner.  In human logistical calculations and mannerisms this can lead to huge problems but when applied in the holiest of applications with God can result in the perfect communal relationship that has no boundaries.

Some of you have heard of the old song by Keith Green “To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice”.  It is one of my all time favorite songs and it means so much to my life.  Even though Keith Green tragically left this world many decades ago this song still resonates through the Christian music world, as it should.  Some producers and pastors ridiculed Keith for writing such a song, so much so that his record label almost did not record it because of its “controversial” words.  Well, according to the Bible Keith got it correct and it speaks nothing but the truth, all in God’s holy order.  If you are not familiar with this song and the words that accompany it or if you have not heard its message in a while, I ask that you locate it on the internet and allow its message to fill your hearts.  It is a wonderful testimony to God’s order and His desire and foundation to have a relationship with us.

Genesis 2:15-17 forms the beginning of how God wants mankind to worship Him and it all stems with obedience.  In this passage God has planted Adam into the Garden of Eden and has shown him everything that he needs to do according to the maintenance of the area.  As God and Adam are talking they come to a point where God states to Adam that he is free to eat of any tree in the Garden and it shall supply every need for meat.  But God also states that there is one tree that he should not eat from and that was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  As soon as God makes His statement about the tree to Adam, He immediately states the punishment that would come if Adam ate from this tree.  Notice there is nothing stated about touching it, looking at it or even trimming and keeping its appearance up, only that mankind should not eat from it. 

This statement suggests that there was some kind of edible articles that were on this tree, the Bible does not specifically mention any specific type of article and I am not going to speculate its type either but there was something concerning the tree that mankind would deem edible.  And, why would this particular passage have anything to do with worship in the first place?  Because it establishes the relationship God has with humanity and how we were created for worship through obedience, for up until this point it is recorded that God has been introducing Adam to what is around him and this passage serves as the first law that God gives to mankind.  If God did not establish this law then there would be no accountability for mankind and God would have allowed mankind to just run around as he pleases not caring about what would occur; no guidelines present means haphazard lifestyles and that type of living would not be conducive to God’s holy order.  God is very specific here when He is instructing Adam about this tree.  It is not a complicated or convoluted command, it is simple, direct, and God goes straight to the point. 

This one command sets into motion the concept of a relationship with God, that it is individual and personal and there is nothing else like it in all of creation.  It is through this personal relationship status is defined how worship is established and developed as well.  Even though there is nothing stated about the specifics that Adam and Eve had with God concerning the acts of worship one can process correctly the order in which this subject was presented.  Adam and Eve did have a mind and a process of choice to think; after all, they were human in nature.  They had the capability to reason and to figure things out on their own, through the conversations that they had with God during this time.

It is not about the fruit of this tree that one should be confined with anyway, it is the origin of the command that God gave to Adam, do not eat from it that should be taken as fact.  God had established a specific order with everything in the Garden, including the one item to not eat from.  This was the first lesson in obedience that God gave to mankind and given the mind of mankind, you know Adam had to wonder why God had made such a command.  Most of us know that the Old Testament was about obedience and how important it was for us to obey the laws and commands of God.  This obedience was included when it came to the act of sacrifice as well and it is demonstrated through the examples of Cain and Abel, two of the sons of Adam and Eve.

As parents, it is our duty that we wish to hand out as much information about what and what not to do to our children.  As I mentioned above some of that shared information is not readily accepted by children and sometimes they ignore it long enough until a specific situation comes along and reality hits them square in the face.  This occurred in Cain and Abel as well and we have a perfect scenario of how this personal relationship and obedience led to a perfect worship relationship and one that was imperfect and rejected.  It hurts us when they choose not to heed our warnings or advice but we must marvel in this gift that God has given us because it represents a returning point that we can look upon and allow restoration to occur.

We must never forget that when God created us He did in such a manner through His spirit and therefore we are spirit.  John 4:24 says it all when John records that God is spirit and whoever worships God must do so in spirit and in truth.  Worshipping is obeying God and everything that He has set into motion, which means that this serves as the foundation of relationship and therefore reinforces the commandment that God physically writes down in Exodus about not having any other gods before Him.  What has He set into motion?  Everything that we know about life, whether it be our own life or the trees, fish land, etc.  We were created to be spiritual leaders through our creation itself and we were deemed to be as such through our worship of our Creator and Father.  Since God’s Word cannot in any way be or become void, it is always and shall always be composed of life, which means that worshipping and obeying go hand in hand with life.

Adam and Eve within the Garden obeying God’s statement of keeping and dressing His Garden is a sign of worship.  Obedience is the foundation of worship and it serves as the backbone to the grace that Jesus provided for us through His birth, life, death, and resurrection.  If we do not obey God’s foundational laws concerning His Word, then there is no possible way that we can fall under the grace of Christ, it just cannot work.  The boundaries of Covenant were set into motion in the Garden of Eden and as we can clearly see ANY variation of this obedience throws off the entire relationship status we have with God and automatically places us into a category of rebellion and thus subject to the attacks and destructive natures of our enemy.  THAT is how important obedience is to our lives and when someone challenges you about the laws of God, refer them to this setting, then remind them of their children and how they want the best for them at all times.

The important thing we must realize here is this: as Adam and Eve found out when we voluntarily choose to disobey we will eventually leave the covering of grace, to expose the radical sin that we gladly possess to the eyes of God and it is at this point where He must act.  Why Adam and Eve first chose to place their attentions on themselves instead of God and worshipping the area that they lived in, I cannot say exactly but what I can safely say is that I have fallen into the same choice situation before and I have failed miserably.  And if this person right here can fall, I can understand some type of setting being presented for them to project the same type of response.

Obedience and worship cannot survive without each other, for our existence was created so that both of these portions of our lives may be freely demonstrated towards our Creator with each breath we take.  We are lucky because God made us in such a way that we have the option to choose the life that He originally desired for us until we draw our last breath.  We also know that we are not guaranteed tomorrow which means that it is vitally important that we choose God today and not delay our decision.  A couple of weeks ago, one of my cancer survivors daughter was coming back to her home when for some reason lost control of her car and rolled multiple times and instantly killing her.  This event presents a tragedy and one that is hard to understand but one that should place the importance of us being right with God at all times.  Think on these words from the Lord and take to heart the call for repentance, obedience and worship so that He may restore us back to His true creation.  God wants nothing more than to have a relationship with us and for us to live in perfect peace under His Son’s grace, for it takes unconditional obedience and true worship to exist in our lives in order for us to be complete.

DLB