We are Created to Worship (Ex. 19-20, Deut. 19-20, John 4:19-24)
02/17/25 • 40 min
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” -Jesus, John 4:23
"In worship, we enter, touch and are touched by the presence of God Himself. We've been created to live like that" - C. S. Lewis
God created us for the ultimate priority of worshiping Him. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever...” “Worship is our innermost being responding with praise for all that God is, through our attitudes, actions, thoughts, and words, based on the truth of God as He has revealed Himself”
↠God was looking for an entire nation of “priests,” but they wanted to settle for an intermediary
↠Ex. 19- IF you will obey My voice, you SHALL be a kingdom of priests, “special treasure”
↠Ex. 20- They respond “No.” Moses, you speak with God, and tell us what He says, we are afraid. God desired a whole nation of priests, but they ended up with one tribe of priests, He wanted to deal directly with them, but they refused and got the law.
↠From SHALL to YOU ARE (1 Peter 2, Rev. 1:6)- New Covenant brings a new priesthood
↠Set apart for relationship, ministering to the Lord, directly, His own special people as He always longed for.
↠Why? “That you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you.. (1 Pet. 2:9)”
↠God isn’t looking for worship. He is looking for worshippers- a priesthood proclaiming praise
↠Isaiah 43:21- “This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.”
↠Worship is a supreme responsibility for us, not just in song, but in heartfelt honor
↠We were created for worship (Rev. 4:11) & operating outside of intended purpose skews
↠Jesus explains further what the Father is looking for- a shift is coming! (John 4:19-24)
↠The location of worship no longer matters- we are the temple (Eph. 2)
↠Primary now is how and Whom we worship
↠Everyone worships- The only question is who or what we are worshiping. God designed us so that we would only find true fullness when we minister to and worship Him.
↠God is seeking true worshipers (implies false exist), we can’t honor with our lips when our heart if far from Him (Matt. 15)- come in repentance, hearts are close, focused on God
↠The true worshipers MUST worship Him in spirit and truth- from the heart/within, cultivate our heart for God. We come to Him in TRUTH/honesty, worship according to the whole counsel of God (John 14:6)
↠A few things about true worship:
↠Worship is our response to Him (1 Chronicles 16:29)
↠God is worthy of it, He deserves it (Ps. 145:3, Revelation 4:11)
↠Worship strengthens me (Ps. 103:1-5)
↠In worship, I am reassured of His presence (Psalm 73:23-26)- He is with me!
↠It fills me with true joy (Ps. 16:11), garment of praise for heaviness (Isa. 61)
↠Changes perspectives (Isa. 6)
↠It is warfare/a weapon (Ps. 149:6, 1 Sam. 16, Joshua 6, 2 Chron. 20)
↠Worship magnifies the Lord, releases His light, and dispels darkness!
Respond This Week: Look over these Scriptures this week. Ask Holy Spirit to deepen your understanding of being a true worshiper. Engage with God as you walk in your intended design of worship. Set aside personal times and a specific time in family this week to worship together- get creative and share with us what takes place. Let’s rejoice and worship together!
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” -Jesus, John 4:23
"In worship, we enter, touch and are touched by the presence of God Himself. We've been created to live like that" - C. S. Lewis
God created us for the ultimate priority of worshiping Him. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever...” “Worship is our innermost being responding with praise for all that God is, through our attitudes, actions, thoughts, and words, based on the truth of God as He has revealed Himself”
↠God was looking for an entire nation of “priests,” but they wanted to settle for an intermediary
↠Ex. 19- IF you will obey My voice, you SHALL be a kingdom of priests, “special treasure”
↠Ex. 20- They respond “No.” Moses, you speak with God, and tell us what He says, we are afraid. God desired a whole nation of priests, but they ended up with one tribe of priests, He wanted to deal directly with them, but they refused and got the law.
↠From SHALL to YOU ARE (1 Peter 2, Rev. 1:6)- New Covenant brings a new priesthood
↠Set apart for relationship, ministering to the Lord, directly, His own special people as He always longed for.
↠Why? “That you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you.. (1 Pet. 2:9)”
↠God isn’t looking for worship. He is looking for worshippers- a priesthood proclaiming praise
↠Isaiah 43:21- “This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.”
↠Worship is a supreme responsibility for us, not just in song, but in heartfelt honor
↠We were created for worship (Rev. 4:11) & operating outside of intended purpose skews
↠Jesus explains further what the Father is looking for- a shift is coming! (John 4:19-24)
↠The location of worship no longer matters- we are the temple (Eph. 2)
↠Primary now is how and Whom we worship
↠Everyone worships- The only question is who or what we are worshiping. God designed us so that we would only find true fullness when we minister to and worship Him.
↠God is seeking true worshipers (implies false exist), we can’t honor with our lips when our heart if far from Him (Matt. 15)- come in repentance, hearts are close, focused on God
↠The true worshipers MUST worship Him in spirit and truth- from the heart/within, cultivate our heart for God. We come to Him in TRUTH/honesty, worship according to the whole counsel of God (John 14:6)
↠A few things about true worship:
↠Worship is our response to Him (1 Chronicles 16:29)
↠God is worthy of it, He deserves it (Ps. 145:3, Revelation 4:11)
↠Worship strengthens me (Ps. 103:1-5)
↠In worship, I am reassured of His presence (Psalm 73:23-26)- He is with me!
↠It fills me with true joy (Ps. 16:11), garment of praise for heaviness (Isa. 61)
↠Changes perspectives (Isa. 6)
↠It is warfare/a weapon (Ps. 149:6, 1 Sam. 16, Joshua 6, 2 Chron. 20)
↠Worship magnifies the Lord, releases His light, and dispels darkness!
Respond This Week: Look over these Scriptures this week. Ask Holy Spirit to deepen your understanding of being a true worshiper. Engage with God as you walk in your intended design of worship. Set aside personal times and a specific time in family this week to worship together- get creative and share with us what takes place. Let’s rejoice and worship together!
Previous Episode
The New Birth (John 3:1-19)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” -1 Peter 1:3
“This new birth in Christ, thus firmly believed and continually desired, will do everything that thou wantest to have done in thee, it will dry up all the springs of vice, stop all the workings of evil in thy nature, it will bring all that is good into thee, it will open all the gospel within thee, and thou wilt know what it is to be taught of God.” -William Law
In John 2, Jesus is in Jerusalem performing miracles, people are starting to see, be impressed, one of those ones is a man by the name of Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews...
↠Nicodemus comes at night with questions (vs. 2)
↠He was a religious leader (Sanhedrin), educated, and influential
↠He was drawn to Jesus, and he wanted to find out more. Have you been drawn?
↠“Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God..” (vs. 3)
↠Jesus gives a strong statement that shatters Nick’s thinking
↠The Jews assumed, due to their racial identity, their BIRTH, that they were assured a place in God’s Kingdom. ”They were good....right?” Jesus says, “NO!”
↠Many today have the same mindset as Nick...church attendance, Grandma’s salvation, “I’m a decent person,” None of that matters- REBIRTH matters (1 John 5)
↠”Born again” What does that mean? Nick has trouble with that phrase... (vs. 4)
↠Regeneration: our first birth gave us physical life, the new birth gives us spiritual life and entry into God’s family (Titus 3:4-5, Ephesians 4:24, 1 Peter 1:3)
↠John 1:12-13- “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
↠The only way to be born again, to experience this spiritual birth, enter into God’s family is through repentance of sin and faith in Jesus (John 14:6)
↠Born of the WATER & the SPIRIT (vs. 5)
↠A fountain of cleansing from sin and one of life (Zech. 1:3, Psalm 36:9)
↠Prophecy of Ezekiel 36:25-27- He says there is a time coming when there will be this transformative new beginning- the water symbolizes all the impurities being washed away.
↠”How can this be?” Jesus: “Everything has pointed to Me”
↠This plan was plainly laid out in the Old Testament, but you believed that you had already arrived. Going through ceremony & Scripture yet you’ve missed Jesus- which is what it was all about.
↠”As Moses lifted up the serpent...even so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (v.15)
↠Jesus points back to Numbers 21:4-9: God’s instruction to be “saved”/bronze serpent
↠Picture of sin judged/dealt with, now in like manner Jesus would be lifted up and they must now look to Him to be saved/reborn (Isa. 45:22)
↠The “why” in all of this- verse 16 spells it out- “For God so loved the world...” (vs. 16-17)
↠We see the Father’s heart- sent Jesus to make a way as we are the object of His affection. He provides a path, a way out to rebirth, but to not choose that path is to actually choose condemnation (Jer. 9:6, Rom. 10:13). Have you truly been reborn?
Next Episode
Longing & Thirst Stirred Up (Psalm 63:1-8)
“To dwell with God is better than life at its best; life at ease, in a palace, in health, in honour, in wealth, in pleasure; yea, a thousand lives are not equal to the eternal life which abides in Jehovah’s smile...“May I ask a question of every professed Christian? Have you spoken with God this morning? Do you allow a day to pass without converse with God? Can it be right for us to treat the Lord with mute indifference?" -Charles Spurgeon
↠In Mark 6, between the beheading of John the Baptist and feeding the 5,000, Jesus sees that the disciples need to get away. “Come away to a secluded place, and rest a while.”
↠It was Jesus’ practice to get away/pray (Luke 5:16- “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”)
↠He also offers us the invitation to “come away...”
↠There’s a getting away & an abiding that must take place (Jn. 15)
↠Distractions abound & attempt to choke out, but He is better (Matt.13:22)
↠A casual view won’t do. “Let us gaze upon Jesus (Heb. 12:2)”
↠“to look steadily and intently, especially in admiration.”
↠Mary chose the “good portion” in Luke 10, it is on us because He is WILLING!
↠Psalm 63:1-8- David & the thirsting soul satisfied in God
↠This was an important Psalm to the early church, they found something in it
that also sparked the same desire as David had
↠A personal God and a priority of seeking
↠A thirsty soul: our souls truly desire Him above all us, only satisfaction is found in Him
↠His “lovingkindness” is better than life- HE IS BETTER!
↠The results are praise & lifted hands, worship, remembrance, trie satisfaction, intimacy, and peaceful night watches filled with Him
Respond This Week: Look over these Scriptures, especially Psalm 63 this week, meditate over them. Put into practice what you see and witness in the heart and words of David towards his good God. Make this Psalm a priority as the early church did.
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