Worship and the Glory of God
In this grand scene of worship the centerpoint is of course God the Father and His Son--
everything else gathers around, and fans out from, that centerpoint; But the focus is of course
inward, the focus is on that center; the exclamation of that entire throng is that God is worthy of
blessing & honor & glory and dominion forever and ever.
WORSHIP is the business of heaven, the preoccupation of heaven, we might almost say the
obsession of heaven: all its inhabitants focus on God and proclaim His supreme value and worth
and glory. All is focused on worship. And, as citizens of heaven, that should be our focus as well.
In heaven there is no other focus, there are no side conversations or announcements or
interruptions of any kind. As Piper reminds us, there is certainly no missions either-- only
WORSHIP. All attention is on God, all glory is given to Him. He alone is worthy of that worship--
He is the Creator (as Revelation 4:11 emphasizes); everything else which is gathered around has
been created. He is the uncaused cause, the self-existent one; all others are dependent on Him for
their very existence. They recognize His unique worth and majesty and splendor and so heap their
praises on Him and on Him alone. Amen!
C. John 4
Now we reluctantly set our feet back on the earth, and move to John 4, where we see Jesus in
conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. From the lips of Jesus Himself we hear what
God most wants from His creatures: the Father seeks worshipers. Those who will worship Him in
spirit and in truth.
The Samaritans apparently had a certain degree of enthusiasm and devotion in their worship on
Mount Gerizim-- but Jesus said they were worshiping that which they did not know (v.22). The
Jews, on the other hand, worshiped according to God's revealed truth (Jesus says in v.22
"Salvation is from the Jews"), but for the most part it had become cold, lifeless ritual. Jesus tells the
Samaritan woman that "an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you
worship the Father" (v.21), but rather "an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and in truth" (v.23)-- true worship would no longer tied to a place, but
rather to the attitude of the heart and the understanding of the truth. And both these aspects must
be present in order for true worship to take place, for Jesus said: "those who worship Him must
worship in spirit and truth" (v.24). Worship must be genuine and from the heart (worship in spirit)
and must be in accordance with God's ultimate self-revelation and self-giving in Jesus Christ
(worship in truth). This is the worship which the Father seeks; these are the kind of worshipers the
Father seeks. As we saw in Romans 1, these will be those who have drunk deeply of God's grace
and who respond with grateful hearts to exalt His name and His glory.
Nowhere else does the Bible speak of God seeking anything from man-- He seeks worshipers.
That is an amazing thought! In His glorious condescension He has made us and sought us and
redeemed us that we might glorify Him and enjoy Him forever-- in worship.
This is true "seeker" worship, if you will: the Father seeks worshippers, those who will worship
Him in spirit and truth. All worship is a response to His gracious initiative. That is a crucial point:
worship is our gift to God-- the only thing He seeks from those to whom He has given everything--
but we must always realize that the idea of worship, the inclination to worship, the desire for
worship, and the ability to worship only come as a result of God's gift to us: His saving initiative in
our lives and the enabling work of the Holy Spirit.
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Used by churches all over the world to help teach worship, the Experiencing Worship study can help your worship team too.
Your team will learn why we worship and gain a better understanding of how to worship.
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This is the debut album by EXW friend Paul Langford. Paul is a Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. Paul has a career that spans 14 years. Paul's work includes arranging for groups like GLAD, Voices of Liberty, VoiceTrek, The Chicago based "Caroling Party" and Day of Discovery Singers. His arranging has appeared on recordings side by side with greats like Gene Puerling and David Maddux, and he has sung with Don Shelton, Bonnie Herman and Bob Bowker, among others.