Sunday, April 08, 2018

Worship The Creator

We will not worship as we should before we get to Heaven.


Revelation 4:8-11 Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—the One who always was, who is, and who is still to come." 9 Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the One sitting on the throne (the One who lives forever and ever), 10 the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the One sitting on the throne (the One who lives forever and ever).

And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, 11 "You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For You created all things, and they exist because You created what You pleased."

The Revelation of John continues in chapter four with an invitation to step into Heaven. The Book of Revelation started with Jesus as he is today, the glorified Jesus at work among the churches, giving us instructions on how to do church.

John's vision keeps progressing and now the church age is over in chapter four and we can logically conclude that the rapture of the church has occurred. The progression of John's vision is from the Church Age on earth to the throne of God in Heaven. Combine that progression with what we know from other scriptures and you can see that God's children are safely with him when his wrath is poured out on those that are still on earth in chapter six. (1 Corinthians 15:52 / 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

John is called up to Heaven to encourage us of how wonderful our future is. What an amazing sight that John is attempting to describe for us! John's experience is much different from any of the popular accounts of people that claim that they have been to Heaven. Unlike all of those stories everything that John sees in Heaven revolves around the throne of God.

God is on His throne and around the throne are beings that represent God's people, they have been given white robes and they have received their crowns which they will give back to God as they worship him.

God is in control, which is what we should expect from the one that is on the throne of Heaven. Despite the persecution that is going on back on Earth, which John is experiencing, the persecuted Christians should never doubt his power or his wisdom.

We suffer with so much discouragement and worry because we forget that he is on the throne and he is in control despite all of the chaos around us. We should not entertain the idea that evil is going to win.

God is being worshiped, which is what we should expect from the ones that are seeing the one who is on the throne of Heaven. As good as you may think your worship is, it is nothing in comparison, in Heaven God is truly being worshiped fully and correctly.

It is impossible in our current condition, to worship God as he should be worshiped, we will not comprehend the value and worth that should be given to God and worship him properly before we get to Heaven. As long as our old sin nature is a part of who we are then we will be distracted with our thoughts, our pride and our sinfulness.

While we wait for our call to go to Heaven we should learn more about how to worship and practice doing it.
The inner essence of worship is to know God truly and then respond from the heart to that knowledge by treasuring God, prizing God, enjoying God, being satisfied with God above all earthly things.

And then that deep, restful, joyful satisfaction in God overflows in demonstrable acts of praise from the lips and demonstrable acts of love in serving others for the sake of Christ.
-John Piper
It is clear in scripture that worship is more than just singing a song at church and then going home until next Sunday. Praising God begins with preparing our heart and then honoring God with our lips but it doesn't stop there. We tend to forget that worship continues long after the church music is over. (Psalm 50:14, Isaiah 29:13, Hosea 14:2)

Our worship continues through the preaching of God's Word and through our acts of love that show the value of God by what we are willing to sacrifice to serve others. When I present myself as a living sacrifice to do good for someone else I am declaring the worth of God in my life and I am making God look more glorious to the ones that witness my good deeds. (Matthew 5:16, Romans 12:1, Philippians 4:18, Hebrews 13:15-16)

Everything that we say and do and the lifestyle that we live should draw others to "come let us adore him."
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