Worshiping the One True God

I love to worship Jesus. I know some people view heaven as boring because it will revolve around worshiping Jesus. I can think of nothing as exciting as worshiping Jesus all the time with no distractions.

In the Old Testament, worship was very structured. It revolved around a system of animal sacrifices. These sacrifices were described in detailed and the way they were to be sacrificed was also described in detail.

The purpose of this precise description was threefold.

First, to teach the people of God obedience.

In 1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel says, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”

Sacrificing what God prescribed for each sacrifice was good, but only if it was done in an attitude of wanting to obey God. So, obeying is always better than just sacrificing.

Second, each sacrifice and the way it was to be sacrificed showed the people a truth about God.

Hebrews 10:1 says, “For since the law was but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.”

The sacrifices were not an end in themselves but a way to point to the perfect sacrifice that was to come. A sacrifice that could make perfect those who drew near.

Third, it was a reminder to the people that everything they had came from God.

Psalm 50:10 says, “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.”

Everything in all creation was created by God and belongs to God. He is gracious and lets us as His human creation use all that He has created for our benefit.

The sacrifices reminded the people that showing gratitude to God is very important. It was acknowledgement of their dependence of God.

In the New Testament, worship becomes an even more important element of our lives.

Worship is now a 24/7 thing.

It is not done at certain times but it is done all the time.

We don’t have a temple or tabernacle where we go to offer sacrifices. According to 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, our temple is our body. So, wherever we are, we can worship. 

Worship is not done in a certain place.

Worship can and should occur at:

Homes

Workplaces

Schools

Golf Courses

Parks

Lakes

Any place is a place that we can worship God.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is worshiping God 24/7 wherever we are.

Worship is to be done in spirit and truth.

John 4:24 says, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

We worship at the level of our spirit connecting with Him.

Worship is not just the:

Words We Sing

Verses We Quote

Prayers We Lift Up

It is the intimate connection we have with Jesus where we experience His presence as we sing, quote, and pray.

We are to worship Jesus in truth.

We don’t fake the worship.

We don’t just go through motions of worship.

We worship Jesus with:

Sincerity

Authenticity

It is easy to just do worship out of habit without thinking about who we are worshiping.

True worship is focusing our worship on Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is worshiping Jesus with an intimate, authentic focus.

The thing that both Old Testament and New Testament worship had in common was the object.

The object was Jesus.

Old Testament worship centered on the coming of the perfect sacrifice -Jesus.

New Testament worship centered on the celebration of the perfect sacrifice that had come – Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove Walls is focusing our worship on the person of Jesus.

Worship is not a ritualistic activity with a remote God. It is to be a living relationship with the living and personal God.

Worshiping and Raising the Roof and Removing Walls with Jesus,

                                                 Joe