“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth”
(John 4:23-24).
God is a Spirit and He is omnipresent. The worship of the Jews was coming to an
end and they would be scattered in the Diaspora because they would not be
gathered under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty. Jesus said,
“ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the
Father”
(v. 21).
Worship is not limited to a certain “house of worship” for
“the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands”
(Acts 7:48). Neither is singing psalms and hymns worship, the Bible tells us
they are for
“teaching and admonishing one another”
(Colossians 3:16). Therefore, the “worship team” and such activities
as the “worship service” do not necessarily constitute worship, but
rather worship is the submission of the individual to the will of God
“in spirit and truth”
every day and at all times in every circumstance wherever we are throughout
our lives.
Worship
is often translated
“bow down”
and simply means to bow down to the will of God. Bowing to the will of God may
involve suffering, it will often require the denial of self, it may necessitate
our patience, it may demand our life, but whatever it may entail, whether self
sacrifice, whether we understand our situation or not, but trusting God and
committing ourselves to Him that judgeth righteously, accepting His will with
thanksgiving, this is true worship.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God”
(Romans 12:1-2).
“Thou shalt
worship
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve
”
(Matthew 4:9-10). Bending the knee to His will is the ultimate worship, when
we obey God and keep His commandments.
The first mention of worship in the Bible is found in the book of Genesis. When
the Lord appeared to Abraham, he
“
bowed
(Heb:
shachah
)
himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord”
(Genesis 18:1-5). Later on we find Abraham making the supreme act of worship
when he was told to offer his only son Isaac whom he loved. Abraham may not
have understood but he knew that God's ways were not his and it was better to
trust and obey his Lord.
“And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I
and the lad will go yonder and
worship
(Heb:
shachah
)
, and come again to you”
(Genesis 22:5). And there, on mount Moriah, Abraham brought his son to offer
him for a burnt offering. But this act of worship was really a
figure
of good things to come when God offered up His only Begotten Son for the
salvation of the world.
“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had
received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said,
That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise
him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure” (
Hebrew 11:17-19).
This act of obedience to the will of God beautifully pictured the great
sacrifice of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. From the beginning Jesus
told His disciples
“I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him
that sent me”
(John 6:38). As Calvary lay before Him He prayed
“Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my
will, but thine, be done”
(Luke 22:41-42).
This was true worship for the Lord Jesus. Jesus said,
“foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man
hath not where to
lay
[Greek:
klino
]
his head”
(Matthew 8:20). But finally, after Jesus was lifted up on His Cross He said
“It is finished: and he
bowed
[Greek:
klino] his head, and gave up the ghost”
(John 19:30). It is here that Jesus finally found a place to bow His head, to
fulfill the will of His Father. He had submitted perfectly and completely to
the will of the Father.
This was the sole purpose for which Jesus came into the world.
“Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me … Then said I, Lo, I
come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God
… By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all”
(Hebrews 10:5, 7, 10).
“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”
(Philippians 2:8).
“
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered
; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all
them that obey him”
(Hebrews 5:8-9).
It is interesting, in keeping with the context in Hebrews of the superior
sacrifice of Christ compared to those of goats and calves which could never
take away sin, but now Christ has
“offered one sacrifice for sins forever”,
and yet we can still offer sacrifice, that is, the fruit or
“calves
of our lips” giving thanks
continually
(Hebrews 13:15), not once a week for fifteen minutes in the so
called “worship service” or “praise service”.
“In everything give thanks”
(Thessalonians 5:18).
Seeing His great love for us through His obedience and death on the cross, how
can we love Him back? Jesus said,
“If ye love me, keep my commandments”
(John 14:15).
“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you”
(John 15:12-14).
We were told,
“true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth”
in fact
“they that worship him
must
worship him in spirit and in truth”
.
We cannot worship the Father apart from submitting and obeying the truth. The
commandments of God are indeed
“truth”
(John 17:17) and when we have repented and believed the glorious gospel of
Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose again from the dead, we are born
of the Spirit of God. Only then can we
“worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness”
(Psalms 96:9).
The question remains, are you a true worshipper?
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my
word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free”
(John 8:31-32).