Worship - 1
From the
Christian perspective worship is the act of homage or reverence and service to
the One True God in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible indicates two forms of worship. In the Old Testament time the people of God
worshiped Him in a physical and visible way.
In the New Testament the Christian Church worshiped God in a spiritual
way.
God’s Guideline on Worship
The Bible gives us the best known set of moral guidelines which is the
Ten Commandments. The first four
commandments deal with our duty toward God and how to worship Him, and the last
six with our duty toward our fellow human beings.
1. Who to worship “You shall have no
other gods before Me.” (Ex. 20:1-2) This
commandment forbids us to worship any person, creature or thing other than the
One True God. The Lord Jesus Christ is
the One True God manifested in the flesh.
The disciples worshiped Him (Mt. 28:16-17; Lk. 24:52)
2. What to worship “You shall not make
for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. . .” (Ex. 20:4-5) We do
not need any physical, material or visible forms of images of the Lord Jesus
Christ to worship Him (Php. 2:5-11). Worship God in “spirit and truth”
(Jn
3. How to worship “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God
in vain.” (Ex. 20:7) The phrase “in vain” means having no substance, no value, worthless, ineffective and useless. This commandment forbids the use of God’s name
in an unworthy manner. The Hebrew name
of Jesus is “YAHSHUA” that means “YAH is Savior”. “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and
given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under
earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.” (Php.
2:9-11)
4. When to worship “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Ex. 20:8-11) The Bible
describes the One True God created the universe and mankind in six days.
“Thus the heavens and the
earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He
rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and
sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created
and made.” (Gen. 2:1-3)
God has very good reasons for resting on the seventh day,
blessing and sanctifying it. The Hebrew
word for “sanctify” is “qadesh” which means
to set apart for a holy use. The main
purpose of the Sabbath was for man to worship God. The Lord Jesus Christ said, “The Sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mk.
2:27)
True and False Worship
Even
though our first ancestors were driven out of the Garden of Eden after they
sinned against God, yet they continued to worship Him and had also taught their
two sons Cain and Abel about worship.
“And in the process of
time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground
to the LORD. Abel also brought of the
firstlings of his flock and of the fat.
And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect
Cain and his offering. And Cain was very
angry, and his countenance fell.” (Gen.
4:3-5)
The
offerings of Cain and Abel represent two types of worship. Cain’s “offering of the fruit of the ground” is of the world. His type
of worship had no sense of sinfulness, no repentance and no atonement for sin. He worships in self-will. He was angry with God and also with his
brother. Cain became the world’s first
murderer and vagabond.
On the
other hand Abel’s offering was accepted by God.
“By faith Abel
offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained
witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he
being dead still speaks.” (Heb. 11:4) Abel’s sacrifice was more excellent than
Cain’s because it was offered “by faith”. Abel was righteous. The only way a person can become righteous
before God is to have the sins remitted by the blood of Jesus Christ. In the very beginning of mankind’s history
God had revealed the type of worship that is accepted by Him is to be centered
on the Lord Jesus Christ and the shedding of His blood.
The Tabernacle symbolizes the Lord Jesus Christ
When the children of
The Tabernacle in the
Wilderness is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ and also provides the guideline
in the progress of a Christian.
1. Entrance The one and only entrance to the
tabernacle points to the Lord Jesus Christ who said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me,
he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” (Jn. 10:9) Jesus is the only way we can be saved (Jn. 14:6; Eph. 2:13; 1 Cor. 2:2; Heb. 10:19-20). The first step of salvation is to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts
2. Altar of Sacrifice (Exodus 27:1-8)
points to the Lord Jesus Christ who sacrificed Himself for our sins (Heb.
3. Laver for Washing (Ex.
30:17-21) points to the baptism (water) and crucifixion (blood) of our Lord
Jesus Christ (ref. Jn.
4. Table of Showbread (Ex. 25:23-30) The Lord Jesus Christ said, “I am the Bread of
Life . . . . This is the bread which came down from heaven . . . He who eats
this bread will live forever.” (Jn. 6:48-58)
Participation of Holy Communion is eating the flesh of Jesus (unleavened
bread) and drinking the blood of Jesus (grape juice (Mt. 26:26-29; 1 Cor.
5. Menorah (Lampstand) (Ex.
25:31-40) The Lord Jesus Christ said, “I am the light of the
world. He who follows Me
shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (Jn. 8:12) “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my
path.” (Psm.
119:105). The Christian must read the
Holy Bible daily to receive God’s guidance.
6. Altar of Incense (Ex. 30:1-10) Incense represents the worship and prayers of
the saints (Psm. 141:2; Rev. 5:8; 8:3-4). The Lord Jesus Christ promised, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” (Jn. 14:13-14) “Therefore by Him let us
continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our
lips, giving thanks to His name.” (Heb.
13:15) Jesus promised “your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” (Lk. 11:13)
7. Ark of the Covenant (Ex. 25:10-22) This
points to the Lord Jesus Christ who speaks for God (Heb. 1:1-3) God revealed His will
to His servants. God spoke to His
servants “above
the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the
Testimony.” (Ex. 25:22; 30:36; Lev.
16:2; Jos. 7:6). Thus the Ark of the Covenant
served as a symbol of divine presence guiding His people. Today God’s presence is in us through the
indwelling Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth (Jn.
God’s Continual Guidance of His People
The tabernacle was
always set up at the center of the Camp. The tribe of Levi was assigned to care
for it, and encamped around it. Moses,
Aaron, and the priests camped on the east side next to the entrance. The positions of the twelve tribes are
described in chapter 2 of Numbers.
“And the LORD went before them by day in a
pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them
light, so as to go by day and night. He
did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night
from before the people.” (Ex.
13:21-22)
“Then the cloud covered
the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able
to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the
glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken up
from above the tabernacle, the children of
Go to Worship - 2
May God bless you
A sermon based on this article was preached by Paul Wong
to a
Congregation in
For comments please write first to: arkpw@sbcglobal.net
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Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International. |
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