One of the most frequent comments I received during the pandemic lockdown was “I sure miss worship.” As we come out of shelter-in-place and gather to worship. I want to take the month of June to explore worship.
What is our purpose on this planet?
Rick Warren: “It’s not about you. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose for his purpose.”
The Christian’s purpose is Worship.
John Piper: “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t.”
Mark Clifton: “Any insinuation that longing of the church to gather together again reveals a weakness in our theology and that we only care about the gathering is misguided at best. The church exists primarily to Glorify God, to worship Him. It is a passion for God’s glory that fuels Mission.”
Isaiah 6:3: …“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” The Hebrew word for God’s glory is kābôd. We experience kābôd through God’s presence. His presence can be revealed to man by His name, His power, His Holiness and His works. God’s kābôd is bestowed to man through Jesus Christ who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)
In the New Testament the word for glory is doxa. It’s where we get the word doxology. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 6:19-20: Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
When we experience God’s glory thru His presence we worship. And, our worship here is just a glimpse of what we will do in heaven. John wrote in Rev. 4:8: The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”
Quite simply our eternal purpose is to worship God.
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