“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” John 4:23
In general terms, we may say that worship entails profound love and respect for its object. A person’s worship is the practical expression of their chosen values; we worship what we value most. Virtually everyone understands that God requires our worship. Some have wondered why God should be entitled to it. Here are some thoughts. Humans are designed and programmed to worship. People routinely worship celebrities such as movie stars, musicians, athletes, academicians, politicians or statesmen. Whatever these people may have that makes them special objects of worship, it is not original with them. Their impressive and valued attributes, abilities, character, and capacities were granted to them by God in whom such things are not only original, but maximal. A creature may possess many things that makes it an object of worship, but it cannot possess all such things, and none to an infinite degree. If a creature may be legitimately worshiped for its finite and derivative properties, then surely the God who has all such properties originally and infinitely must be worthy of greater worship. The God of the Bible is by definition the greatest conceivable being (Hebrews 6:13). Among his great-making properties he has unrivaled sovereignty, omnipotence, omniscience, and moral perfection (omni-benevolence). God has ultimate authority, which means he has the supreme right to be believed and obeyed. It stands to reason we are not only obligated to worship and obey God, but that it is in our best interest to do so. He seeks our worship (John4:23-24), and he has done everything possible to make himself maximally lovely to us. At the cross, God showed himself perfectly righteous and just, while at the same time maximally merciful and wise. God demonstrated his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). With hearts overflowing with admiration and gratitude for our Savior-God, we may say with the great apostle John, “We love him because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). It is not only our obligation to worship the God of the Bible, it ought to be our chief joy to do so.
God bless you today as you worship our God Who alone is worthy,
Pastor John
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