Our Destiny
February 3rd, 2010
- Jim McNulty (Perth) & Committee member
Do you enjoy worshiping the Lord with other believers? I hope that you do, because if you are a Christian that will be your main activity for a long time; in fact for eternity! Although worship is sometimes more exciting and exhilarating than at other times it should always be a time of encounter with the living God. If you do not enjoy worship here on earth, I think you should question whether you are fit for life in heaven where worship will be ceaseless and eternal. Worship is what we were made for and is our ultimate destiny. This is well expressed in the first catechism which states, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him for ever.” It is a wonderful thought that when we worship here on earth we do so in the company of a great congregation of believers who are already in heaven and worshipping the same God whom they see but we still worship by faith. The book of Revelation reminds us of that worship gathering in heaven.
‘Then a voice came from the throne saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!” Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peels of thunder, shouting: Hallelujah! For the Lord God Almighty reigns. Let is rejoice and be glad and give him glory!”’
We sometimes restrict worship to what happens in a certain place at a certain time and doing certain things. All of our life, no matter where we are or what we are doing, should be an act of worship to God. Even in a service, worship is sometimes thought of as something that is secondary to the preaching of the word. Indeed some of our predecessors referred to worship activities as “preliminaries” to the main event i.e. preaching. Barclay expresses what worship is about when he says,
“The true, the genuine worship is when man, through his spirit, attains to friendship and intimacy with God. True and genuine worship is not to come to a certain place; it is not to go through a certain ritual or liturgy; it is not even to bring certain gifts. True worship is when the spirit, the immortal and invisible part of man, speaks to and meets with God, who is immortal and invisible.”
What activities we do during worship is less important than how we relate to God and to each other. All good hikers will concur with the comments of C S Lewis when he talks about a worship service, “The most effective service is one which turns our attention away from the service itself to God. A good shoe is a shoe you don’t notice.”
What will worship in heaven be like? The best description I have heard is this. Imagine you are in a deep cave and all is pitch black. In the far distance you can just make out a tiny spec of light. You make your way slowly towards the light and the spec gradually grows bigger. You eventually reach the outside and you are utterly amazed and overawed by the brightness and dazzle of the sunlight. Now think of the time, when during worship, you felt your spirit was most at one with God. That is like the tiny spec of light. One day you will experience the awe and the majesty of the presence of God in His full glory and will be thrilled and amazed by his presence. You will fall at His feet and worship him. What a destiny!
