Who is Worthy?
February 9th, 2010
- Eric MacArthur (Dalbeattie)
Going through Strong’s Concordance references to “worship” I find that nearly every time the word is used it translates a Greek or Hebrew word (or Chaldean in Daniel) that basically means to bow or kneel down, to prostrate oneself before someone who is deemed worthy of special honour or reverence. So everyone was required by law to bow down before the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, and John towards the end of his vision on Patmos “fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things” but the angel gently rebuked him “ see you do it not, I am your fellow servant….worship God”.[Rev 22.9]
All through history people have worshipped people, angels and beasts. Satan tried to persuade Jesus to worship him! John saw the whole world was worshipping the dragon who gave power to the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying “Who is like unto him, who is able make war against him” [Rev 13.4]
Worship has got nothing to do with the kind of songs we sing or rituals we follow. The outward acts of singing, bowing, kneeling, prostrating, lowering ones head, mean little unless I truly recognise the one I am bowing to as worthy of all my devotion, service, love and obedience. Whenever we give unconditional service or obedience we are worshipping. As Jesus said, the Father seeks those to worship him who worship in spirit and truth. Only when we can say with Paul “it is not I that live but Christ that lives in me” are we really worshipping the Father. Worship is in the spirit whatever we are doing, but you can’t be worshipping the Father while disobeying his Son, and a gift to God is meaningless if I’ve fallen out with my brother [Matthew 5.23]
Whoever I say I worship the fact is that until I am crucified with Christ I will be worshipping me! And that’s the root of all our problems. God is the source of all we need so if we are out of touch with him we worry and fight with each other over resources. And because we then have all these problems that we are unable to solve we construct other “gods” for ourselves [Exodus 32.1-4] in the vain hope that they will solve the problems and supply our want, or we bow down (metaphorically maybe) to others who claim they can provide for us and protect us – the beast and the dragon of Revelation 13. But whereas Christ wins us by his love, frees us from our bondage, inspires us with hope, the beast enslaves us by force and binds us in fatalism – “who is able to fight against him?” i.e., even if we hate him (or it), disapprove of his actions/policies, we think there’s nothing we can do about it- that is idolatry, and we hear it often, even from Christians.
They quote scripture out of context (Jesus encountered that too didn’t he?) like “the poor you will always have with you” therefore no point in trying to “make poverty history”, or “there will be wars and rumours of wars” therefore no point in opposing war . We might as well add that since we’re going to have the old nature until we die there’s no point in fighting against it, we might as well sin and hope that grace may abound. That’s where the enemy wants us, fatalistic, hopeless, and fearful. But when we worship God, recognize who Jesus is, set our hearts to glorify and enjoy him, God comes in power to deliver, save and set us free to hope, to believe, to love, to serve, to fight( with the weapons of the spirit)for truth and justice[Psalm 18]. When the church is alive in the worship of God his kingdom breaks in to this world ,then even the world recognizes that it’s the people of faith that are at the forefront of radical movements that bring the longed for changes in our societies.
Worship of the living God who saves us through Jesus’ death on the cross is itself a radical act of disobedience to the principalities and powers of this evil world who demand our worship[Daniel 3.4-5, Matthew 4.9] and would have us believe that real power lies in the hands of governments and banks and the military. True worship of the Father proclaims the power of Jesus’ sacrificial love and leads directly to acts of resistance, protest and evangelism that may also be expressed in outward forms of worship [1 Kings 18.17-41]
Who is worthy to receive glory and honour and power? Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. No one else. In him God is revealed , death and the devil are overcome, God saves us, and God, who loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life, is worshipped forever and ever.
