HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 365
page A363
of young people scream and throw themselves at the stage where their rock-star idols
are performing. Human beings were created to worship. To worship is to ascribe ultimate
value to an object, person, or God—and then to revere, adore, pay homage to, and obey
by ordering the priorities of our lives around that which we worship. The Bible teaches
that God alone is worthy of our worship. Worship, more than anything else, will connect
us with God, our only source of lasting hope.
What is the ultimate purpose of my worship?
• 1 C H R O NI C L E S 1 7 :1 6 -1 8 | “Who am I, O Lord God . . . that you have brought me this far?
. . . You know what your servant is really like.”
• 1 C H R O NI C L E S 2 9 :1 0 -1 3 | Then David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole
assembly: “O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever!
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything
in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord. . . . We adore you as the one who is over all
things. Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and
might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.
O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name!”
Worship is the recognition of who God is and of who you are in relation to him. Ultimately,
everything we do should be based on what we think of and how we worship the almighty
God. If our actions don’t pay ultimate honor to him, then we are paying ultimate honor to
someone or something else.
• PR O VE R B S 3 :9 | Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything
you produce.
• E X O DU S 2 3 :1 9 | “As you harvest your crops, bring the very best of the first harvest to the
house of the Lord your God.”
Giving the firstfruits of your income to God honors him as your number one priority. Your
offerings demonstrate that your work is for God and that his work is most important.
• R E VE L AT I O N 4 :9 -1 1 | Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to
the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders
fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever).
And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, “You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because
you created what you pleased.”
• R E VE L AT I O N 5 :1 1 -1 2 | Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and
millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they
sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—to receive power
and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”
Your worship of God is a foretaste of heaven.
• G E NE SI S 4 :3 -4 | When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift
to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock.
In the gifts of Abel and Cain we see that, from the very beginning, humans have an instinct
for worship. We desire to offer thanks and honor to God by expressing our praise and
bringing offerings from our work to God. Even if we fall short of the mark, as Cain did, the
instinct is still there.
How is worship integral to my relationship with God? Why is it important?
• 2 C H R O NI C L E S 7 :1 | When Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from heaven and
burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glorious presence of the Lord filled
the Temple.
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• L E VI T I C U S 1 5 :3 1 | “This is how you will guard the people of Israel from ceremonial
uncleanness. Otherwise they would die, for their impurity would defile my Tabernacle that
stands among them.” (See note on page 106.)
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• I SA I A H 6 :3 | They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s
Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”