Worship #2

Why is Jesus Christ so central to Christian worship?

Only through Jesus can we 'offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God' 1 Pet 2:5. There is no other way we can approach God except through Jesus:
'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' John 14:6

This is because our sins separate us from God. They are a huge barrier and prevent us from pleasing God by our own efforts. Jesus came to earth, lived a sinless life, and then died as a sacrifice for us (Heb 9:26), to remove us from the wrath of God and reconcile us to Him (2 Cor 5:18-19). Therefore, if we come to Jesus and trust in Him, we can be redeemed out of bondage to sin and Satan (Heb 2:15), and be enabled to worship God and know Him personally.

Before Jesus came, God called a people to Himself (Israel), and gave them a means of worshipping Him. This is the old covenant, which includes the Law given to Moses (as recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy) and the sacrificial system whereby the priests would offer up a bull or a ram as an atonement for the sins of the people.

This system is transformed by Jesus- He completely fulfilled the old covenant by
1. Keeping the Law perfectly (which no one else could ever do)
2. Being the one perfect sacrifice to atone for all sins past, present and future ('Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!' John 1:29)
3. Being the ultimate great high priest who intercedes on behalf of His people and doesn't need to offer any sacrifices for Himself ('But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God... by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.' Hebrews 10:13-14)

The reason that Jesus was able to do this was because He was God incarnate. Colossians 2:9 says that the fullness of the Deity lives in Christ in bodily form. Philippians 2:9 says that 'At the Name of Jesus every knee should bow'. After seeing the resurrected Christ, His disciples worshipped Him (see John 20), and so contemporary Christians follow the example of the first generation of believers and worship Jesus without hesitation (Carson).

Worship #1

The following series of posts are my notes as part of studying the Christian Worship module of the Moore correspondence course.

Why is worship so important in biblical thought?

Fundamentally, as Grudem points out, God is worthy of worship and we are not. He created us to glorify Him and it is right that God should seek His own honour, for He is worthy of it.

'My glory I will not give to another' Isa 48.11

'You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created' Rev 4:11

In both Testaments worship is repeatedly enjoined on the covenant people of God (Carson).

'Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care' Ps 95:6-7

We become like whatever or whomever we worship (Leithart), therefore to become more godly and to be the people God wants us to be, we need to focus not on ourselves but on God.

What are the most important lessons that the Old Testament teaches us about the worship that is acceptable to God?

1. The Old Testament makes it clear that worship is only acceptable when it is from the heart. 'Stop bringing meaningless offerings!' God tells His people in Isa 1:13. They may have followed the rituals correctly but they were not seeking justice and living God's way. Carson points out that 'it has always been necessary to love God wholly'.

2. Worship is only acceptable as a response to God's grace, not as an attempt to earn it. The only reason the Israelites could approach God with the sacrifices for sin was because He had first of all redeemed them from slavery in Egypt and in that great act of salvation set them apart to be His people. It was by grace that God gave them the sacrifical system, as a temporal measure for them to maintain covenant relationship with Him before Christ came to die for sins once for all.

3. Worship focuses on who God is- the lengthy rituals of Atonement were there to remind the people and the priests of God's perfect holiness and unapproachable nature. Part of their worship was to retell God's great acts to their children (Deut 6, 8).

4. Worship was Word-centred as well as sacrificial- the Law was placed by the ark of the covenant (Deut 32), and Ps 119 emphasises the sufficiency of God's word as covering everything from A-Z (it is an acrostic poem covering all the letters in the Hebrew alphabet).

5. Worship is both a response to a covenant relationship and the means of ensuring its continuance (Davies)- God does not want us to pray a prayer asking for His forgiveness and then to go off and live our own life for the next 40-50 years. God wants us to walk with Him in obedience and therefore Christian worship is about continually submitting to God, continuing in faith. This is established in the Old Testament by the repeated words of God in the Law for His people to walk in love and obedience to Him all the days of their life.
'Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.' Deut 11:1

Can we be sure of our own salvation?

I am writing this post in response to Phil's comment
'We must never presume we are to be saved'
on my post 'Encouragement'.

I think the Bible DOES give us assurance of our salvation, if we believe in Christ and persevere until the end.

Firstly, our salvation does not depend upon our own works. Our salvation, our means of being acceptable in God's sight, comes through Christ's perfection. It means that when we choose to trust in Jesus, God sees Jesus' holiness in place of our sinfulness. God forgives us and cleanses us through Christ's blood, the unique ransom for our sins. Because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8), there is never any doubt about whether His sacrifice is enough for us. The writer of Hebrews is at pains to emphasise this to his Jewish audience, who were used to making regular animal sacrifices as part of the covenant system:

'Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.' Heb 7:27

'He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.' Heb 9:12

'But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.' Heb 9:26

Jesus' death and resurrection were planned by God from the beginning as His means of redeeming His people. So if we ever sin and shy away from God, thinking that we have sinned too much to be forgiven, this is actually a form of pride. We need to accept that Jesus' blood is enough to pay for our sins past, present and future. This brings fantastic freedom from guilt, and this is why the gospel is 'good news'.

So becoming a Christian is all about arriving at the point where you recognise that you can't save yourself, accepting Jesus' sacrifice for you, and deciding to put your faith and trust in Him and walk His way for the rest of your days.

It is important to remember that true faith is always lived out:

'In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.'
James 2:17

Our assurance of our own salvation comes from these two things:
1. Are we trusting in Jesus' blood to cleanse us from our sin?
2. Are we living each day for Jesus, continuing in our faith?

If you can answer yes to both questions, then even if you are struggling with sin or various doubts, you are still a Christian. It is if you are living totally against God, with no repentance, that you need to be worried about your salvation.

Paul writes to the Colossians:

'Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.' Colossians 1:21-23

Note the emphasis here. God does all the saving- He reconciles you by Christ's death to make you perfect in His sight- but we must continue in faith throughout our lives. Our faith is not just a prayer of confession when we are 12 years old; it is the daily living out of the Christian life.

Psalm 22: When David saw Jesus

Psalm 22

I've been looking at the connection between David and Jesus, and Psalm 22 is a pretty massive connection!

It's a psalm which David wrote, and it clearly prophesies about Jesus' death on the cross, an event which would not take place for hundreds of years.

On the cross, Jesus cried out v1: 'My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?' This showed that at that point in time, the Trinity was ripped apart as God the Father poured out His wrath for sin on His Son, the innocent and perfect atoning sacrifice.

But Jesus' quote also pointed His observers to what was happening. The psalm contines in v3-5 to talk of God's sovereignty, and the way He has always saved those who trust in Him. Those watching Jesus die see Him as one rejected by God, and their words virtually repeat v8: 'He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue Him.'

The people could not see that Jesus was enduring the shame of the cross so that they could be saved if they believed.

Jesus also quoted the psalm to show how prophecy was being fulfilled. Being poured out like water, being parched, being pierced in hands and feet, having garments divided- all these details came to pass.

Ultimately Jesus quoted this psalm to remind Himself of the promises of God-
'He has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one' (24);
'The poor will eat and be satisfied' (26);
'All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord' (27). 'They will proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn- for He has done it.' (31)

On the cross, Jesus thought of us. When He proclaimed, 'It is finished', He died knowing He would be raised... and so would all those who died in faith.

David could not have known this, but God's Spirit rested on him, and in this psalm, he had a glimpse of Jesus. How much more privileged are we, to have the full picture in the New Testament!