WORSHIP

Worship is the allegiance between the human soul and God. But what does our soul look like?

   The OT tabernacle was given as the meeting of the individual and God. The glory of God was there for the individual soul to approach with a sacrifice. When the sacrifice was accepted, the individual soul was cleansed and purified, restored to God, having entered His presence. In the tabernacle we see God coming to Israel so that Israel could come to God.
Moses went up to the mountain to receive the directions for this tabernacle, by which God could be in Israel's midst. Now in the NT in 2 Corinthians 5.1 Paul says, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. So the tabernacle represents our soul in its' resemblance to God in heaven, as a meeting of God and us. Peter says in 2 Peter 1.14, I must lay aside this my earthly tabernacle... and John says in Revelation 21.3, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and He will dwell with them.

   The purpose of the tabernacle in the midst of Israel was so that the Jews would be conformed to the image of God. This was a sacrifice, it was a ceremony, it was a proclamation by the priest, in other words it was their worship.


   But in the NT, this tabernacle through which we are conformed to God is for everyone who believes by faith. Our tabernacle now is Jesus.
He existed in the form of God and emptied Himself to be made in the likeness of men, Philippians 2.6, coming to us. We exist in the likeness of God in order to meet God in the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, Titus 3.5. Instead of animals, when we present our bodies as a living sacrtifice, holy and acceptable to Him, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect, Romans 12.1, 2. This will of God which is good and acceptable and perfect is the life Jesus lived, it is His ministry that we receive and do.


   All of this is to prepare our souls to receive Him, as the tabernacle of our soul, our life, our hope.

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This tabernacle has three qualities of worship.

   The first one is the meeting of past and future in the present.
Many Biblical passages exemplifie this. When John wrote about the Jesus he knew, he began with, In the beginning was the Word...and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory... John the Baptist said, He existed before me, John 1.15. When we contemplate the Biblical passages about God in the past, He comes to us in worship. This is quite evident in Hebrews 1.1, 2, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. What was long ago has come today. No time or place could reveal the 'now' aspect of the Ancient of Days than communion. However, we must open our souls by faith to these things. Do we believe that the God who made the world is now with us? This question is the essence of worship as an asking God to come. We say we approach God, but it is rather that God approaches us.


   The second quality of worship is recognition.

   In John 4 Jesus says the Father is looking for those who worship in spirit and truth. To worship in spirit is to have the Spirit of God within the soul so that we can recognize Him. When the Wise Men came to Jesus in Matt. 2.11, they fell down recognizing Him. The disciples follow Jesus at the slightest prompting as they recognize Him. James and John left their boat immediately to follow Him. A leper worshiped Jesus, calling Him Lord in Matt. 8.2. A Roman ruler knew Jesus could heal his servant immediately, Matt. 9.18. They all saw in their own soul who Jesus was, recognizing Him. His Spirit was in them. This Spirit will be given to the disciples and to allof us, John 17.8. When Jesus fills our souls as He filled the temple in Isiaiah 6.1, worship will break out.

   The third quality of worship is hope.
When we bring our hopes to worship, we open ourselves to God as the God of love. Places where hopes have been spoken, felt, prayed, lifted up to God are spiritual places. They may be a small chapel or a wide cathedral. What is common to all is the belief that our hopes go to Jesus, as the author and finisher of our faith. Our hopes can be emotional, rational, detailed, personal or worldly. Our hopes ascend like a winding stair, upward, as we lift Him up. The perfect Biblical example is Matthew 8.5, the centurion's daughter. Jesus is willing to come to the centurion's home, but the centurion says, just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority; with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go' and he goes and to another, 'Come,' and he comes and to my slave, 'Do this' and he does it.'

   What is being said here is a relationship from God above to us, from we in our need up to God in His majesty. The centurion knows that Jesus has ministering angels under Him who come when He calls, who do what He commands. Paul tells the Ephesians that, all things have been put in subjection under Christ's feet, above rule and authority and power and dominion. The centurion prayed, the angels brought the prayer up to heaven to Christ, who answers every prayer.