Made for Worship
The Rev. Lou Tiscione, Pastor of Weatherford Presbyterian Church (PCA)
God made us for worship. Let me rephrase that statement. It doesn’t matter what worldview you hold personally; God made you to worship Him. Yet, God not only made man to worship, but to worship Him alone! All men and women will worship someone or something. Worship is act of bowing down to and serving whatever is considered the most important object of life. But the most important object of life including the reason for man’s being is the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. God created mankind to bow down and serve Him. There is no greater object of worship than the one, true God.
The problem in applying this obvious reality is sin. Mankind has inherited the sin of Adam, the federal head of all mankind. Every single human being is born spiritually dead. John Calvin wrote concerning worship and the state of man after the Fall of Adam, “Every man makes a god of himself, and virtually worships himself” (Calvin’s teaching on the Psalms, Ps. IV; 132). God must raise a sinner from spiritual death for him to see the object of true worship. Jesus said that you must be born again in order to see the Kingdom of Heaven or enter it.
The church in the Old Testament was commanded by God to “keep holy the Sabbath Day.” The “Sabbath Day” was changed by the Apostolic Church to the First Day, Sunday, in light of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Church refers to each Sunday as the Lord’s Day. Each Lord’s Day is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Each Lord’s Day is given over to the worship of the Triune God. We begin every week with the observation of the bodily resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ.
The Christian Sabbath is set apart to the Lord for Christians to gather to worship God in the way He has commanded. We praise Him; we pray and sing to Him; we read His word; we hear His word expounded; we celebrate the two Sacraments; we give of our tithes and offerings. All of these are called the elements of biblical worship.
Since God made man to worship Him, it is not optional for a Christian. Worship is not something that we design in accordance with our feelings or imaginations. Christian worship is not designed to attract people. Worship on the Lords’ Day is not part of a list of things to do of which one item may take priority over it. True worship is the principal outpouring of a heart and, in the case of corporate worship, hearts that have been changed by God. In other words, Christian worship is the offering to God of oneself as a living sacrifice in response to the saving grace of God (Romans 11:33-12:2). Worship expresses love for God (Deuteronomy 6:5).
Christians — those made “new creations” — don’t just go to church; Christians are the church. The visible church, the one we see, is defined as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ as He is offered in the gospel and their children. As such, those who genuinely confess Christ necessarily gather to worship the Risen Lord with their fellow believers on the Lord’s Day. This is perhaps the most significant activity for those who are in Christ, that is, Christians.
Indeed, God made everyone for worship. Men and woman will worship someone or something. The question is, “Do you know the One to whom all worship is due?” Is worship on the Lord’s Day sacred to you?
The worship manual of the Old Testament church and the New Testament church, the book of Psalms, answers this question. Psalm 122:1 says, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD!’” God places in each believer a desire to gather with God’s people to declare His praises and to hear Him speak both in the reading of Scripture and in the proclamation of Scripture. As a result, believers are edified, or if you choose to use this word, fed. A believer hears the call of God to worship as more than a duty. He hears God’s call as a joy. In worshiping God, the believer is moved from duty to devotion.
God has commanded worship. His people obey His command. They express their love for Him. Worship becomes the central part of a life of devotion to the Lord. And, finally, worship is necessary for a believer to grow up in Christ.
Along with prayer, service, Bible study and the sacraments, corporate worship is a means of God’s grace by which He matures each one of His children in Christ. God has made us to worship Him for His glory!
