Made for Worship
The Rev. Lou Tiscione, Pastor of Weatherford Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Here is the reality of life: God made everyone for worship. This is the truth in plain language. Yet, God not only made man to worship, but also to worship Him alone. Because all mankind was made for worship, men and women will worship someone or something. The meaning of worship is to bow down to and serve the object of worship. But the only object of true worship is God by His design. He revealed Himself fully in Jesus Christ, His only Son. We were all made to bow down and serve the Living God, who alone can be known in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ.
The problem in the application of this truth is sin. We have all inherited the sin of Adam. Every single human being is born spiritually dead in sin. In the Sixteenth Century, John Calvin wrote concerning worship and the state of man after the Fall of Adam. He wrote, “Every man makes a god of himself, and virtually worships himself” (taken from 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.
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 of the week, Sunday, in light of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of the Sabbath rest (Genesis 2:3; Colossians 2:16-17). The Christian Church refers to each Sunday as the Lord’s Day. Every Sunday is a celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Each Lord’s Day is sanctified by “making it our delight to spend the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship” (The Westminster Larger Catechism, Q/A 117).
Not only are Christians commanded to worship God, but the Church is also accountable to Him to design worship as He has commanded. We praise Him; we pray to Him; we read His word; we hear His word expounded; we celebrate the two Sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper); and we give of our tithes and offerings. These are the biblical elements of worship.
Corporate worship is not optional for a Christian. Worship is not primarily intended to meet our feelings or imaginations. Christian worship is not designed to attract people. Worship on the Lords’ Day is not only part of a list of things that Christians do. 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 His saving grace (Romans 11:33-12:2). Worship expresses love for God (Deuteronomy 6:5).
Christians, those who have been made “new creations”, don’t go to church. Christians are the church. The visible church, the one we see, is defined as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ and their children. As such, those who genuinely confess Christ necessarily gather to worship the Risen Lord with fellow believers on the Lord’s Day.
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?”
The worship manual of the Old Testament Church and the New Testament Church — the book of Psalms — answers this question. Psalm 122:1, “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 His 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. As His people obey His commands, they express their love for Him (John 14:15). 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 our growth and for His glory!
