By Reverend Seth Yi
is foundational to our purpose and identity as Christians, and corporately as the Church,
I Noun & Verb Worship is a word that can be used in English both as a noun and a verb. We will
is derived from the Old English term weorþscipe (worth + ship from weorth, “worth, wor- thy” and scipe, “quality, condition”) which means honor, esteem, veneration, dignity, worthiness, respect, or acknowledgment of worth (for example, that building is a house - with extravagant love and extreme submission.” It means to ascribe worth to someone or something. In the broadest religious sense, it can refer to the whole life of devotion to God. In other words, worship is showing, displaying the worth of God. - edged as supremely worthy and praised for His unique name and works, for His holy we place on who God is in our lives and where God is on our list of priorities and affec- tions. We worship what we love. It is a celebration of the worthiness of God by which honor is given to His name above all else. Because God is the Creator of all things visible and invisible, worship is the duty of every human being, whether he has been redeemed or not. The First of the Ten Commandments, along with the other nine commandments of the Moral Law, is the chief duty of all men. Even the Son of God, God incarnate, con- sidered it His duty (and delight) to worship God and God alone (Matthew 4:10; Luke 2:49; 4:16-21). Since that is the case, how much more is it necessary that all men should count it their duty to worship God according to His commandments? the blessings of God back to Him with and in our lives. Again, this is true not only for - ciaries of God’s common grace. God is owed worship by all. God’s worth is manifestly revealed in nature, leaving men without excuse (Romans 1:18-23). Moreover, fundamen- tally man by his nature is a worshipper. Having been created in the image of God, it is not a question of if he will worship but what he will worship. Whether as an individual - a perpetual idol factory” (Institutes I.11.8). Whether it is the God of the Bible or Satan, principally the only two options, man will worship one or the other. As God’s people, recreated in Christ’s image, we should be delighting more and more in the majesty and glory of God. Our hearts should incline to worship God more consistently, intelligently, earnestly, and intensely as we grow in grace. As we are being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), our lives should be marked by the worship of God in spirit and in truth.
Faithful Worship
According to the ARP Form of Government (3.1) company of Christians, with their children, associated together according to the Scrip- tures for worship and ministry in the name of Christ.” (emphasis added). Worship is
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n an era and culture where the ubiquitous meaning of words is blatantly being chal- lenged and distorted, it is necessary for the Church not only to defend the truth but to proclaim it unapologetically. Because Jesus is the Truth and has revealed the Truth to
and fundamental purpose of every con- gregation is the true and faithful worship of God through the means of grace He has instituted (FOG 3.2). On earth and in this age, the primary expression of God-glori- fying worship is the Lord’s Day worship (addressed more fully in a future article “Priority of Public Worship”). As follow- ers of the Lord Jesus Christ and an ex- pression of the visible church, as the ARP Church, weekly corporate worship must always remain the priority in our lives until the Lord returns to testify publicly the preservation of life, should be a high- er priority.
The genesis, and thus the priority, of biblical worship is rooted in creation. As Christians, born from above (John 3:3-5) and being renewed into the image of Christ, the Last Adam, we have the the command given to Adam (Genesis 1:27-28) who was appointed as priest of all creation to bring and to lead wor- ship, praise, and adoration to the Lord. Tragically, Satan, successfully with all his perverted wisdom, entered the Garden to distort and derail the true worship of God. The idolatrous result of Adam’s sin was the exchange of worshipping God the Creator for the creature (Romans 1:19-23) as we see openly displayed in our current cultural demise. Fortunately, God through the covenant of grace has restored biblical worship and through the proclamation of the gospel reclaiming lost ground and worshippers.
Offering
given in Genesis 4:3–4 and it establishes enduring principles, “In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but Cain and his offering he had no regard.” The meaning of “offering” is a gift offered to God as a religious activity. Generally speaking, often the one receiving the gift is a superior in some way, particularly kings. It conveyed the attitude of hom- age and submission to that person, as a
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
Synod Emphasis
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