Good morning. The central theme of the Bible is Jesus Christ. Cut the scriptures anywhere, slice them open at any point from Genesis to Revelation, and they bleed with the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is the Truth of the Word, the focal point of scripture.
Jesus is worthy of our worship.
The Word of God is filled with the record of God’s plan to bring us home. Scripture is all about Him doing all that is required to conquer the sin that had conquered us, to pay the price that could never be paid, to win the impossible victory. The Word of God is all about Jesus saving you, and me, and everyone who will accept His love.
God went to a lot of trouble to bring us Jesus. Think of it. Every story of every hero and every villain is all about God’s plan to bring you back into His arms and never let you go. Every command and every miracle is all about God intervening in the natural course of events to secure the outcome His plan of salvation required. All of human history is to be understood through the lens of the cross of Calvary.
God chose four men to write the New Testament account of the life, purpose, and victory of Jesus our Christ. He chose Matthew, an unlikely fellow since he was a tax-collector, a profession that made him most hated by every other Jew. He chose Mark, an unlikely fellow since he was an unknown person of unknown talents and of unknown accomplishments. Mark, who once wavered but became a powerful missionary in the early church. He chose Luke, an unlikely fellow because he was a Gentile physician. His work, and therefore his focus in life, could have been all about his efforts to heal the sick. Instead, he gives his life to Jesus and his writing tells us of Jesus the healer of body and soul. He also wrote the Book of Acts, the history of the first years of His body the church. He chose John, an unlikely fellow since he was an uneducated fisherman. He would have been much more at home tending his nets and selling his catch than in telling us about who Jesus is, and then going on to instruct the churches of every era in how to deal with problems in the church. Oh yeah, God also chose him to take an early trip to heaven and report back what he saw. But in every case, with every word, with every fond recollection of what Jesus said, and did, and thought about, and cried over…they all tell us about Jesus. They all give us reason after reason to love Him and to worship Him.
When it comes to worshipping the Savior, Jesus, there is perhaps no better event to speak of than that which is recorded in Matthew 17:1-8:
After six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
Jesus was transfigured before them. Think of that. Jesus underwent a fundamental change of being. For those moments He bridged His existence with mankind and His natural Spiritual form.
Peter’s response to seeing this transfiguration of his Lord was to worship, but unfortunately, he got it wrong. He tried to build a place of worship upon the stone of the mountain. The worship of Jesus that was (is) required was (is) not the building of a monument, but of the changing of hearts. Jesus did not require a place on the mountain, he required a place within them, and within us.
This is a day of worship. We will sing our praises and reflect upon the Word of truth. But above all, let us worship well, remembering Jesus. Remember who Jesus is and what He has done. Remember what God has done to bring Him to us. Remember what God, in the fullness of His three persons, is doing to ensure that we lift up our hearts to Him, allowing Him to fill us with His glorious presence. Always, in the name of Jesus.
God bless your worship today!
Vern