The IMPORTANCE of TRUE GOD-CENTERED WORSHIP!
September
8 Bible Reading: Ezekiel Chapters 40-42
The IMPORTANCE of TRUE GOD-CENTERED WORSHIP
And the man said to me, "Son of man,
look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and fix your mind on everything I
show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare
to the house of Israel everything you see." (Ezek 40:4)
About 573
B.C., prophet Ezekiel was given a vision of the city of Jerusalem and the
millennial temple. In the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured, Ezekiel
was taken up and set on a very high mountain. He was shown a vision of the city
of Jerusalem and the millennial temple by a man whose appearance was like
bronze. The prophet was commanded to fix his mind on everything he saw and to
declare it to the house of Israel (v. 4).
According to
some Bible scholars, Ezekiel’s temple will be the final temple to be
constructed. The new temple will include the traditional outer court (40:5–27),
the inner court (40:28–47), the main building (40:48–41:26), adjacent buildings
(42:1–14), outer walls (42:15–20), and the altar (43:13–27). The fact that
Ezekiel would spend so much space describing the temple indicates its
importance. Some interpret this prophecy as an exact blueprint of a physical
temple to be constructed in or near Jerusalem during a future millennial
(thousand-year) period. Others see this prophecy not as a blueprint, but as a vision that stresses the purity and
spiritual vitality of the ideal place of worship and of those who will worship
there.
To us, the
New Testament believers, this vision
speaks to us about the importance of God-centered worship. Bible scholar
Warren Weirsbe has compiled four factors
that should constitute our true worship from the book ‘The Best of Tozer’:
- There should be boundless confidence in the God we worship. Our concept of God should be clear as we approach His throne of grace.
- There should be a genuine appreciation of the excellency of God. We should see His greatness as we worship Him.
- There should be a sincere fascination of the beauty of God. When we try to comprehend the splendor of God, we will be struck with astonished wonder.
- Finally, there should be true adoration in the God we worship. We will pour out our love and adoration as true praises of God rises up from our hearts.
Let us worship God only in the proper way that He desires from us! "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:23-24)
