The
Bible and Places of Worship – Part Two
When I
started Part One of this topic, I made the following introductory comment:
“In
my previous post to this blog I began by discussing “Why Christians Should
Worship Jesus”. At that time it was
apparent that the Bible’s specific reasons for that worship were directly
related to the places of worship. Now
I’d like to continue this discussion by looking at the “altar” and other places
of worship, and their relationship to Christianity today.”
As
I pursued that line of thought, the discussion
placed an emphasis on the physical locations where man began his worship “paying homage to his Creator”. The most prominent location for worship was
the “altar”, in its various forms of progression over the many
centuries. I continued that discussion with references to the altar found in
Israel’s Tabernacle (and later their Temple), closing with some remarks about
the Ark of the Covenant found there. The post concluded with the following
statement: “In Part Two of this post we
will look more closely at what the Bible tells us about how Israel’s
practices of worship have influenced the nature and places of Christian
worship.”
Many
Christians and others begin their Bible study in the New Testament with the
Four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They then place their focus on the Earthly
Ministry of our Lord Jesus. Regrettably they have missed many of His most
critical contributions to the existence and well-being of mankind dating back
to and including the Creation. (John 1: 1-14; Colossians 1: 12-17) Also, and
very importantly they missed the basis for why the Lord was born as a member of
the Nation of Israel.
Further they found
it hard to understand why He commanded His newly identified Disciples to “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter
ye not: But go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach,
saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Emphasis added) (Matthew 10: 1-7)
But hopefully, all Christians will have read and understood the
impact of Israel’s rejection of Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah and King. (
See: https://israelmyglory.org/article/what-is-the-mystery-of-israels-blindness-and-the-gentiles-fullness/
) Following His death by crucifixion and shedding
His Holy Blood; and His burial and resurrection; Jesus accomplished His primary objective of
defeating His and man’s Enemy as identified in Genesis 3: 1-15. Following Adam’s sin, and having subjected all
mankind to the penalty of death, Jesus had paid that death penalty for all of
us. (Isaiah 52: 14-15, Chapter 53; Hebrews
9: 11-28)
Most critical for Christians to understand is what happened since
the Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension back to the Father in Heaven. Our Lord Jesus has done all that He could do
to redeem man. Now the choice is up to each individual as to whether or not to
believe what He has done…the Gospel of His Grace. (1 Corinthians 15: 1-4;
Romans 10: 9-13).
The Bible tell us that if we believe, the Holy Spirit comes
to live within us. (John 16: 13; Ephesians 1: 12-14; 1 Corinthians 2: 9-16,
6: 19-20, Chapter 12; Romans Chapter Eight). That was the promise of Jesus to His Disciples
near the end of His Earthly ministry, and came to reality after His Ascension,
and “when the day of Passover was fully come.” (John Chapter 14, Acts Chapter Two) That promise also applied to Christian
believers since then and including today. Note the Scripture records that when
the Lord made that promise to His Disciples, He also confirmed His direct
relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Perhaps
most important to this discussion of worship to God is the context provided by
the Apostle Paul in his message to Christian believers, saying:
“14 For as many as are led by
the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of
God:
17 And
if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if
so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Emphasis
added) (Romans 8: 14-17)
Because of this very unique and special relationship with our Lord
Jesus and our Heavenly Father, as Christian believers our “worship” takes on an
entirely new meaning. We are members of “God’s Family”!! If we believe the Gospel of Grace, we are
“paying homage to Jesus”, not only as our Creator, but also as our Savior. That
is how we “worship” Jesus, and our Heavenly Father, through the Holy Spirit. We
don’t need a special day or a special “altar” or other location to acknowledge who
He is, or what He has done for us. We
give thanks for all the love and many blessings They have bestowed on us
in the past and continue to do. We give
thanks every day, and all day…even on some of what appear to be our “darkest of
days”. (John 3- 16; Isaiah 53: 4-5; Ephesians
2: 4-8)
Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson
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