Beyond Sunday: The BODY as WORSHIP

Here’s another message I heard from Ptr. Steve Murrell and Ptr. Manny Carlos, let me share the Word with you and I hope we could all learn from this. God be with you!

     Worship is a natural response to God’s revelation. The word comes from ‘worth-ship’ which means something worthy. We want to worship God because He deserves it and the quality of our worship depends on the quality of our encounter with God. The scriptures teach us that worship emanates from our understanding of who God is. It is not casual but rather costly because of something powerful God has done in our lives.

 In the previous post, Isaiah had an unforgettable encounter with God which leads to ultimate worship.  Everyone can also have that experience. God doesn’t give up in seeking people and drawing us to Himself.  And by this His commandments of worship applies, that worship is exclusive and that there is a proper way to truly worship God.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual [Or reasonable] act of worship.

Romans 12:1

            Worshipping God is more than just singing praise songs . It is more than just helping a brother in need or attending church and prayer gatherings. Worship is offering God the best of what we have , may it be our finances, our relationships , time and even our bodies. Romans 12:1 gives us the summary of what God wants us to do not because He is demanding but because He deserves these things more than anyone.  If we will dissect this verse, several teachings can be observed.

Therefore….This word speaks of transition from something old to something new; from something that was before to something that’s up now. The previous chapters of Romans and even other books of the bible talk about the what‘s and why’s of the Christian faith. These scriptures are more of theology, what we should and should not believe in. And this verse comes starting with a notion that it is no more of theology but of lifestyle, no more of what we should believe but rather of how we should live. This is the turning point telling us, ”what I am about to tell you to do make sense” and we must do it all by faith.

I Urge you brothers… This is the first time that the word ‘Urge’ is used in the new testament. The author of this book is no longer instructing , but already  persuading ,encouraging and advocating. This verse already shouts “Listen and act on it” rather than saying “Here is the truth, this is what you should believe in.”

in view of God’s mercy… Whenever we speak of God’s mercy, we speak of second and even nth chances of doing what is right and shunning what is wrong. Clearly, this is something no one on earth deserves and we are thankful that our God is a merciful and gracious God willing to forgive us whenever we fall. It is important to bear in mind that mercy is not something that is earned by living in a certain way or following a certain religion. Certainly , it is not an excuse to go back to the same sinful lifestyle we have had assuming that God doesn’t really do something about our sins. God’s mercy is something we respond to. It requires change and immediate action.

To offer your bodies as living sacrifices…Thousand years ago the words ‘offer’ and ‘sacrifice’ are religious words. A sacrifice is an act of surrender . God wants us to surrender our all to him and let him move in our lives and be the captain of it.

13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

14  For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

15   What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

16   Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey — whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

17   But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.

18  You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

19  I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

Romans 6:13-19

There are 3 reasons why bodies are important for worship:

1. Our bodies enable us to express our love to God and prepares us to meet with Him.

1  Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

2  Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

3  For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.

4   In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.

5   The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

6   Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

7   for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice,

8   do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, [Meribah means quarrelling.] as you did that day at Massah [Massah means testing.] in the desert,

Psalm 95:1-8

God tells us to sing with faith, shout aloud, bow down, kneel , come with thanksgiving , before we enter the gates of heaven. Praise is something we do for what he has done, while worship is something we do for who He is. Whenever we praise, we magnify what God has done in our lives and whenever we worship we bow down and exalt His being. Praise and worship requires our voice and letting our hearts be softened.

2. Our bodies are instruments of righteousness.

 Just as what Romans 6:11-13 teaches us our bodies should be used in God’s works on earth. It is our duty to use our strength in executing God’s plans and will.

3. Our bodies are the temple of the holy Spirit

 

18   Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.

17   Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

18   you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.

1cor 6:18-20

Before, the temple referred to the buildings, sanctuaries, place of worship. Now, the temple of God, the church are the people or our bodies. We must also bear in mind that our bodies do not belong to us, they belong to God. Why? Simply because He has bought them at a price, Jesus’ blood. And  it is just apt for us to take care of our bodies and fleeing from all kinds of temptations which may lead to sexual immorality. Sin hinders us from doing what God wants us to do that’s why we have to ask God for forgiveness and cleansing. And once He already forgave and cleansed our hearts and spirits, we must never go back to sinning but instead, we must offer our all to God.

Offering our all is not radical. In these times of trials and poverty, offering our all is still reasonable. God deserves our all. Tithing 10% is an insult to God . He wants 100% of all of us. This doesn’t speak solely of money and possessions but everything, time, effort, attention , everything! Not leftovers, not excesses. The new covenant thinking is that every person, every child of God must offer himself 100% to God. Why, so we can live under mercy? Obviously NOT! Offering our ALL should be done so that we can properly respond to what He has already did. The one gift no one can give but God- His only Son dying on the cross for our sins.

Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

Hebrews 7:27

Worshipping God is not just during Sundays but beyond Sundays. It is not just about money but about everything we have. He offered himself once and for all as sacrifice for our sins and we ought to respond to this wonderful gift, the power of his blood taking away all lies and inequities. Giving is not about being reciprocated. Giving to God is the right way to respond to what He has already given.