Worship

The story of human history is a story of worship. In Eden, God called his son Adam to worship him alone as Father and King—by not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At Sinai, God called his son Israel to worship him alone as Father and King—by not putting other gods before him. In Jerusalem, God called his son David (and David’s sons) to worship him alone as Father and King—by walking before him in faithfulness with all their heart.

But Adam, Israel, David, and his sons all rejected God’s call to worship. They chose to worship created things instead of the Creator. In each case, they abdicated their roles and were led astray by women: Adam by Eve, Israel by foreign women, Solomon by his many wives. The Old Testament develops in such a way that we are left hoping for a son of God who will be devoted to one woman whom he will lead in pure worship of the one true God. That expectation is met in Jesus Christ—the second and last Adam, the true and faithful Israel, great David’s greater son.

At Jesus’ baptism the Father affirmed him as his beloved Son, with whom he was well pleased. But that affirmation had never truly been tested. So, the Spirit drove the Son into the wilderness. The ancient serpent, Satan himself, was allowed to test God’s Son to see what was in his heart—to see if he would faithfully worship God as Father and King.

Where Adam, Israel, and David (and his sons) all failed, God’s final Son succeeded. Where the first Adam remained silent and bowed before the serpent, the second and last Adam rebuked the serpent and refused to bow: “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve” (Matthew 4:10; cf. Deuteronomy 6:13). Where Israel and David (and his sons) promised they’d worship God with heart and soul and mind and strength, but didn’t, Jesus as the true and faithful Israel and great David’s greater son worshiped God wholeheartedly: “Zeal for your house will consume me” (John 2:17; cf. Psalm 69:9). Jesus was no idolater; he was no hypocrite. God finally had a Son who worshiped him alone. Now all the Son needed was a bride.

This is why God’s Son left heaven: to woo for himself a bride who would worship the Father. We see glimpses of this in Jesus’ ministry. At a well in Samaria, Jesus met a woman—one who hadn’t able to find the right kind of husband all her life—and called her to worship the Father in spirit and truth. But such a woman was not fit for such worship—she first needed to be cleansed, along with all who would become part of Jesus’ bride.

Jesus died to present the church to himself “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, so that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25–26). He then rose and ascended and sat down at the right hand of the throne of the majesty on high. He became a minister of worship (Hebrews 8:1–2), so that the worship of his bride might be acceptable to his Father. 

Around the world today, God’s Spirit—through God’s people—is calling sinners to renounce idolatrous worship and join the bride of God’s Son. One day, the bride’s evangelism will cease, but her worship will not. In the new heavens and new earth, an innumerable multitude from every tribe and language and people will declare, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Revelation 7:10). On that day, the bride will be ready, the marriage will commence, and the processional hymn will begin: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the omnipotent reigns” (Revelation 19:6).

Missions

Now, what has all this got to do with missions? Well, as John Piper has stated, “Worship is the fuel and goal of missions.” Put differently: “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” This is the connection between worship and missions. As a church, we are not committed to missions as an end in itself; rather, we are committed to missions as a means to a greater end—the end of the worship of our great Triune God.

Since 1938, Tenth Presbyterian Church has been committed to encouraging and supporting worldwide worship of God the Father through his Son Jesus Christ in the grace and power of his Spirit. The church has sought to do this through promoting, supporting, praying for, and sending people on missions around the globe. This year at Tenth we have another wonderful opportunity to hear reports of such worship-inducing mission works at our annual Global Outreach Conference, October 26–November 2. We will hear from various mission partners, be encouraged to continue praying, and to be motivated to continue giving toward such vital works in the missional endeavor of the church. I hope you will join us, as we call on the nations to come and bow down and worship the Lord our God with us. Psalm 67:5: “Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you!”