Freed to Worship

“Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14).

God is jealous for our worship. He longs not merely for external conformance to a set of rules. He wants our hearts; He wants our love.

The object of missions is worship. The Gospel is about Christ and His glory. The Gospel is not about making us greater, but making us less. We were created for an eternal relationship with our Creator. We were created to glorify Him.

In our pride and rebellion we long to be God. We long to be worshiped and praised. We long to be in control of our lives. We defame the glory which belongs to God alone.

We are enslaved to ourselves and we are far too easily pleased. C.S. Lewis said it best: “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”

Mathew 27:51 says the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom after Jesus gave up His spirit and died. This is deeply significant.

In Jesus’ time a veil separated the Holy of Holies—the earthly dwelling place of God’s presence—from the rest of the temple. The veil symbolizes the separation between God and man due to sin. Christ was the perfect sacrifice for sin. He has torn the veil, and through faith in Christ we can have access to God the Father. We can have access to the source of true joy and life.

Christ frees us from the entangled trappings of self that we may live a life of worship. This is good news! Only the Creator’s love can fully satisfy our hearts.