Were humans made to worship? It seems that throughout history, humankind has displayed a deep need to worship something. In fact, it could be argued that there is a void within the hearts of humans that can only be filled by the act of worship. However, what is the best object of man’s worship? Observing history shows us that, while the right kind of worship brings fulfillment, the wrong kind of worship only deepens the need for fulfillment within the human heart. Join us as we examine what the Scriptures have to say about worship; both who we should worship, and how we should worship.
Were humans made to worship? It seems that throughout history, humankind has displayed a deep need to worship something. In fact, it could be argued that there is a void within the hearts of humans that can only be filled by the act of worship. However, what is the best object of man’s worship? Observing history shows us that, while the right kind of worship brings fulfillment, the wrong kind of worship only deepens the need for fulfillment within the human heart. Join us as we examine what the Scriptures have to say about worship; both who we should worship, and how we should worship.
Welcome to drippings from the honeycomb, the official podcast of Another 12 Ministries, we are so glad that you have decided to join us as we enjoy the sweetness of God's word, one verse at a time where humans made to worship something greater than themselves. In Matthew 28, verse five and six, there's a single statement that covers two verses. And it's a quote from an angel that addressed the women who had come to the tomb to prepare Jesus for His final burial. And the angel says this, do not be afraid, for I know that you see Jesus who was crucified, He is not here for he has risen, as he said, Come and see the place where he lay. If we look at history as a whole, we could point to one event that marked the turning point of all history, all history prior to this event, looked forward to it. And all history since that event, has looked back at it and gained reference from it. And that event would be the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the reason it would be the resurrection of Jesus Christ is because of the uniqueness of the event. It is not the cross because many people have been crucified for their principles for their faith, for many various reasons. On across many people have died in the place of someone else, and provided them a temporary stay of death until their physical bodies died. But only one person has risen from the dead of his own power, and that is Jesus Christ. In addition, it's more than just the resurrection. If Jesus just rose from the dead and there was no cross he died of natural causes of old age of a heart attack or some illness, then his resurrection from the dead would really be nothing special, because his natural death would have proved that his flesh was corruptible. And if his flesh was corruptible, then he would not have been able to claim to be fully God and fully man, but because he claimed to be fully God and fully man, and because he was put to death, allowing himself to be put to death by sinful human beings who wrongfully accused him and wrongfully sentenced him to death and wrongfully executed him. And because he lived a life that was sinless, and died in our place and proclaimed that he died in our place for sin. And God made evidence during his crucifixion, that he was casting the wrath due to the world on Jesus as a substitutionary atonement. These facts radically change the way we should see Jesus's resurrection. It is the most important event that ever took place. And it has drawn human attention from before its occurrence. And after its occurrence, people looked forward to the revelation of the Messiah, they look forward to the deliverer, they looked forward to the one who was going to come and change everything. And since Jesus came and revealed himself as the Messiah, revealed Himself as the deliverer proclaimed himself to be the coming King, and took the steps required to prove that he was the coming King by going through crucifixion, rising from the dead, ascending into heaven and sending the Holy Spirit, all of human history has looked back to his resurrection as the key turning point in the history of humanity. Now, of course, we know that every person who has lived and has looked back at the resurrection of Jesus Christ has not necessarily believed in it. To be sure history has been filled with skeptics, deniers, non believers, those who reject the evidence that Jesus provided that the scriptures provide of who Jesus was during his time on Earth, and who he is in his resurrected state in heaven with God, and the truth that his return his impending return, to bring his followers into a perfected creation. But human belief or denial does not change the reality of the impact that the resurrection of Jesus Christ has on history has on humanity. The reality is that just as the Scripture teaches, man was created by a creator, in the image of that creator for the purpose of glorifying that Creator and having relationship with him. Man was created with a void within him. And this has been proved throughout history. People from every nation tribe and Tom have worship woven within the fabric of their society, and they don't worship something lesser than them. They worship something that they esteem to be greater than them, whatever that might be. But the reality is that there is only one who is greater and that is the one who has made all things and we know that Paul talks about this in Romans one, where he says that fallen man has worshipped creation rather than the Creator. The reality is it is impossible for humans to live without worshiping something. Humans were designed to worship. And this design leaves a hole within the human heart when there is nothing to worship. This is why humans will turn to all manner of different pursuits, whether they be personal success, wealth, religion, hobby, sports relationship, and the list could go on and on. Humans must lavish their time, attention, care, love, and energies on something in order to feel fulfilled. This is because God designed humans this way. And here we see in this passage in Matthew 28, it's no different. These women come to the tomb, to seek one that they have lavished their attention, their energies, their love, and their time on for a number of years, they have been an integral part of Jesus's ministry, caring for Jesus and his disciples supporting the ministry financially, being present constantly from the very beginning all the way to the cross. Their lives have been touched by Jesus changed by Jesus, they are different people than when they first met him. And they will never be the same, because they have been called into a relationship with God through the ministry of Jesus Christ. And so on this morning, this Sunday morning, these women come to the tomb expecting to find Jesus expecting to find a dead Jesus, but still coming to find him to continue to serve him despite his death. But when they come to the tomb, they are confronted with this scene with an angel sitting on the stone that has been rolled away. And he immediately addresses what they have come to do. They have come to seek Jesus to continue to worship him. The only problem is, Jesus isn't there he is somewhere else, he has been raised from the dead. This reality did not create a lower expectation of worship, but a higher expectation of worship. This reality does not lessen the women's desire to find him and be with him, it increases their desire to find him and be with Him and serve Him and worship Him. They came in great sorrow, they will leave in fear and joy, fear because of the miracle that has occurred, and the reality of something that is beyond their comprehension at this time, and joy because of the impossibility of what has just happened, that the one that they love, that they care about the one that they have served and worship, the one who touched their lives in immutable ways that can never be changed, is now alive when they thought he was dead, is now proved to be everything he said he was, even when their faith was too small to believe it even when their understanding was too dim to see it. Now they are living the reality of his prophetic words having been proved true, and are confronted with the fullness of the fact that Jesus Christ was indeed and is indeed, God. You see, the reason that the resurrection has captivated people from before the event, despite the fact that they didn't fully understand what they were looking for just that they were looking for the advent of a deliverer to people who now read about the resurrection in the billions of copies of the Bible that exist around the world, is that the resurrection is the only source of hope for humanity. The worship of the Creator is the only worship that truly satisfies the craving that God has placed within the hearts of mankind. No other worship can sustain humanity. Humanity was made to worship God and God alone. And anything else is idolatry that not only does not fulfill, but creates an even greater longing for something to fill the human heart. You see, there's one very important fact about the resurrection of Jesus Christ that separates Christianity from every other religion in the world in human history. The God of the universe, lives, the God of the universe, sent his Son, Jesus Christ to die in human form on this earth. But he rose again and he lives. Our God lives. If you're a kingdom follower, if you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. What separates your belief system from everybody else's belief system on the earth is that your God is alive. You worship a real person, someone who exists, someone who lives in the heavens and someone who knows your name. He is going to return for you, specifically, you and others. But you specifically when he returns, you specifically will be on his mind and on his heart. He has never forgotten your name. He has never forgotten anything about you. In fact, because He is the Creator, He knows everything about you because he designed you personally, to be known like that, by the one true God who lives is the only answer to fill the hole that exists in the heart of mankind. The worship of the one true God is the only hope that can sustain men and women in this world today. Everything else is fleeting, everything else is failing, everything else, will eventually stop fulfilling the heart that worships it. But because Jesus is alive, because He is God, because he has done the ultimate work to save the world, because he knows each and every person because they were made according to his will and pleasure. He is able to have true relationship with humanity, he is able to have a personal relationship with each and every human that he created. That does not mean that each and every human that he created will pursue relationship with Him. Many, many people have rejected Jesus Christ despite the evidence of His life, death, resurrection and ascension. But as I said before, their acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ does not change the impact that his resurrection had on human history. Without His resurrection, human history would look vastly different without his resurrection, so many things that are would not be and there would be, above all, no hope for humanity. You see, the reason for this is that before Jesus came before his advent, God had given mankind a hope. In Genesis three, he had told Adam and Eve who had fallen into sin, that one day he would send a deliverer, to take their sin away, to restore everything, to crush the Serpent and to bring hope to mankind. And from Adam and Eve, until the advent of Jesus. Humanity hoped and waited for that deliver, humanity sought for a fulfillment for the worship need of their heart, much of humanity sought the wrong thing. Much of humanity worshipped the creation rather than the Creator. But God still revealed himself throughout history, and gave man hope. Those who put their faith in God's promises, gave them hope of a future redemption. When Jesus came, He fulfilled that hope and those who recognized who he was, and why he had come understood that he was the fulfillment of that hope. And for a few brief hours, that hope, died in the lack of faith of those who had surrounded Jesus during His ministry, that hope seemed to be over the one that they had waited for the one they were so sure was the Messiah was dead. And there was no hope. But then he rose, and he appeared and he proved that he was alive and he ascended and He sent the Holy Spirit, and that hope was rekindled but rekindled with a flame far bigger than it existed before the advent of Jesus, a flame that lights all of history showing that everything that happened from creation to the resurrection point into that moment, and everything since the resurrection has looked back to that moment, because it is where hope for humanity comes from. It is the only source of true hope for humanity because the only hope for humans to have a right relationship with God is to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and look forward to when he will return to make all things new. You see, humans were made to be immortal. Before Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, there was no death. Humans would have existed for eternity in perfect fellowship with God, humans crave eternity, humans have always sought longer life, whether it is through the search of a mythical place to drink water that would end aging or medicines to heal every ailment in the body or surgical practices to repair damage to our human bodies. Humans have sought freedom from pain, freedom from death, freedom from illness, freedom from discomfort. Why? Because we were made to be free from those things. In God's designed before the fall, man was made to live in perfect harmony with his creator forever and with one another forever. At the baseline. The heart of man knows this and seeks this and desires this eternity. But because of our sin because of our rebellion against God, it was taken from us. But Jesus changed all that when he rose from the dead. because he conquered death, he conquered pain, he conquered illness, he conquered all of the things that cause humanity to suffer. And he made a promise that he would return, he would return for those who had given their life to follow Him and to obey him. And he would destroy the sinful Earth and remake it knew the way it was before sin and bring humanity those who had put their faith and trust in Him to be with him. They're in perfect harmony and fellowship for eternity. This is why the resurrection is the most important event in all of history. This is why all humanity, whether they acknowledge it, or deny it, whether they have faith and accept the reality of the resurrection, or whether they are skeptical of the reality of the resurrection, all humanity looked to the resurrection as the most defining moment in human history, because either it's completely false, the resurrection didn't happen. And we ignore all the evidence that says it did. And we are left with an utterly hopeless future, a dark abyss of despair that is never ending for the human race. Or we live with hope to the future, because we know through the evidence of God's word which has been proved true time and time and time again, that we have a hope in a Savior, who died for us and who rose to conquer death, and is coming back to take those who have put their faith and trust in Him with him to a new eternity, where we will live on a new earth, in perfect harmony, without death, without pain, without sin, in perfect fellowship with Him, and with each other. The hope for which human hearts crave is only found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and in the relationship that he offers through salvation. If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, but you are desperate for the hope that only a relationship with Jesus Christ can bring. The scriptures are quite clear about how to bow the knee before Jesus. Romans 10 Nine and 10 says, because if you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved. Repent from your sin, cry out to Jesus and He will hear you cry out to Him for salvation acknowledged to him, that you need him. You need him to be the center of worship in your life, acknowledged that you believe that he is who he says he is, and that he has done what he said he has done and ask him to do for you what you cannot do for yourself to come into your heart and fill you with the Holy Spirit and commit your life to serve him from this moment on. Hope you enjoyed this episode of drippings from the honeycomb. If you would like to learn more about another 12 ministries and the work that we are doing to train youth ministry leaders to bring the Gospel to young people, visit another twelve.org If you would like to support our ministry, click on the Donate link in the description below.