This blog post is post #2 of 5 in a series on “Worship.” To view post #1, click here.
As George Mallory prepared to climb Mount Everest in 1924 he was asked “Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?” He replied, “Because it’s there.”
I suppose at the most basic level one might respond this way to the question “Why do we worship?” But there are also many other reasons to worship the One True God—especially when we learn of who He is and what He does—especially when we experience why He created us. The list grows long, but today I’d like to focus on why we worship for two reasons. We worship because God created us to worship and because He is worthy of our worship.
God is worthy of worship. “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28–29). In reading the Scriptures, we discover that God is worthy of worship simply for who He is (Psalm 103:8). His Person, His nature, the sum of His attributes. These are reasons alone to pause in reverence and awe. But Hebrews 12:28 reminds us that this God has given us a kingdom: enduring and unalterable. When we stop to consider who this God is who has placed us in His kingdom, it ought to result in gratitude leading to reverential worship.
God created us for this purpose. God formed people to declare His praise (Isaiah 43:21). God seeks worship (John 4:23). God fundamentally changed our identify for the purpose of worship (First Peter 2:9). That means that when one worships God, he/she is fulfilling one significant purpose for his/her existence. That means that when one does not, one’s purpose is not being fulfilled—an unfulfillment that can be felt, even driving people to search for fulfillment elsewhere (idolatry).
You are a worshipper! You are always worshipping something. It is at the nucleus of who you are. God wove worship into your DNA. You do not live an aimless existence. Your greatest fulfillment, your ultimate purpose is to worship the Lord God! “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing” (Revelation 5:12).
