The True Worship of Jesus Christ

Many today are very confused and deceived concerning how to worship God:

"Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them."
Psalms 115:4-8

Let's see, they that make and trust in an idol are like that idol... are they like an image that has no life? Well, I remember it is written "And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." (I John 5:11) Also, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)

Jesus was the Word of God come to life by how he lived it, and we must be obedient to the truth of God's Word, and his Spirit to have life. It is critical that both God's Word and his Spirit are part of our life, because true worship is a whole life lived for Christ and completely under his direction! Without both, people are still only taking part in idolatry - yes nothing more than the worship of an idol; although they may call themselves "Christians". What is an idol? It is an image, or resemblance of something or someone, but that is all that it is because it does not have life - or spirit in it. Only God created life, and true spiritual life can only come through his Son, Jesus Christ.

So are people without true spiritual life like a lifeless idol?

One may be very religious and do many works of a religious nature (idolators often do a lot of works), but Jesus came to earth as the "express image" of God (see Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:12-19, II Corinthians 4:4). This means he was not just a lifeless resemblance of God, like an idol. He also was not like a person who is physically alive, but is still bound to the spiritual death of sinful passions and lusts. (Most people are their own idol, they serve themselves, but they are dead in sins of disobedience.) Jesus did not serve his own interests, he always did the will of the heavenly Father. He was the perfect, full "express image" of the Father - he was a "live" spiritual resemblance of his Father's love!

God also wants us to be a "living" resemblance of his Son, Jesus Christ. He does not want us serving a dead image. Nor does he want us serving ourselves - being dead in trespasses and in sins (nor being a very religious, so called "Christian" but yet still serving our sinful passions.) He wants us to be resurrected to a new life in Christ Jesus! Resurrected out of a life of sin being made clean and holy through the sacrifice of Jesus' blood.

Like Jesus, God wants us to spiritually be in the image of his Son (Col 3:10), a holy and living resemblance of God - not lifeless, like an idol.

(Note: more to be continued on this thought in my next blog post.)