The Motivation of Worship – Beyond Salvation

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Welcome to the InTouch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, November 4th. Today, our series on worship continues by removing all the non-essentials to focus on the central motivation of worship.

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You see, there are a lot of people who are saved by the grace of God and somehow they just sort of stop where they get saved. And their idea of the Lord Jesus Christ and God is that He’s their Savior. But to truly worship Him, we need to see Him as He is. We need to be occupied with Him, not with simply what He has to give me, not simply what He’s promised me, but who is He. And when I think of who He is, that’s what motivates me. That’s what causes me to overflow and pour out my praise and adoration and thanksgiving to Him. That’s what causes me to be occupied with Him and to be satisfied with just Him without anything else that He has to give. I want you to look at who Jesus is according to his revelation in Colossians chapter 1. Listen to what he says. He says, who is this Christ? He says he is the image of the invisible God. That is, Jesus Christ is God incarnate in the flesh. He says he’s the image of the invisible God so that no one has ever seen God and the only likeness to God that has ever been on the face of this earth is the person of Jesus Christ. And since he left his image within us because his spirit lives and dwells within us, every single person who is a child of God is a marred image of the likeness of Christ who was the full and is the full and perfect image of God, because He is God. The Bible says He is the image. He is the perfect likeness. He is the flawless likeness of God. That when you meet the Lord Jesus Christ, you’ve met God. Did He not say, He that hath seen me hath seen the Father? I and the Father are one. That we come to one when we come to the Lord Jesus Christ. who is in the glory, the Shekinah glory that is indescribable. There is no way to really and truly describe all the glory that belongs to Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible God. He is the likeness of Him. And I want you to think about this. When you think about worshiping God, Think about God’s attitude toward you and me. Did he not say in Romans chapter 8 that he has predestined, that is, God has foreordained and decreed beforehand that his love for you and me is such that he has foreordained and predestined that you and I would be shaped into the likeness of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the flawless perfection of God himself. What should motivate us to worship him more than understanding who he is and the tremendous love that he has for us that God so loves us that his goal for your life and my life is to form us and to create us and to sculpture us and to prune us and to work in our lives in such a way that we will be the walking likeness of Christ himself. That is, in our countenance ought to be the reflection of the person of Jesus Christ who is the flawless image of God the Father. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ to you besides your Savior? When you think of the Lord Jesus Christ, what do you really think about? Are you satisfied with Him? Or do you have to have something He gives you? Do you want some other gift? Do you want to see a miracle? Is Jesus Christ within Himself in all of His glory, is He not enough to satisfy the human heart? If He’s not, maybe you and I are hungering for something we should not have. Maybe we’re hungering for something that God knows we do not need. How many of us are satisfied with just knowing Him? Walking in intimate, loving, genuine, warm, indescribable relationship with Him. He says He is the image of the invisible God. Now notice, if you will, what He says. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. When he talks about the firstborn of all creation, he’s speaking not in time, but rather in the priority of who he is. First in rank. He is the Lord. He is the sovereign. He is first and foremost and above all. There is not anyone above him, anyone before him. In rank and priority and sovereignty, Jesus Christ is Lord. He’s first. First above all. Let me ask you this. How much of what we do is genuine worship? If I really believe that He is the flawless image, that He is the perfected image of God, that He is God in the flesh upon this earth, now seated at the Father’s right hand, how can I come to Him and bow down and worship Him? and let there be an overflowing and an outpouring, and to be occupied only with him when I have tucked away in my life something that I have hidden for myself and absolutely refuse to lay upon the altar of sacrifice to Jesus Christ. You see, the truth of it is, much of what we call worship, it is not worship. I’m afraid that some of it is entertainment. We can go to church and we can sing and we can talk and we can laugh and we can clap and have a wonderful time, but never worship God. In order to worship Him, I must know Him by the experience of redemption. I need to know who He is beyond my Savior, or I’ll always be looking for something and always focused and occupied with his forgiveness for today and his blessings for tomorrow and his protection today and his provision for the next day. I’m to be occupied with him. One of the reasons we’re not occupied with him is because we’re so occupied with ourselves. And the reason we are is because we don’t understand who he is. We keep things back from him and yet we still say he’s the Lord of our life. He’s first. And if you notice what he says, In the latter verses here of verse 18, he says, he’s the head of the church. He’s the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself might come to have, listen to this, that he might come to have first place in everything. And you and I would agree that he’s the sovereign of the universe, but let me ask you this. Can you honestly and truly say today that Jesus Christ is first place that He has the preeminence, that He has the final say-so, He has the last word in your life. Can you honestly say that? Or have you reserved something for yourself? How can you worship God? How can we worship Christ and hold anything for ourselves when this Christ Is the image of the invisible God the firstborn of all creation? And then he says in the next verse, he says, verse 16, for by him all things were created both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, for the thrones, the dominions, the rulers, the authorities, all things have been created by him and for him. Listen, everything around us has the image and the touch of God upon it. He has created it all. And when you and I come to Him, we come to Him not only as our Savior, but as our God. We come to him who has the preeminence above everything, who is the creator of all things, everything’s past, present, and future. And notice what the Bible says, both in Hebrews and also in Romans chapter four. He says that God created everything that is in existence, not by molding from nothing something, but he says he called it into being. Think about this. This God whom you and I serve, this Christ, Here is the epitome of his power. This Christ spoke in heaven and created out of nothing but from his lips. He created everything that is in existence. the book of genesis the first chapter of the bible says and god said what and god said let there be light and god said let there be waters and god said let there be foul and god said let there be creatures god spoke and god spoke everything into being when you and i understand this indescribable infinite christ When we begin to get just a little glimpse of Him, we’ll not be satisfied with just what He has to give. We’ll not be satisfied with just His provision and His protection. We’ll begin to be satisfied with knowing Him as a person. Does not Paul say in the same book, when you have Jesus, you’ve got it all? Let me ask you this, what are you searching for in life? What is it you’re working so hard for? What is it that you’re clamoring for? What is it that causes you to be so dissatisfied? Maybe you should look on the inside. Maybe it isn’t really something that you need or someplace you want to go or something you have set your goal, your mind upon, your ambitions upon. Maybe you need to relax and just get occupied with the person of Christ and realize that He who created all of this created you in His likeness, in His image. And one of these days, The Bible says that God has so arranged that you and I will live in his presence in absolute perfection. Persons of notable excellence marred by sin. But the Bible says that God has made us saints. And one of these days we’re going to be the fullest and the fullness of everything he intended. Are you satisfied with him? Are you looking for something else? Listen to what he says. He says in verse 17, he’s before all things and in him all things hold together. He didn’t just create it all, but he’s the one who’s holding it all together. Don’t you feel sometimes that your life is going in a thousand different directions and you’re just falling apart at the seams? When you and I learn to be occupied with him, it is amazing. what we cease to experience. This shattered, scattered, fragmented, emotional or spiritual feeling that oftentimes harasses us. When you and I get occupied with Him, somehow there’s a wonderful wholeness. And I love what Jesus said when He healed people. He said He made them whole. Complete. Listen, you’ve got Jesus living on the inside of you. What else do you need to make you complete other than him? He’s the super glue in your life that holds everything of value together. He says he holds it all together. But notice, he says in verse 18, he’s also head of the body, the church. He’s the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself might come to have first place in everything. He’s the head of the church. Now, you think about this. Jesus Christ, the flawless image of God… Jesus Christ, the firstborn of all creation, the sovereign of the universe. Jesus Christ, the creator of it all. Jesus Christ, the sustainer of it all. And Jesus Christ is the sovereign head of the church, which is not just an organization, but an organism permeated and saturated with resurrection life. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Only God could think up such a thing. Only God could make people from every different language and every different strata of society and every different part of this old globe. Only He could bring us into a sense of oneness and make up the body of Christ. All of us have somebody in common. And what we have in common is the person of Jesus Christ. This is His body. You and I belong to His family. Do you ever thank Him for just being one of His children? Thank Him for what holds you together with Him? Are you still occupied with what He has to give? He’s the head of the body, the head of the church. That’s my God whom I serve. I’m to be satisfied with Him. If I’m really going to worship God, what should motivate me to worship God is just Jesus. Understanding who is this great, infinite Christ, who is the flawless image of God, the creator of everything, holding it all together, the head of my church, which is His church. And He loved you and me enough to give us a copy of this old book so that all through life we could always go back in. What does He do? He brings us right back to Jesus every time. In the Old Testament, it’s Christ. In the New Testament, it’s Christ. In life, it’s Christ. In crises, it’s Christ. In persecution, it’s Christ. In plenty, it is Christ. Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ. That’s what life is all about. or otherwise he would never have said, and when you have Christ, you have it all. Christ who is our life, Christ in you, your hope of becoming, your hope of ever being everything that God desires you to be, Christ living in you. Listen to one last thing he says here. Verse 19, for it was the Father’s good pleasure, look at this, it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him. That is God the Father says, it is my pleasure that all that I am dwell within the person of my Son, Jesus Christ. And then, and through Him, that is through Christ, to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross, through Him I say, whether things on the earth or things in heaven. And although you are describing where we used to be, formerly alienated, hostile in mind and engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. When He says, if indeed, in this next phrase, the Greek of that simply means not only if indeed, but that it will indeed happen. indeed to continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast. If there is no other reason to be occupied with Jesus, here it is. And that is that in my hostility and disobedience and rebellion and hopeless, helpless, blind, ignorant separation from God, I didn’t take the initiative and reach up and say, God, I want to know you. but rather God, in His wonderful love, reached down and said, I want you. Do you realize that the only reason that you’re saved by the grace of God is that He took the initiative to reach out to you? He’s the one who gave you the truth. He’s the one who convicted you of your sin. He’s the one who gave you the faith. He’s the one who responded to your confession and your repentance. God took the initiative. What in the world can be compared to the person of Jesus Christ? He says, by His blood, that is the cross. Listen, the cross is what it cost God the Father to save you and me. Let me ask you a question. How in the world can you and I be so caught up? How can we stray so easily, so easily influenced to become involved in so many things when there stands the cross? god’s appeal to humanity for forgiveness and cleansing and the opportunity of a new life how can we be occupied with other people when there’s jesus how can we be occupied with what he has to give when there he is stretched out for your sins and my sin not when you and i promise to be good But he says, but God commended his love toward us. And while you and I were helpless, desperate sinners, Christ died for you and me. What ought to motivate us to worship? Just Jesus. just knowing him. And if you notice how he says it, he says, and through him to reconcile all things, not just some things, all things, all humanity to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross. He’s the one who did it. Through him, I say, were the things on earth are things in heaven. alienated hostile engaged in evil deeds now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death and look at god’s goal listen to this here’s god’s goal he says in order that what he may present you and me holy blameless and beyond reproach friend if that shouldn’t drive us to our knees before god this god who loves you and me enough to have died upon the cross for your sins and mine, making forgiveness a reality in our heart. And he says, that’s not enough. I want you to be holy and blameless and without reproach. Do you realize the goal that God has set for your life? And the goal that God has assumed full responsibility for. You see how short-sighted some people are? Only to be saved and somehow they stop. That’s just getting in. It is understanding who Jesus is in all of his fullness. Just a little glimpse of who he is. Just a little glimpse of what he’s done for us. Just a little glimpse of Jesus Christ, this reconciling, unconditionally loving, forgiving, redeeming Savior of ours, whose goal for your life and mine isn’t simply to forgive us of our sins, but one day to make us holy and blameless and spotless forever to glorify him. Do you realize that where you’re going today, you’re on your way to heaven? Do you realize what’s going to happen when you get there? Forever and ever and ever, you and I are going to reflect the likeness of Christ and the glory of God. That’s why he said you’re our persons of notable excellence. Not because we deserve it, but because of who he is in you and me.

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Thank you for listening to The Motivation of Worship. If you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.