We may have heard the word “Reverence” from pastors on various church sermons, what is this Reverence, as per the Webster Dictionary “deep respect for someone or something”
So how do you exhibit this deep respect for God ?, when you look at other Religions, Hindus worship God with folded hands falling prostrate in front of God, Muslims worship God with folded legs and heads down all these are signs of worshiping God.
As Christians how should we worship God in Reverence? Before answering this question, lets first understand Qualities of God that’s described in first book of New Testament (Matthew) and the end of New Testament (Revelation) . Once you understand them then you will know how the reverence in God should be in our worship.
There are three things that we need to know about our God.
He is our Immanuel
If you start reading Matt 1, God choose to humble himself to come to this world, it starts with Genealogy of Jesus
Special call out of the 4 women – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and wife of Uriah (Bathsheba): This genealogy is noted for the unusual presence of four women.
These four women have an important place in the genealogy of Jesus to demonstrate that Jesus identifies with sinners in his genealogy
He chooses himself to be born like an ordinary human being with a rare distinction between humans and himself, Mary was conceived thru Holy Spirit, He chose to give birth free from Sin
He chooses a shepherd’s manger as a place of Birth - which is the lowest of lowest place anyone will choose as place of Birth
He bore a name Jesus – which describes as - Jesus meets us in our sin, his purpose is to save us from our sins. He saves us first from the penalty of sin, then from the power of sin, and finally from the presence of sin.
Paul writes 'Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” ' Acts 4:12
He has many names one of them is Immanuel – which means “God is with us” - It shows that we can come to Him; if He has come to us, then we can come to Him. “Then, if Jesus Christ be ‘God with us,’ let us come to God without any question or hesitancy. Whoever you maybe you need no priest or intercessor to introduce you to God, for God has introduced himself to you.” (Spurgeon)
Scroll and Lamb
Let’s turn to Revelation 5 to understand how he is when he is in the judgment seat.
Scroll
'Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. ' Revelation 5:1-4
A scroll is a book that outlines all our good / wrong things (Sins) of every human being. Think of this like a video tape of every human being from his early child to his death.
We see a different Jesus here in a different form – “'Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne”, Beginning of the Matthew, we saw how low he chooses to get himself here on earth, here we see he is seated in Throne, in his right hand was Scroll. “scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals”
We see Angels proclaiming Jesus – “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”
Jesus is the only person who has the authority to Open the Scroll, the word says no one has authority “But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.”
Lamb
'Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. ' Revelation 5:6-8
Here we see a different form of Jesus – We see him as Lamb – representing humility, gentleness, and sacrificial love.
We read “The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth”
We read about this spirit 'You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. ' Romans 8:9-10
Here there are seven distinct expressions of the one Holy Spirit:
Spirit of the Lord,
Spirit of Wisdom,
Spirit of Understanding,
Spirit of Counsel,
Spirit of Strength,
Spirit of Knowledge and
The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord
How Jesus is worshiped in Heaven
Let’s see how reverence of Jesus in Heaven
They (Elders and Angels) sang a new Song with worthy of praise
'And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. ' Revelation 5:9
The Angels (“numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand” = 10,00,00,000.00 Angels) singing in Loud voice with praise and worship
'Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” ' Revelation 5:11-13
The angels worship and offer praise to God day and night
Now let’s come back to the question of how do you worship God in Reverence?
Let’s ask these questions to ourselves
Are we worshiping in reverence like how the Angels and elders’ worship in Heaven?
Are we worshiping the God who is seated in Throne who holds the Scroll in his right hand with fear and trembling?
Are we taking Sin lightly with a casual attitude and showing our reverence to God?
Are we having the Holy Spirit of God to worship him with reverence?
Are we having the experience of God with us – As Immanuel?
Remember he is a mighty and powerful God, we are like dust in front of him, he chose us even before we were born and he is tolerant to us despite of our sins we commit, the grace that’s given by him is for us to repent and turn to him and treat Sin with great contempt.
So, worship God with reverence with these qualities
Externally – Make sure when you worship God you may choose to fall in prostrate / with folded hands / kneeling down / Heads down / Eyes closed and praying to him, these actions tell God you surrender to him completely, you are helpless person in front of him.
Fear of Sin – Always have a Fear for Sin in your heart, the world we live in we constantly fall down in Sin, but God has given Grace to save us from the Sin, use the Grace to repent and turn away from Sin.
Remember he is Immanuel – “He is with us”, make it your life goal to imitate God to avoid Sin and always self-examine every action you do to please God, since he is with us all the time, keep this thought in your heart to fight Sin with aggression.
He is present everywhere - His presence is there everywhere, not just in the church, he is there in your house, as you travel / in your office / school, he is there everywhere and in everything you do... So, show respect to God by giving him undivided attention. Think of this like this, imagine if Prime Minster or President of India comes to meet you, you will show the highest respect and be attentive, correct. Likewise, our God is “King of Heavens and Earth” We need to show 100 times more respect for him as we worship him. Remember God values every small actions even if it’s a mustard seed level to give his mercy / grace to us to succeed even more towards his holiness.
Make your actions (external / Internal) count in reverence of God.
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