The word worship comes from the old English verb which means to pay homage or respect. There are many synonyms that help us understand the meaning of the worship. Words such as adore, esteem, magnify, revere, venerate and exalt. The Hebrew word for worship in the Old Testament is “Shachah”. It is translated, to bow down, to do reverence, to prostrate, beseech humbly. The most commonly used word for worship in the New Testament is “Proskuneo”. Proskuneo literally means to kiss towards. The meaning of the word is perfectly expressed by the woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and kissed His feet.
In both the Old and New Testament it’s hard to understand worship without relating it to an attitude of the body. In Leviticus 9:24, the people fell down on their face before the power of the Lord.
THE DUTY AND RESPONSIBILITY TO WORSHIP GOD
Man is made to worship his creator. It is a part of human nature and choice to worship someone whether God or something. Our choice is whether it will be God or something else. God demands our worship in the Bible (Matt. 4:10.)
Man’s duty or obligation to worship God was stated by God to Adam in the Garden of Eden, and made known to Moses as part of the Ten Commandments. Man sense of duty is to obey the word of God.
Man’s responsibilities come from the duty to obey and worship God. The problems with the church today is that instead of worshipping and obeying God as part of man’s duty and responsibility , we have worship many things rather than God. Today the things man worshipped are legion. To name a few, man worshipped wooden idols, his physical desires, money, possessions, political leaders and false religion. All false religion is false worship and is dictated and controlled by Satan. In sum, when we worship the wrong things, we are literally worshipping the Devil.
A CASE STUDY OF WORSHIP (JOHN 4: 1-42)
The story of the Samaritan woman at the well is a classic story of true worship. The trip to Samaria was on a divinely appointed schedule, it was necessary that Jesus go through Samaria. Why? Because:
- Jesus would meet a woman whose solitary journey to the Jacob’s well from day to day indicates a species of ostracism by the other women of community.(Jn. 4:18). She would come to draw water in the hot afternoon, while other women in the city drew water in the early morning.
- That Jesus would meet her there and lead her into saving faith, the true kind of faith that would affect an entire village.
- Jesus knew that she had a deep craving in her spirit and that immorality would not quench that craving. The craving of her spirit actually was a craving for worship. So Jesus led the conversation to the subject of worship.
Like you and I, Jesus knew it would not be enough to rebuke the woman for her immoral conduct. He had to satisfy the need that existed in her spirit, and so He said to her, in John 4:23, “But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him.” It is amazingly wonderful that God is seeking for people to worship Him.
THE IMPORTANCE OF WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH
The phrase “in spirit and in truth” worship is imperative because God is Spirit (not a spirit). “In spirit” refers to the recreated human personality that’s indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the new birth. This is where true worship flows from not the soul or the body. The human spirit is divided into three parts: (1) Fellowship, (2) Communion and (3) Conscience. This is why the unsaved cannot truly worship God because their human spirit is not born again. When a person is born again it is the spirit that is saved, not the body or the soul.
“In truth” means absolute openness and honesty before God, hiding nothing. It involves exposing our entire life to the divine searchlight of His Holy Spirit. Truth is in contrast to the inadequate and false worship of the unsaved (Samaritans).
In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, the Scripture refers to man as three dimensional being. He is composed of the spirit, soul (mind, will and emotions), and body. Man’s body relates to the world around him through the five senses. His body is world-conscious. The soul of man is self-conscious. The spirit of man is God-conscious. God is spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
True worship is a response to a relationship with God. This is why when Jesus confronted the woman at the well; she did everything to avoid the point of the discussion. She tried to sidetrack the conversation by discussing the race issue between the Jews and the Samaritans. Jesus brought her back to the subject of worship. She went on to discuss the origin of the well, and how the well had come to them from Jacob, Jesus brought her back to worship.
As He talked about the water of life, she thought He meant physical water and requested some to meet her natural needs. Jesus confronted her on the issue of her husband. Finally, she tried to sidetrack the conversation again by discussing the prophetic issue. Jesus again brought her back to worship.
We all should study John 4. Some of us would rather discuss race, church matters, natural needs neglecting the most important things in our relationship with God which are worship and prayer. Worship is now not tomorrow or yesterday, but now.
Jesus taught the woman who to worship, where to worship and how to worship, because worship relates directly to God’s holiness.
HOW DO YOU SUCCEED IN SPIRIT AND TRUE WORSHIP?
- Fulfilled Romans 12: 1-2
- Make Ephesians 5: 18-19 your daily devotion.
- Walk in love and in light (Ephesians 5: 1-13)
- Have a healthy prayer lifestyle (1 Thess. 5: 17)
- Fruitful growth in the faith (2 Peter 1: 5-11)
- Daily seeks God’s forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1:9)
- Beholding the glory of God (2 Cor. 3:18)
- Having your eyes for no one but Jesus (Hebrews 12:2)
- In everything give thanks to God (1 Thessalonians 5:18
- Make a sacrifice of praise and sings to God (Psalm 22:3).
THE EFFECTS OF WORSHIP IS SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH
- With worship, we pleased God (Matt. 3:17; Heb. 11:5)
- With worship we become the fragrance of Christ and the aroma of life leading to life (2 Cor. 2:15-16; John 12: 3)
- Worship makes us triumph in Christ and diffuses the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ in every place (2 Cor. 2: 12-14).
- With worship we launch the weapons of God- the word of God, the Name, and the Blood (2 Cor.10:4; Acts 16:19-40).
- God feeds on our worship and when we worship God we are doing God’s will (John 4:34; Matt. 4:4).
- The reward for worship is white harvest (John 4:5-38).
WILL THE TRUE WORSHIPPERS STAND UP
The hour to worship God is now. Jesus inaugurated the dispensation of true spiritual worshippers who worship God as the body of Christ. There’s no true worship without acknowledging the pre-eminence of Christ, carrying our crosses and follow Jesus, continually drawing on Jesus’ life and partaking of His body.
True worshippers will continue to stand up for Jesus because their souls thirsts for the living God, they appear before God and the deep of God is always calling into the deep at the noise of the waterfalls because all the waves and billows have gone (Psalm 42: 1,2 & 7).
True worshippers today will stand up because they find satisfaction from Jesus and the Holy Spirit indwelling in the lives have become overflowing wellspring and transforming streams (John 7: 37-8; Rev. 7: 16-17)