Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
From the Beginning Until the End
John C. Thomas
St. Thomas MTC, NY
2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the
face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
What does creation have to do with our theme “we worship Triune God?”. The answer is EVERYTHING. Before the creation of the earth, we see the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) working together. We read in the aforementioned verse, that the Spirit of God was hovering. Then, when we turn to John 1:1-4:
“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”
So we see that all three – Father, Son, and, Holy Spirit - were intricately and intimately involved in the creation of the earth. Up to this very moment, the Triune God is involved in every aspect of the earth and its inhabitants. But, Creation also provides valuable insight into our worship life.
The first thing God said was “Let there be light”. We read in John 1:4 that Christ is the light of men. Just as the earth was empty and dark until God said “Let there be light”, our lives without Christ are equally empty and dark. In order to begin “Worship of a Triune God”, we must begin first by inviting and accepting Christ into our lives as our Lord and Savior. A good starting point is Psalm 34:8:
“Taste and see that the Lord is good and blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him”
Accepting Christ is the greatest decision one can ever make. But simply having Christ in your heart is not enough. God did not simply have light on the earth. He continued to create things. In the same way, we too must create a new being. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Our lives cannot remain the same when we accept Christ. An important change in our lives must be in how we approach worship. Our love for the Triune God must be shown in our worship. Are we focused on worshipping Him? Do we live our lives as an offering and worship to Him. We cannot simply with words adore the Triune God. We must do it in our actions.
Do we sing His praises loudly and passionately irrespective of who is near us? Do we volunteer to serve in our worship services? Whether it be reading the Bible, praying, and/or giving sermons, each of these are ways that we put on our new being. But even if we are passionate in our worship of the Triune God that is not the final step. As we see in creation, God creates man and woman for fellowship. Our worship life once we have started is not complete until we improve our worshipping community. We read in Hebrews 10:23-25:
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
So for our worship life to be complete, it must be in conjunction with bringing other believers to Christ and/or helping their worship and faith continue to grow each day. Can we do that? As we celebrate yet another summer, can we make this summer the best summer of our worship of the Triune God? Can we look back at 2015 as the year when our worship of the Triune God truly took shape and form and became the foundation of our amazing walk with Him?
What does creation have to do with our theme “we worship Triune God?”. The answer is EVERYTHING. Before the creation of the earth, we see the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) working together. We read in the aforementioned verse, that the Spirit of God was hovering. Then, when we turn to John 1:1-4:
“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”
So we see that all three – Father, Son, and, Holy Spirit - were intricately and intimately involved in the creation of the earth. Up to this very moment, the Triune God is involved in every aspect of the earth and its inhabitants. But, Creation also provides valuable insight into our worship life.
The first thing God said was “Let there be light”. We read in John 1:4 that Christ is the light of men. Just as the earth was empty and dark until God said “Let there be light”, our lives without Christ are equally empty and dark. In order to begin “Worship of a Triune God”, we must begin first by inviting and accepting Christ into our lives as our Lord and Savior. A good starting point is Psalm 34:8:
“Taste and see that the Lord is good and blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him”
Accepting Christ is the greatest decision one can ever make. But simply having Christ in your heart is not enough. God did not simply have light on the earth. He continued to create things. In the same way, we too must create a new being. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Our lives cannot remain the same when we accept Christ. An important change in our lives must be in how we approach worship. Our love for the Triune God must be shown in our worship. Are we focused on worshipping Him? Do we live our lives as an offering and worship to Him. We cannot simply with words adore the Triune God. We must do it in our actions.
Do we sing His praises loudly and passionately irrespective of who is near us? Do we volunteer to serve in our worship services? Whether it be reading the Bible, praying, and/or giving sermons, each of these are ways that we put on our new being. But even if we are passionate in our worship of the Triune God that is not the final step. As we see in creation, God creates man and woman for fellowship. Our worship life once we have started is not complete until we improve our worshipping community. We read in Hebrews 10:23-25:
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
So for our worship life to be complete, it must be in conjunction with bringing other believers to Christ and/or helping their worship and faith continue to grow each day. Can we do that? As we celebrate yet another summer, can we make this summer the best summer of our worship of the Triune God? Can we look back at 2015 as the year when our worship of the Triune God truly took shape and form and became the foundation of our amazing walk with Him?
PRAYER
Father, we pray that you
enable us to focus on our worship. Enable us to truly worship You in
spirit and truth. Let us proclaim your name unashamedly. Let it be the
desire of our heart that when we worship, we help bring about “that at the name
of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and
every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
father." AMEN - Phil 2:10-11
THOUGHT
FOR THE DAY:
Triune God is worthy of all glory honor and praise all the time. Let us live that!
Triune God is worthy of all glory honor and praise all the time. Let us live that!