Worship has been a big topic among Evangelicals during the last year or so. It’s a good discussion to have because so many congregations seem to define worship as entertainment. This is not in any way, however, how the Bible views worship. So I have decided to do a series of brief reflections on worship.
Worship is essential to the nature of all rational creatures. Without it, we can never be what we are intended to be. Worship is essential to what happens in heaven, and it is meant to be one of the consuming passions of the human heart on earth. The loss of true worship is one of the great marks of man’s sinful condition. As Paul says,
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Romans 1:21-23
People still worship, but they do not offer worship to the Living God. They prefer idols of wood or stone or metal, or, most often in modern societies, idols of the mind and the imagination.
Does God care about worship? Does it matter how men approach Him? Yes, indeed! It has been so since the beginning. Amazingly, the first murder in the world occurred in regard to worship. We only have a brief sketch of what happened in the Bible, but this horrible crime was over the worship offerings of Adam and Eve’s first sons. It led to the murder of Abel at the hands of his brother Cain.
What made Cain hate Abel so thoroughly?
and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell..
Genesis. 4:4-5
God accepted Abel’s offering, but found Cain’s lacking. We don’t know how the men knew that, but Cain is enraged at this rejection. His wounded pride led to intense anger at his brother and a spirit of revenge.
But God has not rejected Cain, only his sacrifice. God speaks to him kindly but with a firm warning. The Lord says Cain can learn from this, and warns him that his sinful nature wants to dominate him. If he chooses well, it will bring him joy instead of anger. Cain chooses to cling to sin, and by following his anger to the point of murder, Cain makes his brother Abel the first martyr for the faith in history.
Faith is important here. Genesis doesn’t tell us why God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but not Cain’s. Many have speculated it is because God required a blood sacrifice, and that He must have told the men, or their parents this was essential. That is quite possible. Cain may have offered what he wanted instead of what God required. But the only clear reason we are given in Scripture comes from Hebrews 11:4:
By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.
Abel came to worship the Lord with faith, and Cain didn’t. That is the key difference between them. Had Cain come with faith, he would have accepted the Lord’s correction and encouragement. But he chose to reject God and slay his brother.
God wants worship that is done properly. He is patient when we do it wrong, but He is looking for faith. Perfunctory worship does not please Him. It must be from the heart, and He Himself must be the One we come to honor and magnify with gifts of praise, thanksgiving, and love.
True worship is what divides the redeemed from the lost. The redeemed come to offer God what He is due, because they feel it so deeply that He is worthy.
Next time we will see how worship is an essential element in the commandments given to Moses.
Yours in Christ,
Originally printed in The AFBC Pony Express. Vol. XIII, No. 2, February 2020.