The God Who Worships Us

The Greek word for “worship” is proskyneō and it is translated as “to kiss, to lower oneself in humility or reverence, to adore, to surrender completely to another”.

So, when Jesus let go of His equality with God [see Phil. 2] and humbled Himself and took on the form of a servant, and became nothing, He was doing exactly what anyone does when they worship something.

• Jesus “lowered himself in humility”
• Jesus became a servant to mankind.
• Jesus adored us and gave himself up for us.
• Jesus looked upon us and loved us.
• Jesus completely surrendered his life to us.
• Jesus placed his life, and safety in the hands of his earthly parents.
• Jesus gave us power over himself, even to the point of abusing him and putting him to death.

Jesus, in essence, went from being the One who was worshiped night and day by the cherubim of heaven to become a servant who washed the feet of his own disciples.

In his own words, Jesus declares that He did not come to be served – as a God should expect to be – but that He came to serve us. [See Mark 10:45]

This was an act of worship.

Now, it is quite normal for us to think of God as someone that we should worship. We understand that God is God and that we are not. So, we naturally apply the term “worship” whenever we think of how we interact with God.

Today, worship is a multi-million-dollar industry. Record labels, artists, songwriters, conferences and even workshops are all devoted to worship. Usually, this worship is in the form of music, but scripturally-speaking, worship is really more about the way we live our lives in relationship to God.

In Romans 12, for example, Paul tells us that we should offer our bodies to God as a living sacrifice and that this is holy and pleasing to God; calling it “our true and proper act of worship.”

Nothing about singing songs there; Simply laying our lives down at His feet in adoration and complete surrender.

In other words, when we give up our lives for Christ, this is what worship looks like.

Just the same way that Jesus gave Himself up for us, as Paul reminds us in Ephesians 5:25, we should also give up our lives for Him, and for one another.

See, Jesus showed us what worship really looks like. When He stepped down from the throne and humbled Himself and became a servant to us, He was demonstrating to the entire Universe what worship really is.

So, on that basis, and by following His astounding example, we should also worship Him by giving up our lives as living sacrifices.

This is what honors God. This is what gives Him joy. When we understand that His love for us compelled Him to kneel down and serve us, and yes, to worship us with an absolute adoration that drove Him to the cross and exploded from the grave in victory, how else can we respond?

How can you not love a God who gave Himself up for you?

How can you not serve a God who first served you?

How can you not worship a God who would lay everything down and worship you until it killed Him?

There is no one like our God.

Let us worship.

-kg

 Note: Special Thanks to Jordan Hathcock for inspiring this blog post.

LOVE AGAINST THE MACHINE

Over the weekend I watched a live concert DVD from a band called “Rage Against the Machine”.

Their message and their attitude – as one might expect – is not only rage, but more specifically “outrage” at the injustices of our society and the crimes of our government against the innocent people of this nation, and also against people in other nations.

So, they crank up their guitars and they pound on their drums and they shout and scream against this injustice.

But as I watched this concert and listened to them make their case, I couldn’t help but notice the futility of all this rage.

I mean, if all you have is anger and rage, what good does that do you? What good does it do for those people who have been exploited? In what way does it make anything better or change anything for the good?

Well, I had to confess, it doesn’t do any good at all.

Perhaps it is the overwhelming sense of futility and powerlessness that fuels this rage in the first place?

But what else can be done, really?

We see the injustice. We want to do something about it. But we realize we have no real power to make it stop. So, all we have left to do is to just rage about it.

But, is that really all we can do?

What if, instead of raging against the machine we tried to love against the machine?

Isn’t this what Jesus had in mind?

He showed up and essentially said, “You’ve made a mess of your life. Your leaders have made a mess of this world. If you’re ready to try something new – to repent of all of the “eye for an eye” escalation of violence – here’s another way to live: Love your enemies.”

Jesus knows that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.

Jesus wants us to admit that a mindless continuation of "you hurt me, so I’ll hurt you” methodology will get us – and has never gotten us – anywhere but here.

In other words, if someone doesn’t break the “eye for an eye” chain early on, we’ll all eventually end up blinded.

So, Jesus says, “Follow me!”

Following Jesus means loving our enemies, blessing those who curse us, praying for those who mistreat us, and disarming their hate with His agape love.

I know, it seems so powerless, doesn’t it? I mean, how could love and mercy and forgiveness and compassion ever make a difference?

Jesus said it was like a small mustard seed, or a little bit of yeast. He said this love of God – which seems so small and weak – is secretly revealed to be an unstoppable source of transformational energy capable of changing us, and everyone around us, from the inside out.

Yes, the world is a dark place. Yes, the powers of greed, war, hate and lust seem so far beyond our means to stop.

But we know something they don’t know: We know that the power of weakness is actually the power of Christ at work within us.

We know that even the smallest flame cannot be snuffed out by all the darkness in the universe.

We know that even the tiniest seed can grow into a massive weed that overtakes the entire garden and spreads like wildfire across the continents.

We know that even the tiniest baby can melt the hardest heart.

Let me ask: “How could you ever defeat an enemy who only gained strength as he got weaker?”

Answer: “You can’t.”

This is what Paul wants us to understand when he talks about the “power of weakness” which is impossible to overcome. [See 2 Cor. 12]

This means that we, in our weakness, are carriers of the unlimited power of Christ.

How do we unleash this power? By doing what He did –  We let go of our own identity and status and rights and lay down everything, even unto death (see Philippians 2:5-10).

When we do this, the power of Christ flows through us like super-charged thermonuclear energy.

Our response of love is more critical than we might think.

This, I believe, is what Paul the Apostle has in mind in Romans chapter 12. First, he appeals to the unspeakable glory of God (at the end of chapter 11) and urges us to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God. Then he tells us not to be conformed to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed.

But why?

So that we can love others (v.9-10), and so that we can bless those who persecute us (v.14), repay the evil with blessings (v.17), live at peace with all men (v.18), refrain from vengeance (v.19), feed our enemies (v.20) and, eventually, even overcome evil with good (v.21).

Do you see what Paul suggests? He’s saying that once we are transformed we need to live transformed lives.

Why? So that our lives can un-make this world of darkness and unleash the resurrection power of Christ.

 This is why we turn the other cheek. This is why we pray for those who hate us. This is why we are called peace makers.

Not to be doormats, but to be warriors of the transformation.

We are each like little a virus that transforms an organism from the inside out.

Jesus has a plan to re-make the world, and this process is already in motion.

 “And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” [Rev. 21:5]

That includes you and me.

It also includes the powers of darkness.

One day, and it may be very soon, the kingdoms of this world will crumble and fall.

One day, the Kingdom of our God will overtake all other kingdoms.

Every knee will bow.

Every tongue will confess.

“Jesus is Lord.”

So, whenever you see injustice, even it makes you feel like raging, take a moment and remember to love against the machine.

This is the only power we have to change anything.

"Love never fails." - 1 Cor. 13

All The Ways You Give Yourself Away

Our house church family continues to amaze me.

Every single time we get together, the Lord reveals something more exquisitely beautiful about Himself to all of us and takes our breath away.

A few months ago one of our dear sisters shared something from her journal with us. She was in a place where the voices of self-doubt and defeat were beginning to drown out the voice of the One who loves her completely.

In her journal she wrote: 

“Lord, I really do feel like I am having to constantly fight against the negative thoughts of my mind that are telling me I am alone or unwanted, or unworthy or not worth anyone’s time.”

Rather than give in to those lies, she instead stopped and prayed. She confessed her feelings and doubts and asked Jesus to remind her of who she was.

In a few moments time, literally only a few seconds, the Lord spoke out these five verses to her one at a time. She wrote them down in her journal under the bold heading:

"Things that are TRUE"

Here's what the Lord spoke to her:

“I am your inheritance” - Ezekiel 44:28

“I am doing something new! Even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make ways in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” - Isaiah 43:18

“For you alone know the human heart, so that they may fear you and walk in your ways.” - 2 Chronicles 6:31

“Keep asking and it will be given to you. Keep searching and you will find. Keep knocking and the door will be opened for you.” - Luke 11:9

“The Lord paid attention to Hannah’s need.” - Samuel 2:21

Through these five verses the Lord whispered something beautiful to our sister. He revealed to her all the ways that He sustains her, and that He is at work even if she doesn't perceive it, to make her a new creation in Christ. He showed her that He knows her heart, and that if she keeps searching, she will find Him. Then He reminded her that he is well aware of her need and He intends to fill it with all of Himself.

As she went through her day these thoughts continued to swirl around in her heart and she began to meditate on all the ways that He gives Himself away to us.

God is giving Himself away to us. He is our inheritance. All that we have is His. All that He has is ours. He intends to make us One with Him, and to make us all One with each other.

Doesn't that give you such great hope today?

God sees you. He knows you. He pays attention to you. He is working behind the scenes to make you like Himself, and to draw you into a place where all you know is more of Him.

Today I am praising God for all the ways He gives Himself away.

-kg

THE ASTOUNDING TRUTH ABOUT LOVE

God is love. He made us in His own image.

We are the objects of His undying affection.

Literally.

He would rather die than live without us and He proved that for us a very long time ago.

We were made by love to be loved.

When we receive love, we are receiving God, who is love.

To be loved is why we were created. When we are loved we are fulfilling our purpose.

This is why it is so tragic that many of us struggle with love.

We doubt that God loves us.

We deflect God’s love because we are convinced we’re not worthy of it.

We dismiss the love of others for the same reason.

Yet love is why we are here.

Without love, we are nothing.

Without the love of Christ, we can’t love others.

Without God’s love we can’t see Him or hear Him as He intended.

God is love. If we resist love, we resist God.

Here is the truth:

Love made us.

Love sets us free.

Love removes all fear.

Love reunites us with God (who is love).

Love restores our identity (as people who were made to be loved).

Love allows us to see others as they are (people who are made by love to be loved).

Love endures all things.

Love overcomes.

Love transforms us.

Love never dies.

The part of us that is loved is the part of us that is eternally intertwined with God (who is love).

Do you know who made you?

Love made you.

Do you know why?

So that you could be loved.

Do you know who you are?

You are loved.

-kg

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:14-21)

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FURTHER READING

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Love Conquers Hate

On October 2, 2006, Charles Carl Roberts IV entered the West Nickel Mines School house holding a loaded gun. He proceeded to shoot ten girls, between the ages of 6 and 13 years old, and killed five of them.

Eventually he turned the gun on himself and took his own life.

While stories like this are all-too-common in our world today, the reaction of the community was anything but.

This shooting had taken place in the Amish country of Bart Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The families who lost their daughters were filled with grief over the loss of their children, but they were also filled with the love of Christ.

This is why, instead of responding out of their despair, they followed the Prince of Peace and found the faith to act out the loving example of Jesus.

Just one week after the shooting, the same families who lost their daughters in this senseless and selfish act visited Marie Roberts, the wife of the man who had pulled the trigger and taken his own life.

They boldly, and sincerely, offered their complete forgiveness to her. They invited her to attend the funeral services for their slain daughters. They shared all relief funds sent to them with Mrs. Roberts and her own children who had lost their father that same day. They even attended the funeral of Charles Roberts and offered their loving support to his widow and his children.

This is love. This is true forgiveness and Christian compassion.

We saw this same brand of radical love and forgiveness a few days ago in Charleston, when the families of those who had lost their loved ones to the senseless shooting came face to face with the killer and sincerely forgave him.

Where do we find that kind of love? Where does it come from? Are these people just being religious? Are they pretending to love the one who killed their father, or mother, or sister or brother?

Or is it possible that the sort of love that Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount is actually real?

Out of hate, love can conquer. Out of despair, hope can rise. Out of tragedy, forgiveness can overcome and transcend human emotion.

Jesus empowers those who follow Him and put His words into practice. He fills us with real life, and real love that most people can only dream about.

In times of great darkness and despair, this love shines like the sun and puts Jesus on display for everyone to see.

This is why we're called to love our enemies. This is why we are expected to overcome evil with good. Not so we can be door mats, but so that we can demonstrate to the world that the Gospel is real and that His love transforms us into people who can love in the face of tragedy and forgive even the greatest evils.

The message of the Gospel is subversive. It goes against the grain. It makes a real, dramatic, powerful difference at just the right time, and when no one could possibly even expect it.

This is what we are called to, as followers of Christ. We are called to love extravagantly and to forgive inexplicably, and to demonstrate to the world that Jesus is alive inside of us.

Let the Kingdom come.

-kg

*Updated 6/23/15