Yes, it is because the gospel, the death and resurrection of Jesus, is the storyline of the whole bible and so it should be “of first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) in every part of our lives, and in our singing and worship. We always want to remember that we need a Mediator and that we have a Mediator in Jesus Christ.
Exodus 20:3 says “You shall have no other gods before me”, and under this Law, God commanded our exclusive worship. However, the command itself did not enable us to actually worship. Under the gospel, we see what God did by sending His son to the cross, we experience the power of His love, and that inspires and draws out worship in our hearts.
When people see God working on their behalf, when they experience His power for them they are filled with praise and worship. May I encourage you to hear what Jesus is saying to you from His cross in the following 3 worship songs:
When you know that God sees your sin, your failures, your lost years, yet He loves you anyway, it brings gratitude to your heart. We know our sin is forgiven and nailed to the cross.
When you come to understand that it's not your performance that God looks at, but rather that He looks at the performance of Jesus, His son, then you begin to feel free and full of peace and want to say "thank you!" to Jesus, and sing Jesus, I am Resting.
And when you see that when you were full of unbelief, fear, and anxiety and had sunk to your lowest, it was then that God chose to show how He loves us and that His perfect love has cast out fear.
Doesn't this love humble you and cause you to be grateful to Jesus? I mean, before you lifted a finger to obey Him before you were even capable of turning to Him, He turned to you. You ran from Him, He came for you. You hung out with your sin, He hung on a cross for you. Doesn't that give you pause, and stir up worship in your heart for Jesus?
Question 2. Which of the above 3 worship experiences speak to your heart today? What words touched your heart? Please share:
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David writes, "It's not what I do. It is what God has done through Christ."
Tori writes, "And I realize just how beautiful you are and how great your affections are for me. To realize this, I realize more everyday and I love God so much. Thank you Jesus. Oh how you love me! My perfection is found in Christ. and Jesus truly loves me! Jesus does not look at my performance, he loved me when I was nothing."
Carnell writes, "All 3 touched me. I am thankful God loves me in spite of me. He doesn't look at my performance but at what Jesus has done and justifies me. When I am at my lowest He shows me just how much He loves me."
For those of us who have experienced deep despair, who have been “bent over” with a “spirit of heaviness” (Isaiah 61:3), praise and worship is our battle cry against the enemy (2 Chronicles 20:22), changes our focus from ourselves and back onto God (Psalms 150:2), invites us into God’s presence (1 Peter 2:9), strengthens and renews us by His joy (Psalms 63:3-4), and it breaks the ground for God’s power to be displayed (Acts 16:25-26).
Let's make this Practical:
You have a family birthday celebration coming up at your house. You have tried to put it off and not think about it but it has been worrying you and you have been losing sleep because of it. Tasks have fallen behind around the home as you have been feeling overwhelmed: “What will people think of me when they see I have let myself go? I know they will judge me and our home and I feel so bad about letting things get on top of me.”
In the past you would have made some excuse and tried to organise the event somewhere else. But now when you start to feel overwhelmed, you feel the Holy Spirit speaking to you and reminding you that grace flows from the cross of Christ and that in your weakness, God’s strength comes. What we cannot do, God can by His grace. When I am overwhelmed, God leads me to the Rock of Jesus Christ Who is higher than my struggles (Ps 61:2).
The Holy Spirit reminds you of all that Christ has done for you on the cross, of His amazing love poured out for you, of His robes of righteousness which you now wear free from condemnation.
The temptation to despair comes, but you are able to overcome because you have something better. You have Christ! You start praying for His help and you feel a small lifting of your spirit. You open your bible and start reading and filling your heart with His word and some of the tension rolls off your back onto the shoulders of Christ. You make one small decision for the celebration and then another follows with God’s grace. The Holy Spirit reminds you that your family have offered to help and so you delegate some of the tasks. You put on some cross centered music in the house and your heart starts to melt and soften as you worship God and your eyes are lifted from the tasks to Jesus. You sing joyful praises to your God and then adoration for Him wells up in waves in your heart. You return to abiding in Christ as your vine and you have eternal satisfaction: “…whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.” You are able to move forward in planning this event seeing that God’s perspective is not about a perfectly presented home and yard but on showing His love to others in hospitality, resting in His enabling grace.
Question 3. Are you discovering this truth in your life as well? That drinking from Jesus (receiving His grace and the free gift of salvation) and abiding and worshipping Him is entirely satisfying (thirst quenching)? Please share:
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