Right Worship – Acts 2.42-47 Pt. 3

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2.42-47, ESV).[1]
 
Memory Verse – And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. – Acts 2.42

      Worshiping our Lord and Savior is an important part of our lives. We must do it with others, we must do it with the right attitude, and we must worship the object at all times, God our Father and Him alone. When we place other things in front of Him, then our worship is tainted and lacking and, in many cases, falls very short of honoring and glorifying to God.
      Understanding our attitude in worship is just as important as knowing who we are to worship. But when life is tough, and things seem difficult and we do not feel like getting with others to worship God, to bring Him praises, glory and honor; it is during these times we need to know why we must worship God.
      Why do we worship God? Is it because we are made to? We might say yes as we are created by God; made in His image (Genesis 1.26-27). Yet, even then God did not force man to worship Him. God would come into the garden in the cool of the evening and commune with man (Genesis 3.8).
      Many of us we drugged as children, drugged to church (bad joke), and because of this we have a difficult time finding a reason to worship, other than because we were told to. But there is a better reason than ‘because we are told to,’ even better than the Bible, ‘says so.’ To understand why we must worship, why all our energy should be focused toward our Heavenly Father and not earthly, worthless things; we need to dive into God’s Holy Word.
      Let us begin by looking at a familiar passage in the gospel of John:

All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God (John 1.3-5, 9-13, NRSV).[2]

      We need to understand Christ came into a world which did not want Him. He was the creator of this world, and without Him nothing was made. Yet, His very creation turned it’s back on Him. Still, He came down from His throne, in the form of a servant and took on the form of a man (Philippians 2.6), to walk among us, to know our suffering, pain and heartaches.
      As it is written, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4.15, NIV).[3] This is the Christ who came to bring Light into the world, and dispel the darkness, which was in all of our hearts.
      Notice John’s words in verse 12, “But to all who receive Him, who believe on His name, He gave power to become children of God…” This is the Light of Christ in our lives, not by anything we could have ever done so we could boast about it (Ephesians 2.8-10), but by the power and for the glory of God (vs. 13).
      Christ sacrificed Himself so we might be justified before God. Paul writes in Romans:

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.  It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3.20, 23-26), ESV).[4]

      Paul reminds us there is nothing we can do to reach or obtain God’s favor. We cannot keep the law well enough, nor can we do enough good things, be good enough, go to church enough, pray enough, give enough, or anything.
      Our ability to reach God is not about us; therefore, neither is our worship. Christ came to help us close this gap between us and God. Look at the Jewish temple for a moment, there was a large veil which separated the “Holy Place from the holiest place of all the Tabernacle/Temple.”[5] This veil separated the whole congregation of Israel from God, and only once a year could a high priest enter into the most Holy Place to offer sacrifice unto God for the people.
      When Christ died on the cross, His life, His blood, paid our price (Romans 6.23) and made it possible for us to come into the very Holies of Holies, the very Throne Room of God; “we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place without fear because of the blood of Jesus’ death. We can enter through a new and living way that Jesus opened for us. It leads through the curtain—Christ’s body” (Hebrews 10.19-20, NCV).[6]
      Christ opened the veil, laid the path, made the bridge for us to cross the great gulf which was impassable. Or more simply put, we have been justified by His blood. Christ made right what was wrong so we could be right before God. As Paul says, God put His Son forward to cover our sins (propitiation), with His blood, so He could show God’s righteousness toward us as He did not pass judgement on us for our past sins.
      Why should we worship God?

Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because he has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6.17-20, CSB).[7]

      We should worship God because of what His Son has done for us. If there is no other reason, He gave His life so we would not have to give ours. In honor and respect we should want to worship the one who died in our place, lifting our voices in praise to Him, honoring daily and glorifying His mighty name. We should not forsake the gathering of ourselves together (Hebrews 10.25).
     
Application
 

1. Why do you come to worship? (I might share your answer but not your name, please be honest).
2. Do you find worshiping Christ easy or hard? Why? Please Explain as above.
3. Deeper Thinking: Read Hebrews 10.1-18 – what does this passage say about WHY we should worship Christ? What other understanding do you see in this passage? You can use scripture or other illustrations to back up your discussion.
4. Commit to learning Acts 2.42 and coming to corporate worship service.

 
Prayer
 
      Lord, Almighty God, Creator of the Heavens and Earth, You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.[8] I Will Worship You God Almighty forever, without reservation or fear, and with others, by Your power. Help me Lord to worship You so others can see Your gospel in me. I pray all this in Jesus Christ’s Name, Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ac 2:42–47). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
[2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Jn 1:1–13). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
[3] The New International Version. (2011). (Heb 4:15). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ro 3:20–26). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
[5] Tenney, Merrill. C. (1976). Pictorial Encyclopedia Of The Bible. Vol. 5. (pp. 862). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[6] The Everyday Bible: New Century Version. (2005). (Heb 10:19–20). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 6:17–20). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] The New International Version. (2011). (Ps 73:24–26). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

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