BROADCASTS.com

b'

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God\\u2019s possession\\u2014to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:11-14).

There is one more matter I want to explore in these verses. Yesterday, we asked the question, \\u2018How do we become God\\u2019s people?\\u2019 Today, we ask, \\u2018Why?\\u2019 \\u2018Why does God make us his people?\\u201d The answer is given three times: \\u201che predestined us for adoption to the praise of his glorious grace\\u201d (5-6); \\u201cin him we were also chosen\\u2026in order that we\\u2026might be for the praise of his glory (11-12); and \\u201cwhen you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit\\u2026to the praise of his glory\\u201d (13-14).

What does this mean? The glory of God is the revelation that he is gracious. Many people think of God as a being distant from us and unconcerned about us. But the Bible is clear, in Christ we see the fullness of God revealed, gracious and true. His glory is his grace. Those who are chosen by God to be his people are to live \\u2018to the praise of his glory.\\u2019 This means that we worship him fully with our words and deeds and also that we lift him up in such a way that others are drawn to praise him as well. This was God\\u2019s will for Israel in the Old Testament, and it is also his purpose for his people today. Psalm 67 is the most succinct expression of this teaching.

And so, when our Vibrant Conversations here at Immanuel indicated that one of our deepest desires is to worship and know God, we can say that in this regard nothing needs to change. Rather, we need to go deeper into this desire.

Having said that, we must recon with the reality that this worship of God is counter cultural. We will face many obstacles, because in worship we declare something that is not welcome. The world in which we live is terribly human-centred and self-centred. Our own souls rebel at the notion of worshipping God. Imprisoned in our own little egos, we have an almost boundless confidence in our own power, and an almost insatiable appetite for the praise of our own glory. Yet, by the grace of God, we begin to be turned inside out. We live by new values and new ideals. For God\\u2019s people are God\\u2019s possession who live by God\\u2019s will and for God\\u2019s glory.

As Walter Wink put it, \\u201cTo worship is to remember Who owns the house\\u201d. In worship we remember that God is not some abstract reality but the most powerful being who values us above all. Further, from the beginning of time he has been actively working to adopt us as his own children. If this is what we experience when worshipping, suddenly, what God expects becomes important. Thanksgiving and obedience naturally follow.

This is the reason why worship and praise are so crucial. We have opportunity to tell the truth about ourselves and God. In worship, our communal soul is recreated; God reminds us once again of our identity: we belong to him. We reject all attempts which give inadequate definition of who we are. We are created in God\\u2019s image and recreated through the gracious sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Karl Barth added, \\u201cTo clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.\\u201d Our prayers and worship must always have a theological character, reminding us of who God is. Rather than prayer being our list of needs, it must describe God and his reality and thereby draw us closer to him.

Thus, even though there can and should be a private personal dimension to our prayer and worship, these practices move us to community. We are not isolated redeemed persons, but a holy people, royal nation, a new community. One voice alone is woefully insufficient to declare the praise of God. When we worship together there are hints of the full orbed praise that will be given when every knee bows before him and every tongue declare that he is God.

Until then, we declare with Paul,

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:17-21).