By the Christ who Lives in us, we Worship God by Serving God in the Body of Christ

God is God; He is the only One who is God, since He is the Creator of all things, and He is all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-existing, sovereign, omnipresent, and He is the only One who IS – He is, and we are not. Only God should get our worship, and to worship God is simply to confess that He is God and we are men who worship Him.

But Satan rebelled against God, and throughout the ages, he has been seeking to get worship from man. Satan’s real intention is not merely to cause man to sin or corrupt man but to get worship from man. God wants worship, and Satan also wants worship; God needs our worship of Him, and what Satan fears is our worship of God.

We need to see a clear revelation in God’s divine light of the fact that God is God – He simply IS GOD, without any need to explain Himself or give an account to anyone, and He is the Creator of all. When we have such a revelation, we will have the inward consciousness that God is sovereign; even in our daily life as difficult things, sufferings, and inexplicable situations happen, God is sovereign and we simply worship Him.

As God’s people we need to worship God and serve Him only, giving Him the worship He desires; at the same time, we need to stay away from idols and guard our heart from anything that can replace God’s place in our heart.

May we be those who give God today that which one day will be exclusively His – worship! As believers in Christ we need to take the lead to worship God today until one day God will head up all things in Christ through the church, so that the entire universe would worship God.

Today we need to see how there’s a line of worship in the book of Revelation, and how we need to settle in our being now that, by Christ and His overcoming life, we shall worship the Lord our God! Also, we want to see how to worship God is to serve God, and to serve God is to worship God; these take place in the Body.

Seeing the Line of Worship in Revelation and Settling this Matter in our Being

In the book of Revelation, we see a special line – the line of worship. If we read Rev. 4:8-11; 5:9-14; 13:4, 8, 12, 15; 14:7; 22:9b we will see how God receives worship, Satan (through the beast and the Antichrist) wants to get worship, and how eventually everyone will worship God.

In Rev. 4 we see that, because of creation, God receives worship; when we look at God’s creation and what He has made, we simply worship God. The picture in Rev. 4 shows that, from eternity to eternity, God has His throne and continual worship; God has had this worship from before the foundation of the world.

In Rev. 5 we see that, because of redemption, God receives worship; when we see how the Lamb has redeemed us out of every tribe and nation, we worship God.

However, the enemy, Satan, also wants direct worship; at the end of Rev. 12 the dragon is cast to the earth, and the beast – Antichrist – is manifested, and all those on the inhabited earth worship the dragon and the beast.

In Europe, people are crying out for a charismatic leader, and they will get him; he will recover in a “pseudo-resurrection” from a wound, and he will be the Antichrist, and those in his realm will worship him (this is in the great tribulation).

At the same time, as per Rev. 14, an angel will announce the eternal gospel to those on earth, with the command, Worship God! In those days there will be no neutrality: you either worship God (and you will be persecuted and martyred) or you worship Antichrist (and you perish in the lake of fire).

In Rev. 15 we see the late overcomers standing on the sea of glass mixed with fire: they are victorious over the beast and his image; they did not worship the beast, and God didn’t intervene to save them by a miracle, but they were killed, and their martyrdom was a victory! The late overcomers on the sea of glass are singing the song of Moses, praising the Lord, declaring that in the coming kingdom all the nations on the earth will worship God.

Eventually, in the New Jerusalem, we will all worship God, and all of God’s people will lead the entire earth in worshipping God. Today, however, the enemy is content to hide behind many idols, which are both outward and those set in our heart, on our smartphones, on our gadgets, or on our walls…eventually, there will be a war between the two thrones and the two claims of worship.

Today we need to settle this matter in our being: by Christ living in us His overcoming life, we will worship the Lord our God, and Him only we shall serve!

Lord, by the Christ living in us His overcoming life, we shall worship the Lord our God and Him only shall we serve! Lord, we want to give You what is exclusively Yours – our worship. We don’t want to wait for the new heaven and new earth to worship You, but today we will worship You and even give You special worship, because Satan is getting worship for himself more and more! God, we worship You! We enthrone You in our being. We give You all the glory and the praise. Praise You for Your creation, Your redemption, and all that You are and have done!

By the Christ who Lives in us, we Worship God by Serving God in the Body of Christ

In the New Testament, to serve God is actually the same as to worship God (see Rom. 1:9). In Matt. 4:8-10, when Satan tempted the Lord Jesus, his real intention finally came out: he didn’t want merely that the Lord would transform some stones in to bread or jump from the temple top so that the angels would protect Him – Satan wanted the Lord Jesus as a Man to worship him.

Luke 4:6 says that the kingdoms of the world and their glory were delivered to the devil, and to whomever he wills, he gives them. Before he fell, Satan was an archangel appointed by God to be the ruler of the world (see Ezek. 28:13-14), and so he is called “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31) and holds all the kingdoms of this world and their glory in his hand (at least temporarily).

As the one holding the kingdoms of this world, Satan wants to be worshipped, and he tempted the Lord Jesus to worship him in exchange for all the world. What the Lord Jesus refused to do, the coming Antichrist (the man of lawlessness) at the end of this age will succumb to, for he will worship Satan.

But the Lord Jesus replied to Satan, Go away, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.” Here the Lord equates worshipping God with serving God. We cannot worship God if we don’t serve God, and when we serve God we actually worship Him. Without serving God we cannot render real worship to Him.

Today, the worship of God is realized in the Body of Christ (see Eph. 3:20-21; Heb. 2:12); it is in the midst of the brothers and the sisters that Christ (the Firstborn Son of God) is praising the Father, and God gets all His glory in the church.

Apart from being in the Body and living the practical church life in the reality of the Body of Christ, it is difficult for us to have the proper worship.

In the New Testament, proper worship of God is a corporate matter, and the Body of Christ proves the genuineness of our spirituality, prayers, and worship. Many people say that they worship God but, because they don’t live in the reality of the Body of Christ, their worship is not proper and genuine.

Just as the people of Israel worshipped God in the temple in a corporate way, so we today worship God corporately in the Body of Christ. By the Christ who lives in us His overcoming life, we can worship God by serving God in the Body of Christ.

Lord, keep us in the church life as the reality of the Body of Christ, the place where we can render You the proper and genuine worship You desire. Lord, only by Your life in us we can reject the evil tempter and render You the worship You desire. We worship You, Father God! We give You all the glory! Keep us in the Body worshipping You in a corporate way with a genuine spirituality and worship proven by the Head and the Body. Lord, we choose to worship You and serve You in the Body of Christ as Your people today!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, brother Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and the Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 2, ch. 6, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (2), week 10 / msg 10, The Worship of God.
• All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
• Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
  # Before the time of fulness, / While darkness still prevails, / Ten thousands daily render / To Thee their loyal hails! / From shore to shore Thy people / To Thee their praises sing; / They worship, love, and serve Thee / As their dear Savior-King! (Hymns #147)
  # By the spirit I can walk, / Spiritual in spirit be; / By the spirit I can serve, / And in spirit worship Thee. (Hymns #782)
  # Not objectively to worship, / But to serve Him inwardly; / Not to preach a Christ objective, / But Himself subjectively. / Not just by the Scripture serving, / But in spirit and in life; / Not by flesh, but by the Spirit / Filling, freeing from all strife. (Hymns #908)