Triune God: The Object of Christian Worship
I normally do not post my worship articles on this particular blog, but I felt compelled to do so for this one. It is posted other places too, but you may read it here if you wish.
We are commanded in Exodus 34:14
not to have any gods before the one true God, for he is jealous. This does not
imply, however, that he is jealous of someone else but rather that he is
jealous for something, namely the worship of his people. It is common to speak
of God as both the object and the subject of Christian worship, a unique aspect
to our faith indeed, for in other religions, people act as the subject while
their gods serve as the object. In our applied theology of the triune God,
however, we realize that God is both object and subject. In other words,
although we worship him, our worship is a response to who he is, what he has
done, and what he is doing even in our midst as we worship. He is not then the
object of our worship because he is the subject, but he is the subject because
he is the object. During the worship experience, we are not the ones acting,
but God is; yet while he is actively moving and working in our midst, our
response is to make him the object, the one which we worship. The difficulty in
grasping this though is found in discovering a proper understanding of the
triune God that we worship.
One of the most unique aspects of
Christianity is a God that is three but also one, no bipolarity but one God
with three equal persons, yet in a submissive order (not to be confused with a
hierarchy). As Christians, learning how to recognize this and allow it to
affect how we worship is significant. Triune God is the very object of our
worship, but it is also through his triune nature that he manifests himself as
also the subject. It is we then that must recognize him as the object and
worship accordingly.
The Godhead Aspect: Christian Worship Is Triune in Nature
Christian
worship is triune in nature. The very essence of worship is the dialogue
between God’s people and the Father through the Son and in the power of the
Holy Spirit. The issue at hand is how God’s people are to worship him as the
object of our affections manifested in three persons. We must realize and trust
the mystery of the three-person Godhead. He is three yet one God.
Part of the
mystery at hand is the fact that there is not a hierarchy, yet there is a
distinct order. The Son submits to the Father and the Spirit submits to the Son,
for the Father sent the Son and the Son sent the Spirit. This is why we speak
in terms of the first person of the Godhead, the second person of the Godhead,
and the third person of the Godhead. This, in no way, is meant to imply that
there is some sort of hierarchy but rather that the function of each person in
the triune Godhead is different; it is one God, nevertheless. It is because of
this mystery that Christian worship is triune in nature. We worship a triune
God who is both object and subject and who is at the very center of worship;
therefore, the nature of Christian worship is triune. Every part of our
corporate worship experience must reflect the triune aspect of the worship of
God. This mystery is not for us to necessarily understand but the marvel in. We
worship one triune God manifested in three different persons.
God Is Creating a People for Himself
At the base
of worship is the story of God. The story of God and his work in the lives of
his people is central to worship. It is, therefore, our goal, as we worship
him, to tell and proclaim the full counsel of God. God’s redemptive work
throughout history is central to not only his people but also his glory. The
entire purpose of redemption is the glory of God. In salvation then, God is
creating a people for himself. Having called Abraham, God began a work of
creating a people for himself, a people that would forever be his and glorify
him all their days. The beauty of that significant aspect of the people of God
is that the Old Covenant was replaced with the New Covenant through the shed
blood of Jesus Christ so that now some Gentiles have been grafted into the
people of God. There is no longer a separation among God’s people. We are all
his children and his people, the bride of Christ.
This is relevant
to worship in that God is still creating a people for himself. His work on the
cross has been accomplished to bring glory to the Father, and now the Holy
Spirit works in our lives and the lives of those who will come to know him as
Lord and Savior. Through this mechanism, the triune God creates a people for
himself and will continue to do so until the day of completion when we are one
with him as heirs to his throne. Again we see the subjective nature of God
where he is actively working, but we also see the objective nature of God where
through his work, he is receiving glory. His work in creating a people for
himself is entirely for the purpose of his own glory. 1) God creates; 2) God’s
people respond; 3) God receives glory; and all three persons of the Godhead are
involved in that magnificent display of his story.
All Things Are to Him
We must
understand that in this work of active sanctification and in our participation
in the Spirit as the body and bride of Christ, all things are ordained by God and
all things are from him, through him, and to him (Rom. 11:36). Certainly we can
acknowledge the truth of all things being from him and through him, but to
grasp onto the fact that all things are eternally to him is to effectively make
him the center of everything. Jesus Christ is preeminent as Paul proclaims in
Colossians 1.
Triune God
works in this as well. The reason I have mentioned the Godhead order is so that
we can clearly see that all glory goes ultimately to God, but this happens in
that glory is given to the Father through the Son and in the power of the
Spirit. Even in our prayers, we see in Romans 8:34 that we have no ability or
authority whatsoever for God to hear us except that Jesus Christ is at the
right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf. Without him there, our
prayers mean absolutely nothing. Jesus, perhaps confusing many in his time,
actually clarifies things for us by saying, in John 8:54, “If I glorify myself,
my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘he is
our God.’” This is a bold statement that Jesus Christ makes in which he reveals
his intention to glorify the Father, yet the Father, in return, glorifies him.
Does this happen to us as well? Yes! Romans 8:17 tells us that as we suffer
with Christ, we are also glorified with him as fellow heirs with him. The
glorification then is not for us but for him, yet it is through us that he is
glorified. We are catalysts to his glory; we reflect his glory; and indeed
through our glorification, he is the one who is ultimately glorified. This is
only possible through Christ’s shed blood. Without Christ as the High Priest
and mediator in the New Covenant, our prayers, our response to the Father, and
our feeble attempts to worship him are meaningless. It is only that the Father
looks on us and sees his Son that we live our lives in such a manner that all
things are not only from him and through him but also to him.
The Primary Reason We Worship: For Who God Is, Not Merely What He Has
Done
Many
Christians make the mistake of only worshiping God for what he has done. The
primary reason we worship God though is for who he is. We respond first and
foremost to who he is, not merely what he has done, for if he had never done
anything for us at all, he would still be God and still be worthy and demanding
of our worship. Gratitude is a very good thing and we should live in an
attitude of gratitude, but it should never be the primary source of our
worship. Our worship should spring from a heart of reflection on who he is.
Then and only then will he become the object of our worship.
How do we know when that is
happening then? Worship in spirit and truth only happens when we are satisfied
in Christ. Surely no one can say that they are purely satisfied in Christ, but
in our sanctification process, our satisfaction in him grows. “The things of
earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace,” as the hymn
says. Our worship is directly related to our satisfaction. The more we are
satisfied in him, the more we worship rightly to the point that living a godly
life is no longer an issue. It stops becoming work and becomes an overflow out
of the abundance of worship we have to offer. It is natural. When we realize
that Jesus is better than anything period, he will then become the one and only
true object of our worship. He is at the center because only he can satisfy.
How is this reconciled with triune
worship then? How is Christ at the center of worship of a triune God? This
mystery is carefully explained in the fact that he is the mediator of the New
Covenant. He is literally the middle-man, if you will, between humans and God
the Father. Our worship happens in order that the Father might be glorified and
it happens in the power of the Holy Spirit, but it only happens through Jesus
Christ. Anything that we do to the glory of the Father first passes through the
Son. He is, therefore, at the very center of our worship of triune God. We
worship one God manifested in three persons, equally divine and equally glorified,
for it is triune God who is the object of Christian worship.
Conclusion
In personal
and corporate worship, Christ intercedes on our behalf. Certainly we worship
God, and I would dare say that we worship all three persons of the Godhead. Our
worship is dependent on our satisfaction in Christ though and his mediation.
Without the Holy Spirit’s leadership, without Christ’s mediation, and without
the Father’s glorification of himself and all three persons of the Godhead,
triune God is not worshiped by his people. As he is creating a people for
himself, so we are a part of his grand work in redemptive history. Now and
through endless ages, he is the object of our worship.
