ARTICLES ON WORSHIP
DATE: 19 May 2002
SPEAKER: Pastor Tayo Adeyemi
TITLE: The quest for the presence of God - Part I.
TEXT: John 4:19-24; Psalm 16:7-11
Everything that God has created was designed to function at its maximum level of productivity. Every flower was designed to be as beautiful as it could ever be. Every tree was designed to grow as tall as it could ever grow. Every eagle was designed to soar as high as possible.
In order for this to happen, God placed everything in a specific environment. When things are in their proper environment, they function maximally.
Genesis 1:1 Before God created anything. He decided three things:
•First, what He wanted to make.
•Second, what He would make it from - the source.
•And thirdly, where He would place it after He had made it - the environment.
We find that there was a pattern in the process of creation. In creating anything, God would speak to its source and command the source to bring it forth.
Genesis 1:9-12
In creating the plants, God spoke to its source - the earth. Notice that first, He created the dry land - an environment for the plants. Then, in order to sustain them, God kept the plants connected to the earth. To disconnect a plant from the earth (its source and its environment) was to kill it.
Furthermore, in order to perpetuate the plants, God gave us the seed. A seed always carries the potential to become another plant. In order for this potential to be unlocked, the seed must be placed in the right environment - the earth.
The entire kingdom of God is established on this simple principle. Mark 4:26.
In Genesis 1:10,20-22, we see that the waters were gathered together to form the seas. They were no longer spread and scattered everywhere. God now spoke to the seas and commanded them to bring forth fish and other sea creatures. Again, in order for the fish to stay alive, they had to remain in their own environment - the water.
We see this principle repeated when God created man. In order to make man, God spoke to man's Source - God spoke to God s. For man to be sustained He had to remain in the environment of his Source - he had to remain in the presence of God.
So just as God had put the plant in the earth and the fish in the sea, when He made man, He put him in Eden. Genesis 2:8,15. Notice that the garden was not planted by man but by God. Man's only job was to tend and keep the garden - in other words to maintain it or keep it beautiful.
"Eden" comes from the Hebrew word "Ayden" which means, "delight", "pleasure", "luxury", or "finery". It is referred to many times in scripture as the garden of God. Ezekiel 28:13, Isaiah 51:3.
This was the place of God's presence. It was the point of contact between heaven and earth - the place where God's presence touched the earth. God knew that the only environment where man would function maximally and fulfil the Genesis 1:28 mandate was in His Presence; and that was exactly where He placed man.
We all understand and apply this principle of the environment today in our day-to-day lives. When we buy products, there is always a prescription as to what environment to keep it. We keep our frozen foods in the freezer. We do not expose our electronic appliances to extremes of heat or cold.
Take for instance, If you bought a home entertainment system worth £2,500:00 and placed it in a bathtub full of water, you would destroy it. Not that the bathtub in itself is bad, but it just isn't the right environment for your home entertainment system. Anything that is not in its ideal environment will malfunction.
So when man sinned, the first thing he did was to hide himself from the presence of the Lord - Genesis 3:8.
Ultimately he was banished from the presence of the Lord - Genesis 3:23,24. As a matter of fact, what we today call the "fall of man" is actually a "fall from God's presence". This marked the beginning of the "malfunction of man". This is where toil, pain, sorrow, poverty, sickness and death came into the picture.
Also, notice that God placed Cherubim at the entrance of the garden, which turned everyway. Their primary purpose was to guard the way to the "tree of life". This was the first appearance of Cherubim. Every time they appeared in scripture, they were guarding the presence of God. Psalm 80:1, 99:1, Isaiah 37:16. God sits enthroned between the Cherubim.
Man forfeited the presence of God and from that day to this, he has worked hard to get back. Every form of worship, every religion, every expression of spirituality has been man's attempt to devise his own way to get back into the presence of God. These are the "every way" which the sword of the cherub swings. But because Eden was planted by God and not by man, only God could bring him back there. How? By showing him the way.
From that time in Genesis, all through the entire Old Testament, the greatest yearning in the heart of man was to find his way back into God's presence. Cain and Abel, Noah, the many altars that Abraham built, Moses, David etc, all longed to find their way back to God's presence. These men knew how vital the presence of God was to their very existence. Listen to the cries of their hearts.
Furthermore, in order to perpetuate the plants, God gave us the seed. A seed always carries the potential to become another plant. In order for this potential to be unlocked, the seed must be placed in the right environment - the earth.
The entire kingdom of God is established on this simple principle. Mark 4:26.
In Genesis 1:10,20-22, we see that the waters were gathered together to form the seas. They were no longer spread and scattered everywhere. God now spoke to the seas and commanded them to bring forth fish and other sea creatures. Again, in order for the fish to stay alive, they had to remain in their own environment - the water.
We see this principle repeated when God created man. In order to make man, God spoke to man's Source - God spoke to God s. For man to be sustained He had to remain in the environment of his Source - he had to remain in the presence of God.
So just as God had put the plant in the earth and the fish in the sea, when He made man, He put him in Eden. Genesis 2:8,15. Notice that the garden was not planted by man but by God. Man's only job was to tend and keep the garden - in other words to maintain it or keep it beautiful.
"Eden" comes from the Hebrew word "Ayden" which means, "delight", "pleasure", "luxury", or "finery". It is referred to many times in scripture as the garden of God. Ezekiel 28:13, Isaiah 51:3.
This was the place of God's presence. It was the point of contact between heaven and earth - the place where God's presence touched the earth. God knew that the only environment where man would function maximally and fulfil the Genesis 1:28 mandate was in His Presence; and that was exactly where He placed man.
We all understand and apply this principle of the environment today in our day-to-day lives. When we buy products, there is always a prescription as to what environment to keep it. We keep our frozen foods in the freezer. We do not expose our electronic appliances to extremes of heat or cold.
Take for instance, If you bought a home entertainment system worth £2,500:00 and placed it in a bathtub full of water, you would destroy it. Not that the bathtub in itself is bad, but it just isn't the right environment for your home entertainment system. Anything that is not in its ideal environment will malfunction.
So when man sinned, the first thing he did was to hide himself from the presence of the Lord - Genesis 3:8.
Ultimately he was banished from the presence of the Lord - Genesis 3:23,24. As a matter of fact, what we today call the "fall of man" is actually a "fall from God's presence". This marked the beginning of the "malfunction of man". This is where toil, pain, sorrow, poverty, sickness and death came into the picture.
Also, notice that God placed Cherubim at the entrance of the garden, which turned everyway. Their primary purpose was to guard the way to the "tree of life". This was the first appearance of Cherubim. Every time they appeared in scripture, they were guarding the presence of God. Psalm 80:1, 99:1, Isaiah 37:16. God sits enthroned between the Cherubim.
Man forfeited the presence of God and from that day to this, he has worked hard to get back. Every form of worship, every religion, every expression of spirituality has been man's attempt to devise his own way to get back into the presence of God. These are the "every way" which the sword of the cherub swings. But because Eden was planted by God and not by man, only God could bring him back there. How? By showing him the way.
From that time in Genesis, all through the entire Old Testament, the greatest yearning in the heart of man was to find his way back into God's presence. Cain and Abel, Noah, the many altars that Abraham built, Moses, David etc, all longed to find their way back to God's presence. These men knew how vital the presence of God was to their very existence. Listen to the cries of their hearts.
Moses:
Exodus 33:7-23 (especially verses 12-16), he also prayed, " show me your way". This is what separates the men from the boys. Psalm 103: 7. Children are always looking for the acts of God. But mature people seek the ways of God because they know that the ways of God will always produce the acts of God. They know that if they can ever find God's face, they would see His hand. Does your relationship with God transcend His acts?
Some people's relationship with God is only limited to what God does for them.
Consequently, If God does not do what they expect Him to do, God is reduced in their esteem and their relationship with Him is compromised.
Exodus 33:7-23 (especially verses 12-16), he also prayed, " show me your way". This is what separates the men from the boys. Psalm 103: 7. Children are always looking for the acts of God. But mature people seek the ways of God because they know that the ways of God will always produce the acts of God. They know that if they can ever find God's face, they would see His hand. Does your relationship with God transcend His acts?
Some people's relationship with God is only limited to what God does for them.
Consequently, If God does not do what they expect Him to do, God is reduced in their esteem and their relationship with Him is compromised.
David:Psalm 51:10-13. When David committed adultery and murder, the greatest thing he was afraid to forfeit was the presence of God. Also notice in verse 13; "Then will I teach transgressors Your ways.
At the same time that man was on a quest to get back into God's presence, God was working hard to bring him back. God's desire was to dwell where man is. His desire was to restore that place where heaven touched earth. And this is what He tried to do all through the Old Testament. Exodus 25: 1,2,8.
So when Jesus came on the scene and announced "I am the way…" the Jews knew exactly what He was talking about. They just chose not to believe Him. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus had once again, opened up the way into God's presence. Hebrews 9:1-12; 10:19-22; 4:14-16.
The presence of God is now no longer a geographical location or a physical Eden. It is now spiritual - and anytime we want, we can enter into God's presence with our worship. Psalm 100:1-5; 22:3.
When we worship God, we create an environment for His presence. We as it were, once again tend and keep the garden. We create a meeting point between heaven and earth. This is exactly what God desires. No wonder Jesus taught us to pray: "…Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…" Matthew 6:10.
Worship is not merely one of the preliminaries we must get through in order to get to the important stuff. What do we call important stuff anyway? The parts of the service that benefit us - that make us feel better. The teaching and preaching, the prayer and other forms of personal ministration.
For too long, we have been deluded into thinking that coming to church is about us. But somehow, God can't seem to get this incredible idea out of His mind, that it's all about Him. Most of our churches have reversed Psalm 103:1 instead of " Bless the Lord, O my soul…" to most of us it is now "Bless my soul, O the Lord".
When we worship God, we put Him centre stage - He takes the highest place in our midst and we wait upon Him, not the other way round. By nature, we are self-centred. Our first thought is always about how something will benefit us. Worship turns our eyes from ourselves to God. It focuses our thoughts on His majesty and power.
The word is important; and laying on of hands is beneficial, but they are not nearly as vital to our spiritual lives as worship is. The word is to your spirit, what food is to your body. But worship is to your spirit what oxygen is to your body. Worship is to your soul, what water is to your body when you are thirsty. If a man is hungry and dying of thirst or lack of air, you wont give him food first.
Worship is a personal thing. Not necessarily private but personal. Nobody can do your worshipping for you. Nor can anyone force worship out of you. The worship leader can encourage you to sing, clap or raise your hands, they can even make you kneel or bow down, but they cannot make you worship because true worship comes from the heart. Leviticus 22:29.
You have a choice to make today, either to continue to live a life that is void of God's presence or to make a quality decision to begin to live a lifestyle of worship. Then you can dwell perpetually in the presence of God.
TO ORDER THIS MESSAGE ON AUDIO OR VIDEO TAPE, CALL 020 88 555 888 NOW.
At the same time that man was on a quest to get back into God's presence, God was working hard to bring him back. God's desire was to dwell where man is. His desire was to restore that place where heaven touched earth. And this is what He tried to do all through the Old Testament. Exodus 25: 1,2,8.
So when Jesus came on the scene and announced "I am the way…" the Jews knew exactly what He was talking about. They just chose not to believe Him. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus had once again, opened up the way into God's presence. Hebrews 9:1-12; 10:19-22; 4:14-16.
The presence of God is now no longer a geographical location or a physical Eden. It is now spiritual - and anytime we want, we can enter into God's presence with our worship. Psalm 100:1-5; 22:3.
When we worship God, we create an environment for His presence. We as it were, once again tend and keep the garden. We create a meeting point between heaven and earth. This is exactly what God desires. No wonder Jesus taught us to pray: "…Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…" Matthew 6:10.
Worship is not merely one of the preliminaries we must get through in order to get to the important stuff. What do we call important stuff anyway? The parts of the service that benefit us - that make us feel better. The teaching and preaching, the prayer and other forms of personal ministration.
For too long, we have been deluded into thinking that coming to church is about us. But somehow, God can't seem to get this incredible idea out of His mind, that it's all about Him. Most of our churches have reversed Psalm 103:1 instead of " Bless the Lord, O my soul…" to most of us it is now "Bless my soul, O the Lord".
When we worship God, we put Him centre stage - He takes the highest place in our midst and we wait upon Him, not the other way round. By nature, we are self-centred. Our first thought is always about how something will benefit us. Worship turns our eyes from ourselves to God. It focuses our thoughts on His majesty and power.
The word is important; and laying on of hands is beneficial, but they are not nearly as vital to our spiritual lives as worship is. The word is to your spirit, what food is to your body. But worship is to your spirit what oxygen is to your body. Worship is to your soul, what water is to your body when you are thirsty. If a man is hungry and dying of thirst or lack of air, you wont give him food first.
Worship is a personal thing. Not necessarily private but personal. Nobody can do your worshipping for you. Nor can anyone force worship out of you. The worship leader can encourage you to sing, clap or raise your hands, they can even make you kneel or bow down, but they cannot make you worship because true worship comes from the heart. Leviticus 22:29.
You have a choice to make today, either to continue to live a life that is void of God's presence or to make a quality decision to begin to live a lifestyle of worship. Then you can dwell perpetually in the presence of God.
TO ORDER THIS MESSAGE ON AUDIO OR VIDEO TAPE, CALL 020 88 555 888 NOW.
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