Skip to main content

The True Christmas Spirit - Luke 1:46-55 (Part 5)

The Object of Worship
We've looked at Mary's attitude of worship, but what is the object of her worship?  Mary's soul magnifies the Lord, and her spirit rejoices in God my savior.  All worship goes to God our father.  Luke 4:8 reads, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve."  In order to worship him, he has to be your savior.  If God's not our savior, if he isn't all knowing, all powerful, all present, and if he hadn't saved us through Jesus Christ, why would we be worshipping him?  No one writes hymns about hell, judgment, and condemnation.  If God was not our savior, we wouldn't be worshipping, we would be hiding in fear.


The Cause of Worship
Why are you worshipping?  As one speaker puts it, what's your why? 

We worship God because of what he does for us personally.  Mary says in verses 48 and 49 that "all generations will call me blessed", and that "he has done great things for me."  Why was Mary blessed? Because an all powerful God had done great things for this lowly sinner like me and you.  Worship begins with your personal experience of salvation through Jesus Christ. 

We worship God because of what he has done for others.  Verse 50 tells us that God's mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.  God has done good works all throughout time for both believers and non-believers.

We worship God because of what he has done for his own people.  Look at Luke 1:51-54.  God has shown strength and taken care of those who love him.  He has scattered the proud, brought down rulers, exalted rulers, fed the hungry, and helped his servants.

So what causes worship?  Salvation personally, provision generation after generation, and faithfulness of God to meet the needs of his own people.


Perhaps John Francis Wade best summed up this season and the true spirit of Christmas; "Oh come let us adore Him, Oh come let us adore Him, Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord."

Merry Christmas!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2020 is Hindsight...Finally!

Wow, what a year! 2020 could literally be an entire decade, maybe more, of history, change, and lessons rolled up into these twelve months. While many aspects of 2020 were kind of sucky and we would like to forget them, it will certainly be a year to remember. And it will be enlightening when this year is looked back on in 10, 25, or 50 years to be discussed. I wonder if we'll seem like geniuses or idiots? Probably both to some extent! While there is so much that I could consider and analyze about this year, I'll try to break some of it down into four dimensions - Physical, Spiritual, Mental, and Social/Emotional. These are events and happenings from my world and perspective and I'm trying to be open in sharing and would love to hear from others on events you found most transforming. Physical When COVID cause gyms to close, that messed me up. Our town and state were late to be hit with severe cases and therefore later than many across the country to close up shop. I'm n...
Post a Comment
Read more

Worship > Fellowship

I believe that worship, true worship of God, is more important than fellowship with other believers.  Now I'm not saying that fellowship and relationships aren't important.  But I am saying that if I'm not worshiping God, if I'm not right with him, then my other relationships can't be right.  My fellowship and worship with him is more important than my relationship with my wife, my son, family, friends, my church, and my community.  Think about it.  How can I love my wife like Christ loved the church if I don't love Christ?  I wouldn't know how to love without knowing him.  Why should she submit to me if I'm not worth submitting to?  And yes I do believes wives should submit, but I also believe that won't be an issue as long as she's submitting to a godly husband.  (Ephesians 5:22-25) Our love for others must flow from our love and worship of God.  1 John 4:19-21 reads, "We love because he first loved us.  If anyone says,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Magnify

"Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!" - Psalm 34:3 We often talk or sing about magnifying the Lord or magnifying his name, but what does it really mean to magnify something?  According to Webster, the simple  definition of magnify is: - to make something greater - to make something seem greater or more important than it is - to make something appear larger I've spent practically all of my life in church, but not necessarily walking with God.  I didn't pray about where I would attend college, get a job, or buy a house.  I took the lower cost college and searched for best available in the other two categories.  I have since learned that if I will focus on God, he will direct me to where I should be and what I should be doing.  It's like looking through a magnifying glass.  You can be glancing around and going in many different directions, but then the Lord steadies your hand and you begin to see the image under t...
Post a Comment
Read more