Monday, February 03, 2020

2020.02.03 Hopewell @Home ▫ Hebrews 1:1-4

Questions from the Scripture text: When had God spoken (Hebrews 1:1)? In what ways had God spoken? By whom? When has God spoken in Hebrews 1:2? By Whom? What has He appointed Him to be? What did He do through Him? Of what is the Son the brightness (Hebrews 1:3)? Of what is He the express image? What does the Son uphold? By what? When did He sit down? Where? What had He become (Hebrews 1:4)? What had He obtained? How? 
God seeks worshipers by Christ, because He seeks a specific kind of worship—that which comes to Him in a way that is consistent with His nature (John 4:16-26).

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth. And those who draw near to God must regard Him as holy by coming to Him only through Christ, and those specific means by which the Lord has given to us to come through Him (Leviticus 9:18-10:3).

In fact, the Lord says that in order to draw near to God with the heart, and to offer Him worship that is not vain, we must not mix the traditions of men in with the commandments of God, as if our ideas could come through Christ in the same way as God’s commands do (Matthew 15:1-20).

Not surprisingly, we have found that Christ is at the center of all of these big Scripture truths about God’s people’s holy assemblies of worship. So, the Holy Spirit begins with the glory of Christ as He inspires the writer of this entire Bible book urging us not to forsake the assembly; but, to come with confidence, boldness, assurance, reverence, and awe.

As He takes us to that conclusion, He presents the Lord Jesus to us as the One who preaches in the assembly, as the One who sings in the assembly, as the One who leads the assembly, as the One who has qualified us to assemble, as the One who mediates our prayers in the assembly, and as the One who presents to us His own flesh and blood in the assembly.

The more we learn about what God has commanded in worship, the more He turns our attention to the incomparable glory of Christ, and the incorruptible value of His priestly sacrifice that undergirds His priestly work in leading our worship. The more we see the glory of Christ, the more we will value this worship that the Lord has designed! And the more we participate in this kind of worship, the more we will see the glory of Christ!

This is the purpose of all creation, all providence, and all redemption. And this is the true and increasing desire of every genuine believer: the displaying and delighting-in of the glory of Christ! Praise be to God for thus designing the holy assemblies of His church.
What should you be focusing upon during corporate worship? What should you believe to be happening during corporate worship? What should you want from it?
Suggested Songs: ARP22C “I’ll Praise You in the Gathering” or TPH281 “Rejoice the Lord Is King”

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