Theology of the Church, Mentor's Guide, MG03

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T H E O L O G Y O F T H E C H U R C H

is no one and nothing that should ever give glory to itself or himself or herself; God’s beauty and majesty are simply peerless, and to allow anyone to rob him of his acknowledgment would be the very worst kind of sin and wrong. Of all the most perverted acts to rob God of his legitimate right to all glory, the Devil’s insane attempts are to be seen to be the most egregious (Isa. 14.12-20). The Scriptures record his futile attempts to receive from Christ the praise due to God alone (Matt. 4.9), and, in the summation of this age, his representatives will seek the same foolish acclaim (cr. 2 Thess. 2 with Rev. 13.4). Because God is infinitely glorious, his worship (i.e., his worthship) cannot be properly limited to what takes place inside the temple, or in conjunction with the Church as it honors God in its praise and thanksgiving. Not only can we include all the acts of the saints and the angels in acknowledgment of God’s glory as worship (i.e., Ps. 150; 138.2; 1 Sam. 1.3), but also all the works in heaven and earth, including all the heavens, the spheres, all forms of life and creation, can therefore give God glory and worship as it fulfills the purpose for which it was created (Ps. 135.6 and Rev. 4.11). As you will see through this lesson, God made worship of himself even more rich and revealing through the incarnation of his own glory in the person of Jesus Christ (John 9.38; 20.28; Heb. 1.6; Rev. 5.6-14). Our God, who is beyond description in terms of his beauty and majesty, is worthy to be praised in and through the person of his Son, who is to be worshiped alongside the Father as our Savior and Lord (John 5.22-23). It might be beneficial to emphasize here that the early Church, the generation of the first Christian community in Jerusalem relied heavily upon its Jewish roots and orientation in all aspects of worship, especially in the place of the Old Testament as its authoritative Word. These early fellowships focused on the confession that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah with the salvation of God and his reign having come in his life and through his death and resurrection. (This conviction about Jesus, above all, was probably what distinguished them from their Jewish worship counterparts). The worship of the early Church, therefore, was centered in

21 Page 64 Outline Point II