Four Reasons to Worship Christ

Christians don't just believe in Jesus.  We worship Him.  We love Him.  We sing to Him.  We pray to Him.  We trust Him.  We obey Him.  We serve Him.

But why?  Why do we worship a man who lived 2,000 years ago?  Well, we worship Jesus because He is not just a man, He is the Son of God.  He is the God-man.  He is fully God, and fully man.  He is the creator, the savior, the redeemer, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

The apostle John wrote His gospel to convince us of this truth.  That Jesus is the Son of God, worthy our worship.  This is the purpose of the events and discourses that he recorded.

One such story is know as the cleansing of the temple (John 2:13-25).  Jesus entered the temple, and upon seeing that it had been turned into a marketplace, he made a whip and drove everyone out.  He poured out the money changers' coins and overturned tables.  In this fascinating story we find four reasons to worship Jesus Christ.

First, His pious character.  In the cleansing of the temple we see His singular, wholehearted devotion to God.  He took action for God.  He defended God's character.  He risked His personal safety to serve God.  Jesus is the perfect example of godliness.  He is absolutely perfect without any hint of sin (1 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15; 1 Jn 3:5).  This is why we worship Him.

Second, His passionate love.  Jesus cleansed the temple because of His compassion for people.  The animal sellers and money changers were charging exorbitant fees, and the temple marketplace was set up in the court of Gentiles, taking over the only place that non-Jews could go and worship the one true God.  It angers Jesus when people are mistreated.  He is one with God the Father, and God is love.  This is why we worship Him.  

Third, His predictive accuracy.  The Jewish leaders asked Jesus to do a miracle to prove He had the authority to dictate the activities in the temple, and Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days."  He was predicting His death and resurrection, proving that He is omniscient (all-knowing).  This is why we worship Him.  

Fourth, His perceptive insight.  The end of this story says something interesting.  Many believed in Him, but He would not entrust himself to them, because He knew them.  In other words, He would not embrace them as His followers, because He knew their hearts.  He knew their kind of belief was not true faith.  Jesus knows everything, even our hearts -- our thoughts, motives, desires, and fears.  This is why we worship Him.

Jesus is worthy of our highest praise.  I hope you will join me at church tomorrow to sing to the King!