In the book of Revelation, the apostle John describes the vision that he saw. Revelation 4:2-11 “Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!’ Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.’” Here is a description of God Almighty sitting on His throne. We also have a description of the glorious surroundings of the throne to include the awesome creatures and the twenty-four elders that fell down and worshipped God. God is almighty; God is awesome. We, too, should worship Him. What does it mean to worship God?
To worship is to acknowledge the superiority of another and to give honor, respect and devotion. The Bible has many examples of worship. King Nebuchadnezzar set up a huge golden image and ordered everyone that when they heard special music, they were to fall down and worship the golden image (Daniel 3). Various ancient peoples had idols such as Baal, Ashtoreth, Chemosh and Dagon. These idols were believed to have special powers, so the people would fall down and worship the idols and offer sacrifices. They believed that the idol had power and would bless them if they properly worshipped their god. The Israelites were to worship God. The Romans of the New Testament time period worshipped many gods and built great temples for worship. The wise men from the east came to worship the baby Jesus.
The Devil wanted Jesus to worship him. After His baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matthew records one of his temptations in Matthew 4:8-10 “Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’’” We are to only to worship the Lord our God and serve Him.
We have the story of the Samaritan woman that Jesus talked to in John 4:19-24 “The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’” This passage helps us in our understanding of worship. We don’t have to go to a specific place such as a mountain, a city, or a temple to worship God; the location for worship is not important. God seeks people to worship Him. In other words, He wants us to worship Him. But to correctly worship God, we must worship in spirit and truth. I understand that to worship God in spirit means to worship Him from our very spirit, which is our innermost part. Worshipping in spirit would be in contrast to a mere outward display of worship. To worship in truth would be to worship as guided and directed by the word of God. Incorrect worship is described in Matthew 15:8-9 “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
I want to point out an interesting aspect of worship. Idolatrous worshippers fell down before their idols. King Nebuchadnezzar commanded that people fall down and worship his golden image. The devil wanted Jesus to fall down and worship him. The wise men fell down and worshipped baby Jesus. In Revelation 4, the twenty-four elders fell down and worshipped God Almighty and cast their crowns before Him. This act of falling down before the one being worshipped is an indication of submission and respect. It would be appropriate for us to fall down before our Father in heaven. But even if we don’t physically fall down before God, we can fall down before Him in our hearts by giving Him our respect and submission.
This attitude of worship of our Father can be when we sing a song of worship. It can be when we pray and lay our hearts out before Him. It should be with our very lives. Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Some translations have “which is your spiritual act of worship.” Giving our bodies as living sacrifices is a way that we worship God.
I encourage you to worship God in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him.