He is Worthy (Glory, Honor, Power)

Is God really who we say He is?

Tricky question. As Christians, we’re pretty good at giving God plenty of lip service disguised as unwavering belief. It’s easy to give God the credit and exalt Him in worship when things go well. It’s when life becomes a little more cloudy, that we let our sinful pride blind us from seeing God for who He is, rather than what He’s done (or not done) for us. God becomes only as big as our satisfaction.

What often gets lost in today’s church world is the senses of glory, honor, and power; the consistent qualities that make God, well… God. In the midst of the practical, “real life”, “purpose driven” kind of  vocabulary, we should keep the proper perspective of just who God is.

God isn’t like us. God is God. This is something we should be thankful for, quite frankly.

And our encounters with Him should give us a sense of awe rather than commonality.

Revelations 4:9-11 paints this picture well:

⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

 ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, 
   to receive glory and honor and power, 
for You created all things, 
   and by Your will they were created 
   and have their being.”

When the twenty-four elders are on their knees worshiping at the throne, they are acknowledging God for who He is. Much like pointing out a friend wearing a red hat, your brother growing a beard, or the waitress having blond hair; these things are obvious qualities about the individual that we notice off-the-bat. Such is glory, honor, and power in regards to our Creator!

We cannot add onto to who God is. We cannot pay Him compliments. He is perfect and is the essence of all that is good. Knowing that, worship should be moved by the realization of who God is, how worthy He is, and how far from Him in nature we are. So when the elders are saying that He’s worthy of these things, they’re saying it out of honest observation… not just of God, but in view of themselves as well.

The Hebrew saying for “give glory to God” means “confess your sins”. Being honest with who we are (as unworthy sinners saved by grace) demonstrates who God is. Repentance and humility simply reminds us of the pecking order in God’s Kingdom.

Paul reminds us in Romans 3:23…

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Yet time after time, man has propped himself up to be not just God’s equal, but His superior. We somehow know better than God on certain life matters. The third quality we’re talking about, “power”, is perhaps the clearest example of this.

How do we reconcile the power of God today? Do we trust Him for our everyday problems and societal issues? Does He still work “wonders” and “miracles”?

Come join us this Sunday as we close out our latest series, “He is Worthy” and discover why God is… God. (and why we are not)