Worship is what God deserves
God is the greatest being in existence. He’s the best. Only God is worthy of our worship. No one else is worthy.
You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. — Revelation 4.11
God jealously guards his own honour. Isaiah 48.11 says, “My glory I will not give to another.”
Worship is for God alone. Our ‘worship services’ should be carefully designed to call attention to him, not to us. (1 Peter 4.11) Are you doing anything to get glory for yourself? Watch out!
Worship is what we were designed to do
We were made for worship. Question one in an old Christian training manual asks, ‘What is the chief end of man?’ The answer: ‘To glorify God and fully to enjoy him forever.’
Worship is our ultimate purpose for living. We were made for God’s glory. (Isaiah 43.6-7; Ephesians 1.12)
God’s ultimate purpose is to gather a humungous crowd of worshippers from every tribe and nation before his throne. (Isaiah 2.2-4; 25.6-8; 49.22; 66.18-21 cf. Jeremiah 48.47; 49.6,39, Revelation 7.9-12)
Mission exists because worship doesn’t
Even though we are designed to worship, once we are saved, God calls us to serve in his mission: we are called to help God gather in a humungous crowd of worshippers from every tribe, language and nation (Revelation 7.9).
Mission exists because worship doesn’t. One day, the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. That day hasn’t come yet, so God calls us to join his mission of gathering more worshippers.