Questions From The Message - Doctrine: God Part 1

We got off and rolling into this new message series called, Doctrine: What the Bible Says Christians Should Believe. One of the unique facets of the series is that each week during the message people are able to text a question to my cell phone and I answer the question (time permitting).

I promised that I would answer every question, and so the questions I don't answer during the service I will be answering here. So here is the two questions that I didn't have time to answer after the message:

"So if we can worship all these objects (Side note - I mentioned how we all worship something in life besides God) then why do we have a problem when I comes to worshiping God?"

The short answer would be sin. But let me play that out a little bit more and give you three reasons why sin keeps us from worshiping God:

1) The power of sin. Our world is under the grips of a powerful sinful system the permeates every aspect of life here on earth. What sin does is work on our physical bodies which are incredibly weak to the power of sin. Listen to what the apostle Paul writes,
"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness." ~ Romans 6:12,13

Just like water naturally moves downward our bodies naturally gravitate to evil desires. Paul's emphasis is that since Christ died for our sins, new life is available to those who enter into a covenant relationship with him. With that new life we have to chose each day to live for Christ or live for evil desires. Thus it is a daily battle to choose to whom you have sworn your allegiance to.

2) It is Satan's desire for each human being to not worship God. Anyone who doesn't worship God is worshiping Satan, there is no third option. The best example of this is found in Luke 4:4-8 where Jesus is being tempted by Satan. Satan offers all the kingdoms of the world (which he could because he is the prince of the kingdom of this world) to Jesus if he (Jesus) will just kneel and worship Satan as Lord. So understand this: Satan and his forces are set on keeping mankind from worshiping the Creator.

3) We settle for the created. (Romans 1:18-32) A lot of this has to do with the fact that we don't know what true life or joy looks like. So what we do then is settle for things like our favorite TV show, the weekend, our girlfriend, our car, our hobby, pornography, or a cold beer. Why? Because they make us feel good and that is what we think life is all about...to feel good.

True worship of the Living God demands something of us, it demands sacrifice. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:1,2
"...offer you bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

So worship of God is not something that is easily entered into. Paul says that you must daily choose to crawl onto the altar of sacrifice. So worship is a choice. Then he goes on to say that worship of God is doing to demand that you walk away from how the culture views worship. Do not conform to the worship of settling for the created. Instead offer yourself.


"How does the Holy Spirit impact us now? Why is that part of the trinity important today?"

In a few weeks I will be speaking in great detail specifically about the Holy Spirit. So hang in there and we will get to it. However, for the meantime let me give you these tidbits to think about.

• The HS convicts the world of its need for Jesus. (John 16:8-11)
• The HS restores and regenerates our hearts. (Titus 3:5) Technically you could say that Jesus' death on the cross paved the way for the Holy Spirit to save us.
• The HS lives within everyone that has entered into a covenant relationship with God through Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 6:19) Prior to Christ's ascension to heaven this was not available, but know it is available to all those who believe.
• The HS seals/marks us as God's children. (Ephesians 4:30)
• The HS gives us gifts. (1 Corinthians 12:8-10)

There are other aspects that we will talk about later, but these are the major ones. Let me add this as well. From my study of the Bible and how God has been carrying out his plan here on earth one could say that in the Old Testament you see the plan of God the Father unfold and begin to take shape. Now you also see the Son and the Spirit as well, but the Father is the focus. In the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) you see the focus shift to the gift of Jesus and is work, ministry and mission on planet earth. Again, the God the Father is very evident, and the role of God the Spirit is clear as well but the story is about Jesus and his redemptive work and resurrection. Then in the book of Acts and the letters that follow you see a third shift. God the Fathers' plan continues to unfold. The gospel of Jesus continues to be the message to the world. However, all of this comes under the direction of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts, leads, teaches, empower, and organizes the church and the Christians that make up the church to accomplish the mission of the Kingdom of God. So to answer the question, we are living in that age. The Holy Spirit is incredibly active and engaged not only in the world but in your life. What each Christian needs to do is tune into what the Holy Spirit is doing in their lives. Good questions. Hopefully they were adequately answered. If not let me know. Make sure and check back here next week and I will probably be answering a few more questions.