"Worship rises or falls with our concept of God," said A.W. Tozer. Our understanding of God will indeed determine our worship of Him. If our knowledge of God is small, our worship will be impoverished; if our understanding of God is big, our worship will be grand and expansive.
The fact is, our understanding of God determines our entire Christian life. The extent to which we understand God's true nature is the extent to which we will live and enjoy the Christian life. It is the extent to which we will bear fruit and bring glory to Him. It is the extent to which our Christian life will be most satisfying. On the other hand, if we have a small and incorrect understanding of God, we will never be satisfied, always looking for more, for God and life will never meet our expectations.
The proper worship of God is a meta-theme in 1 Corinthians 8-10. The Apostle Paul takes up the issue of food sacrificed to idols in these chapters. The discussion is really about idolatry. We are to be worshipers of the One True God rather than participate in anything that smacks of idolatry. As Paul unfolds his teaching about idolatry, he gives us a confession of faith that tells us what we need to know about God and the worship of other gods.
Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. (1 Corinthians 8:6)
Theology is important—and practical. It is crucial for us to know and to have a clear and accurate theology of who God is. We must know Him as He exists. We must see Him and believe in Him as He has revealed Himself. He has revealed Himself as God and Father who has sent us the Lord Jesus Christ.
As such, God is the Creator of all things. He has created us, and we exist for Him and through Him. As Creator, He is absolute and above all things in the universe. But He is also personal. As Father God, He has related to us as human beings through His Son. He has sent His Son so that we may personally know Him. He is also Lord over all things. His Lordship as Creator is demonstrated and effected in His Son.
There is no other religion with such a god as this. Some religions believe in something absolute but not personal. Some believe in a god that is personal but not absolute. But our Lord is Absolute and Personal We can conclude and agree with the psalmist, "All the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.” (1 Chronicles 16:26)
Therefore, a correct view of God is essential to understanding the egregious nature of idolatry. We read in the Ten Commandments,
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them. (Exodus 20:3-5)
"You shall have no other gods before Me" clearly means that only the LORD is to be worshiped. "You shall not make for yourself an idol" also clearly deals with worship because idolatry is a perversion of the true worship of the True God. "You shall not worship them or serve them" is very explicit. Worship of any other than the LORD is expressly forbidden as idolatry.
However, since the garden, mankind has sought to worship everything in creation, including himself, rather than the Creator. We either serve God as Creator or worship other things as idols. Everyone worships something as their ultimate reality. “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 1:25). It is about worship. It is not enough to have a proper understanding of God. We must have a proper response to that proper understanding. That response is always worship.
When we begin to understand the eternal nature of God and his infinite attributes, our minds are boggled as we start to see Him as He is. Our worship then begins to correspond with a right view of God. Our worship is a declaration of absolute dependence upon Him, a fear of Him, and an adoration expressed in singing, fellowship, service, and obedience. Worship is exalting Him by making Him known in all things in every way. This is to glorify Him, the glory that is the end of all things.
One's knowledge, understanding, and appreciation for God and worship is a life-long journey. It is not something that we can ever say, “I know all there is to know about God and worship.” As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:2, "If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know." We don't know all there is to know about God, and we don't know all there is to know about worship. This is because God is infinite, and we will ever grow in our understanding of Him as we worship Him. Worship is multi-faceted, just as is God. Even in eternity, we will forever have our breath taken away at new worship experiences.
Again, our text says, "there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him."
Our only response can be this:
Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. (Psalm 95:6-7)