SHOWING REVERENCE FOR GOD

"Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe." (Hebrews 12:28)

Reverence for God is an important issue that is overlooked by many Christians today. We seem to be of the mindset that being "under grace not under law" gives us a license to worship and approach God anyway we like. God will accept us as we are, in other words, He will accept someone who is a sinner as he is, but then that person who comes to Christ and is filled with the Holy Spirit will let God rule his life and he will be changed. They will begin to read the Bible and pray and come to an understanding of who God is and begin to have great reverence for Him. When we grow in maturity as a child of God, we will naturally show more reverence and respect for His presence.

Reverence is an aspect of adoration, it is the true response that leads to worship to all that come before God. It is recognizing and honoring the authority of God with awe and fear because He is God, and He is more awesome than anything or anyone.

We live in an age that treats everything as common. Our prevailing culture teaches that no one should be regarded as any better than oneself. That attitude is one of many contributors to the general breakdown of structure and order in society. The Bible admonishes children to honor father and mother (Eph. 6:2,3). We are also to obey the authorities who are over us (Heb. 13:17). The words honor and obey tell us how to reverence and respect God and others.

Reverence leads to worship because we can acknowledge whom God is, and respond in the only way we can, to surrender our will to Him and worship Him! As His created being we have an obligation to give Him all the honor, all the praise, all our adoration and all the glory that is rightly due Him. Why? Because He is the Holy, Sovereign, the Creator (Duet. 7:21; Neh. 4:14; Psalm 48:1; 86:10; 95:3; 97:2; 145:3; Dan. 9:4; 1 Cor. 13:12; Heb. 12:28,29)!

Reverence is a very important quality regarding how we relate to God. Reverence and respect are similar in meaning and are often used interchangeably. However, reverence also carries with it the idea of worship and is therefore more appropriate in our relationship with God and anything associated with Him. 

Reverence and respect for church sanctuaries and facilities must be taught to children if they are ever to appreciate the biblical importance of showing reverence for God. The church ministry and congregation should show concern for the appearance and treatment of God’s house. We must realize that visitors draw conclusions about the church’s reverence for God by the way they care for the place where God meets with His people.

Apostolic worship has been characterized by informality and spontaneity. We are not a church with formal liturgy. Freedom in worship has been God’s special gift to Apostolics. But informality can sometimes fall into unintended irreverence and disrespect for the things of God, His people, and His places of corporate worship.

Behavior in the sanctuary should always be respectful and reverent towards God. Those who have not been taught such reverence sometimes treat it as a place to run, shout, and socialize during worship services and altar prayer time, all should respect and reverence the place where God meets with His church community. The place where we assemble for worship should also be treated with special respect and reverence for God.

Though there are no biblical cautions about appropriate dress for the worship service, our dress should show at least as much respect as we would expect to show in the presence of an important government leader. On the other hand, we cannot demand the same of a sinner. Our maturity in the Lord will naturally show more reverence and respect for God’s presence.

Our choice of music in the church must acknowledge generational differences and preferences, and we must extend patient forbearance (Eph. 4:1-3) to music that is not our personal first choice. The test should be: Are people being edified and drawn closer to the Lord, even though other music would do that better for me? The mature saint is more concerned about the worship experience of others than about his or her own enjoyment and emotional experience.

There are many verses in the Word of God dealing with reverence for God, let us look at a few of them that will give us an idea of how we should approach our Holy God.

Isaiah 6:1-3 ...'In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the Seraphim's: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.'

Here we have Isaiah in vision, seeing God sitting on His throne, and about Him are the Seraphim angels. Here we see that the seraphim are covering their faces with two of their wings. Why are they doing this? Because they are in the presence of a holy God, who is a "consuming fire". Now think about this, these seraphim are perfect, powerful, angelic beings, and yet they show more reverence for God than us mortal beings!

Revelation 7:11 ...'And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God.'

This is a worship scene in heaven. Does it look any different to the worship scene in some churches today? In many churches today we have professing Christians dancing about, singing rock type music, talking about worldly stuff, and thinking they can come before God any way they like. And yet in the scene above, we have perfect heavenly beings, who fall on their faces before God to worship Him! Now either these angels are going a bit overboard on their worship to God, or we do not give God anywhere near enough reverence for Him. We should do our utmost to follow the example of the angels. Oh, how I pray that the churches of today would understand what a holy God we worship!

God had to leave His heavenly home and come to this wicked world, to be rejected, spat upon, beaten and crucified, in order to make us free from our sins. How can we look at what He did for us and then turn around and say, "Oh I can worship God anyway I like"? How can we see the price it cost our Saviour and say that? Doesn't He deserve our very best? Doesn't He deserve our utmost respect?

Psalm 89:7 ...'God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.'

Hebrews 12:28 ...'Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.'

We serve a holy God who deserves nothing short of complete reverence. We must follow the example set out before us in His Word. Let us follow the example of the heavenly beings, who worship God in complete reverence, falling down on their faces before Him. It's time to humble ourselves before God and worship Him in spirit and in truth.

What a Mighty God we serve! There is none other like Him, and what a Saviour we have. Give Him your all, and give Him your very best!