Serving the Risen Lord
Meditation for the week of April 12, 2009
1 Thessalonians 1:9
For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.
The Lord has been raised from the dead according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:4). The old testament Scriptures that are referred to likely include Psalm 16:10, “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.†In addition, the Lord referred to Jonah’s experience with the great fish as a prophetic Scripture that would be fulfilled when He was raised from the dead (Matthew 12:40).
Because the Lord has been raised from the dead, we do not have the body of the Lord in a grave. We do not have the grave clothes even though there is a lot written about a shroud that some would like to believe covered the Lord when he was buried. We do not have the cross on which he was crucified and we do not have the clothes that the soldiers shared by casting lots. If we had those things it would be easy to worship them. Then we would be among those who worship things that the Lord has made and things that the Lord has used, rather than the Lord Himself.
I believe In remembering the Lord in the breaking of bread. I believe that worship comes before service so I like doing that every Lord’s day. But we don’t worship the breaking of bread. We worship the Lord by breaking bread and memorializing Him until He comes.
I believe that a person who is saved should show that by being immersed in water to identify with the risen Lord. I question the reality of the salvation of those who are not simple enough or devoted enough to the Lord to want to do this the Lord’s way as it was done in the Acts of the Apostles and as it is explained in Romans 6:3-4. But we don’t worship the act of baptism, we worship the Lord by being baptized.
I believe that it is easy for us have more devotion for our buildings and our denominations and our traditions that it is for us to be devoted to the Lord. It is easy for us to worship money and possessions and success rather than the Lord. We certainly all have a tendency to worship self rather than the Lord. It is easy to put ourselves first instead of the Lord and to put what we think is right ahead of what the Bible says is right. We are easily turned aside from our true purpose which is to worship God through the Lord Jesus who is God. Even John had to be reminded to worship God and not the messenger of God (Revelation 22:8-9).
We need to ask ourselves if we have truly turned from idols to serve the living and true God. We don’t want to be like the children of Israel in the old testament who constantly made idols to worship or who turned aside to worship pagan gods. We have been saved from the penalty that we deserve because of our sin by believing in the risen Lord, and He alone deserves our worship.
Bruce Collins