Beholding the Glory of God with Understanding

Beholding the Glory of God with Understanding

By Dave Jenkins

Christians were created and redeemed to behold the glory of God and respond to Him in worship.

Yet we live in an age that often separates worship from understanding. Worship is frequently described primarily in terms of experience: how a service felt, whether the music was moving, whether a particular moment seemed powerful, or whether someone sensed the presence of God.

Scripture gives us a richer vision.

Biblical worship certainly engages our emotions, but it never bypasses our minds. God has revealed Himself so that His people might know Him, love Him, delight in Him, and worship Him according to truth. The heart and mind belong together in Christian worship.

Jesus told the woman at the well, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Worship is not whatever we decide it should be. Nor is it validated simply because an experience feels sincere or spiritually significant.

Christian worship is a response to the God who has made Himself known.

To worship God rightly, therefore, we must know the God we worship.

The Glory of God Is the Center of Worship

The Bible begins with God.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

Before there was a church, a nation, a human being, or a created universe, there was God. He is eternal, self-existent, independent, holy, sovereign, and infinitely glorious.

Everything exists because He willed it to exist.

This immediately places worship in its proper perspective. Worship does not begin with our needs, preferences, or experiences. Worship begins with God because everything begins with God.

David declares:

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).

Creation itself bears witness to the majesty of its Creator. Yet Scripture reveals His glory with even greater clarity. Through His Word, God tells us who He is, what He has done, what He requires, and how sinful human beings may be reconciled to Him.

The goal of worship is therefore not ultimately to make us feel better.

The goal of worship is the glory of God.

This changes how we approach everything about worship.

Instead of asking first, “What do I want?” we ask, “What has God revealed?”

Instead of asking, “What creates the strongest experience?” we ask, “What honors the Lord?”

Instead of judging worship primarily according to personal preference, we evaluate it according to Scripture.

God is both the object and the authority of Christian worship.

God Has Made Himself Known

We cannot worship a God we do not know.

Thankfully, God has not left us to discover Him through speculation, intuition, mystical experiences, or human imagination. He has revealed Himself.

Creation displays His power and divine nature. Paul explains that God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived” in the things He has made (Romans 1:20).

But because of sin, human beings suppress the truth about God rather than respond to Him rightly (Romans 1:18–23). General revelation leaves humanity without excuse, but sinners need the special revelation of God’s Word to know His saving purposes.

God has spoken.

This truth is foundational for worship.

The Bible is not merely one resource among many for discovering spiritual truth. Scripture is God’s authoritative written revelation. It tells us who God is and how He is to be worshiped.

Psalm 19 moves naturally from the revelation of God in creation to the revelation of God in His Word:

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7).

The God whose glory fills creation is the God who speaks through Scripture.

Therefore, clarity in worship depends upon clarity in revelation.

If we neglect Scripture, worship eventually becomes shaped by something else: tradition, culture, personality, entertainment, emotional experience, or personal preference.

But when the Word of God governs worship, God’s people are continually brought back to the truth about who He is.

The Glory of God Is Revealed Supremely in Christ

The glory of God is not an abstract theological concept.

God’s glory is revealed supremely in the Lord Jesus Christ.

John writes:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Jesus Christ is not merely a teacher who tells us something about God. He is God the Son incarnate.

Paul describes Christ as “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). Hebrews tells us that He is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3).

If we want to understand the glory of God, we must look to Christ.

This means Christian worship must be Christ-centered.

We do not gather merely to celebrate religious community. We gather as people redeemed by the blood of Christ. We sing because Christ has saved us. We pray through Christ. We hear Christ proclaimed from the Scriptures. We come to the Lord’s Table remembering His body and blood. We live in hope because Christ has risen from the dead and will return.

At the center of Christian worship stands the crucified and risen Savior.

The cross reveals something astonishing about God’s glory.

Human beings naturally associate glory with power, greatness, victory, and majesty. Scripture certainly speaks of God’s glory in those terms. Yet at Calvary we also see the glory of God displayed in His holiness, justice, mercy, wisdom, and love.

God does not overlook sin.

He judges it.

And in unfathomable grace, the Son of God bears the judgment deserved by His people.

Paul writes that God made Christ “to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The gospel therefore gives Christian worship its deepest substance.

We are not merely impressed by divine greatness.

We are redeemed sinners amazed by divine grace.

Beholding Christ Transforms Us

Biblical worship is not passive observation.

When believers behold the glory of Christ through the Word of God, the Holy Spirit transforms them.

Paul writes:

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

This is one of the great realities of the Christian life.

We become increasingly like the One we behold.

The Spirit works through the Word to conform believers to the image of Christ. As we grow in our knowledge of Christ, we grow in love for Him. As we understand His holiness, we see our sin more clearly. As we understand His grace, gratitude deepens. As we understand His promises, faith strengthens.

This is why the content of worship matters so deeply.

What occupies our attention shapes our affections.

If worship continually directs our attention toward ourselves, our experiences, and our desires, we should not be surprised when Christianity becomes increasingly self-centered.

But when worship directs our attention toward God’s character, God’s works, God’s promises, and God’s gospel, believers learn to think and live in God-centered ways.

The church does not need less thinking in worship.

We need thinking that leads to adoration.

Worshiping with the Mind

Jesus commanded us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).

The mind is not an obstacle to worship.

It is part of how we worship.

Paul demonstrates this when he discusses worship with the Corinthian church. He says, “I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also” (1 Corinthians 14:15).

Notice the harmony.

Spirit and mind.

Affection and understanding.

Biblical Christianity refuses to separate them.

Theology, therefore, is not the enemy of worship. Good theology fuels worship because theology teaches us about the God we worship.

Consider the difference between saying merely, “God is great,” and understanding why He is great.

He is eternal.

He is unchanging.

He is omnipotent.

He is omniscient.

He is perfectly holy.

He is righteous in all His judgments.

He is rich in mercy.

He keeps covenant with His people.

He sent His Son to save sinners.

Christ lived the righteous life we could never live.

Christ died the substitutionary death we deserved.

Christ rose bodily from the grave.

Christ reigns at the Father’s right hand.

Christ intercedes for His people.

Christ will return.

The more clearly we understand these truths, the more reasons we have to worship.

Doctrine gives worship substance.

Worshiping with the Heart

But understanding alone is not enough.

A person may possess extensive theological knowledge while remaining spiritually cold.

The demons know truths about God and tremble (James 2:19).

Biblical worship involves rightly ordered affections.

The psalmist declares, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God” (Psalm 42:1). Elsewhere he says, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25).

That is not detached intellectualism.

It is affection rooted in truth.

Christians should desire God. We should delight in Christ. We should rejoice in salvation. We should grieve over sin. We should stand in awe of God’s holiness. We should find comfort in His promises.

But Christian affections are not ends in themselves.

We do not pursue emotional experiences merely for the sake of feeling something.

Our emotions respond to objective truth.

We rejoice because Christ is risen.

We grieve because sin dishonors God.

We hope because God’s promises cannot fail.

We sing because the Lamb who was slain is worthy.

The strongest Christian affections grow from the deepest Christian truths.

Worshiping with Reverence

Beholding God’s glory also produces reverence.

Isaiah’s vision of God provides one of Scripture’s clearest pictures.

The prophet writes:

“I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).

Seraphim surround the throne, crying:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3).

Isaiah’s response is striking.

He does not treat God’s presence casually.

“Woe is me!” he cries. “For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5).

The clearer Isaiah’s vision of God’s holiness becomes, the clearer his understanding of his own sin becomes.

Yet God does not leave him in despair.

His guilt is removed and his sin atoned for.

Here again we see the pattern of biblical worship: revelation, conviction, grace, and response.

Reverence does not mean joylessness.

Scripture commands us, “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11).

Christian worship holds together realities our culture often pulls apart.

Awe and intimacy.

Reverence and joy.

Truth and affection.

Holiness and grace.

We approach God boldly because of Christ, but we never approach Him casually.

The Word Gives Worship Clarity

If we want greater clarity in worship, we must recover confidence in the Word of God.

Scripture tells us whom we worship.

Scripture tells us why we worship.

Scripture shapes what we sing.

Scripture governs what we preach.

Scripture informs our prayers.

Scripture explains baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Scripture teaches us how worship on the Lord’s Day relates to worship throughout the Christian life.

The church does not need to manufacture encounters with God.

God has given us His Word.

Through Scripture, the Spirit directs our attention to Christ.

This may appear ordinary in an age obsessed with extraordinary experiences. Yet God’s ordinary means are extraordinarily powerful because God Himself has appointed them.

When Scripture is read, preached, sung, prayed, and believed, God’s people are being formed by truth.

Worship Changes How We Live

The worship God desires cannot be confined to a church building.

Paul writes:

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).

Notice what motivates this life of worship: “the mercies of God.”

Romans 12 follows eleven chapters explaining the gospel.

Paul has unfolded humanity’s sin, justification by faith, union with Christ, life in the Spirit, God’s sovereign grace, and His saving purposes.

Then comes the response:

Present yourselves to God.

Doctrine leads to doxology.

Doxology leads to discipleship.

The person who beholds God’s glory with understanding cannot remain unchanged.

Worship reshapes our priorities. It changes how we view our work, marriages, families, churches, suffering, possessions, time, and relationships.

The Christian life becomes an offering of gratitude to the God who has shown us mercy.

We Become Like What We Worship

Human beings are worshipers.

The question is not whether we will worship but whom or what we will worship.

Romans 1 describes fallen humanity exchanging “the glory of the immortal God” for created things (Romans 1:23). Sin turns worship upside down. Instead of worshiping the Creator, sinners worship creation.

Idolatry remains the fundamental temptation of the human heart.

Our idols may look different from those of the ancient world, but the exchange remains the same.

We can worship success.

Comfort.

Politics.

Influence.

Entertainment.

Relationships.

Our own desires.

Even religious experiences can become idols when we desire the feeling of worship more than the God whom we claim to worship.

But the gospel restores worship to its rightful object.

Through Christ, sinners are reconciled to God and brought into fellowship with Him.

We turn “to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

And as we behold Christ, we are transformed.

Behold Your God

The church does not ultimately need more impressive worship.

We need a greater vision of God.

We need to behold His holiness until our sin appears as serious as Scripture says it is.

We need to behold His grace until our hearts overflow with gratitude.

We need to behold Christ until lesser glories lose their grip upon us.

We need to understand the truth deeply enough that our affections are shaped by reality rather than manufactured by experience.

And we need the Word of God opened before us again and again.

The prophet Isaiah declares:

“Behold your God!” (Isaiah 40:9).

That remains the great calling of Christian worship.

Look away from yourself.

Look away from the idols of the age.

Look away from the endless pursuit of spiritual novelty.

Look to the God who has spoken.

Look to Christ crucified, risen, reigning, and returning.

Behold His glory.

Know what you behold.

And worship Him with understanding.

For the God who has revealed Himself in His Word and in His Son is worthy of the worship of our minds, our hearts, our bodies, and our entire lives.

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).