Peter ended his second book by encouraging his readers to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)
This is not just a nice little conclusion to a letter. It’s fundamental to life as a worshiper. A true worshiper will do so because he/she knows God. He will not only sing or play an instrument on Sunday, but he will live a life of worship in all areas of his life. His focus will be Almighty God, and not temporary things.
“Grow in the Grace of Our Lord” The Greek word that Peter uses is “charis”. It’s meaning is the holy influence of God (and the results thereof). A worshiper will grow in his capacity to yield to God’s influence. God did not make robots, but people who have choice. We can choose to be influenced by his great wisdom and his loving heart, or we can ignore him. The influence that God can have on our lives causes us to be fruitful in all areas of life. Some characteristics seen will be love, joy, peace, kindness, and gentleness, to name a few. A worshiper exhibits these and more because he/she sees who God is and grows in grace.
“Grow in the Knowledge of Our Lord” Jesus himself said “we worship what we know” (John 4:22) The context of this statement was a discussion about the superstitious worship practised by the Samaritans. As Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman, she brought up how worship was done. Jesus responded with an often quoted declaration. “God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) He taught us all that worship must be done with more than our bodies. It must also be done with our spirit and in the truth of who God is.
Elsewhere, Paul the apostle told the Ephesians to “be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Ephesians 5:1) One can only imitate something or someone that they gaze upon. True worshipers of God will keep their eyes on Jesus Christ and not things, causes, or activities. To that end, every believer should grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ through prayer and through the careful study of what has been written about him.
I have often heard how wonderful worship is at different churches. At times, this has disturbed me, since the focus was on created things and not the Creator himself. The growth of worship in any church and in any person is directly linked to how much God is allowed to influence a life and to the degree that people know Jesus Christ better and better.
Worship is about God. He is all-powerful, yet merciful. He is all-knowing, yet loving. God Almighty is beyond our minds’ understanding. He is wonderful. He is glorious. He is most beautiful. Like Isaiah and John the Revelator, some day we will see him and understand much more, but what we know about him now easily causes us to worship and to grow as worshipers. We appreciate your Comments