'The Greatest Story Ever Told' is more than just a cliche. God has gone to great lengths to rescue lost and hurting people. That is what the Story is all about: the story of the Bible, God's great love affair with humanity. The Bible allows its stories, poems, and teachings to come together in a single, compelling read. The Story sweeps you into the unfolding grand narrative of the Scriptures, and like any good story, it is filled with intrigue, drama, conflict, romance, and redemption. This book tells the grandest, most compelling story of all time: the story of a true God who loves His children, who established for them a way of salvation and provided a route to eternity. Each story reveals the God of grace---the God who speaks; the God who acts; the God who listens; the God whose love for His people culminated in His sacrifice of Jesus, His only Son, to atone for the sins of humanity.
[Glory - the manifestation of God's presence
Worship - OT - to "...prostrate (in homage to royalty or God): - bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat),
humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop,
worship". NT - to
kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence; by kneeling or
prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express
respect or make supplication.]
The Bible is the astounding drama of God’s love drawing the worship of the nations. Remember the basic thesis: God reveals His glory to all peoples so that He may receive glory from all creation. This double dimension of glory can help make sense out of an apparent jumble of ancient stories.
For all of Abraham's failings, he did the most missionary thing he could have done when he first arrived in the new land; his first act was to establish ongoing public worship of God.
God's name is the body of truth about Himself which He has displayed and declared in the long-unfolding story of the Bible.
God did more for His name than to gain early worship from Abraham. God went global in a big way in the Exodus.
God's name is the body of truth about Himself which He has displayed and declared in the long-unfolding story of the Bible.
God did more for His name than to gain early worship from Abraham. God went global in a big way in the Exodus.
The
conquest of Canaan should be seen in the same light of God winning to Himself a
single, holy people of worship.
Consider
God’s declaration of purpose for the temple: “to establish His name there for
His dwelling.” God wanted to do two things in this special place. First, He
wanted to reveal Himself by “His name.” It would be a
place of revelation as worshipers continually exalt His character and voice the
stories and songs about His working. Second, God desired a place of encounter,
of relationship, of dwelling.
The
story also includes times of prolonged up-and-down struggle with idolatry. Various episodes revive fidelity to God’s worship,
but are followed by stunning new lows of profaning God’s name. The upper-most
issue throughout the generations is God’s glory by Israel’s worship. At times
the people disregarded the worship of God
so greatly that generations would pass without the slightest attention to the
simple regimens by which God had invited Israel to meet with Him (the
ordinances for worship in the books of Moses). The words of some of the
prophets show that even when worship patterns were followed, they were performed
superficially. The prophets exposed
perfunctory worship, showing that it perversely lacked the justice and the
kindness which was supposed to have thrived behind every offering and prayer to
God.
God's name is the body of truth about Himself which He displayed and declared in the long-unfolding story of the Bible.
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