The chief purpose of God in creating man was to make moral beings spiritually and intellectually capable of worshipping Him. It is clearly taught in scripture and has been accepted by theologians and Bible expositors throughout centuries. Our sole purpose is the worship of our Lord.
We are saved to make the worship of our Lord priority in our lives. All that Christ has done and all that He is doing presently in our lives leads us to the occupation of worshipping Him. When we are worshipping - whether in church with the gathered body, at the office, at home, at school or in the market place - as Tozer says, "If the love of God is in us and the Spirit of God is breathing praise within us, all the musical instruments in heaven are suddenly playing in full support." Basically, this should remind us that we can offer no worship wholly pleasing to God if we are holding on to pieces of our lives that are displeasing to God. We can't truly joyfully worship with a glad song on Sunday and then knowingly displease Him in our dealings on Monday and Tuesday.
Contrary to what some may think, worship does not cultivate passivity. It actually prepares and enables us to focus on the things that God would have us do. Look at scripture: great deeds in the church were done by people who were on fire with radiant worship of their Lord. A look at church history illustrates to us that it was the yearning worshippers who also became the great workers for the glory of God.
Yes, worship of the loving God is man's complete reason for existing. That is why we were born and born again. That is why we were created and recreated. That's why there is a church. The church exists to worship God first of all. New programs and cleverness will not build up evangelism and discipleship. Only worship will beget great movements of evangelism and discipleship in the church. We will never be effective in carrying out the Great Commission until we first carry out the Great Commandment - "to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and yes, our neighbor as ourself."
Tozer says, "God wants you to worship Him and then out of your fiery worship He wants you to work for Him. But He doesn't want you to jump up and start any amateurish toil . . . If worship bores you, you are not ready for heaven . . . Worship is the normal employment of moral beings. Every glimpse of heaven shows the creatures there worshipping . . . " mjm
