"Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beast thereof sufficient for a burnt offering." Isaiah 40:16
In Isaiah's day, Lebanon was the par excellence for trees. Its cedars were legendary. In addition, it was a land full of beasts fit for an offering. Yet even if all of Lebanon was consumed as a holy pyre in sacrifice to God, it would not even scratch the surface of the worship that is due Him. Please remember, however (as I have said before), to let no one fool you with the nonsense that God needs worship. He is worthy of worship, but He does not need it; He needs nothing, and it is good that He does not. Even our mightiest endeavor at sacrifice is a weak excuse for an offering when stacked up next to the worship God deserves.
Though God instructed the Jews in the sacrifice of bulls and rams, there was (and is) one sacrifice God said that without it all our blood letting means nothing: ourselves. This is not only a New Testament truth (Romans 12:1), but also an Old Testament truth (Isaiah 1:11-18). The Bible makes one thing clear: your sacrifices mean nothing if you are not His, and you are not His unless your sins have been forgiven. This is were Christ comes in. His death took the punishment for Sin and His blood continually washes us from all sin (I John 1:7). This puts us back with God, and all that we are is now acceptable to Him, because through Christ all that God is, we are. Simply put, we are worthy because Christ makes us worthy.
Perhaps it is a paradox, but the only thing that God truly deserves, the only thing that can truly be worthy of Him, is Himself. The highest can only be matched with the highest, and seeing as how God is the highest, the only thing that God can accept is Himself. However, rather than leave us "out of the loop" (and consequently damned), God made a way (through Christ) for us to receive Him and become like Him, therefore being worthy and acceptable in His sight. Our praise and our service, every part or our lives that constitutes worship, is acceptable unto God, not because of us, but because of Him. We are fools if we think we are doing God a favor by worshiping Him. That we can worship Him, and that our worship is accepted by Him, speaks to a favor He did for us. The fact that the weak and insufficient worship of broken, messed up people is accepted by God is a testament to His mercy and grace, not our talent or skill. Indeed, the very fact of worship is another reason to worship; we could not even begin to do it unless God had done something wonderfully drastic in our lives.
Little is much only when God is in it. Neither Lebanon nor ourselves are worthy sacrifices unless God is in it and us. He has made us a channel whereby all that He is flows forth and shines back to Himself. We are the mirror that catches the beam of His brightness and reflect it back to Him. The whole of the universe, from the mightiest angel to the smallest speck of dust, is bound up into this great dance, this continuous circuit of worship. There is no way out of it except into the nothingness of outer darkness, where, sadly, many have chosen and will chose to embrace meaningless chaos and empty silence, shut out from the land of worship, from the land of the living, forever.
"We are made a channel
Where His Self is poured.
By the Blood of Jesus,
For the glory of the Lord..."
-Jon Vowell
In Isaiah's day, Lebanon was the par excellence for trees. Its cedars were legendary. In addition, it was a land full of beasts fit for an offering. Yet even if all of Lebanon was consumed as a holy pyre in sacrifice to God, it would not even scratch the surface of the worship that is due Him. Please remember, however (as I have said before), to let no one fool you with the nonsense that God needs worship. He is worthy of worship, but He does not need it; He needs nothing, and it is good that He does not. Even our mightiest endeavor at sacrifice is a weak excuse for an offering when stacked up next to the worship God deserves.
Though God instructed the Jews in the sacrifice of bulls and rams, there was (and is) one sacrifice God said that without it all our blood letting means nothing: ourselves. This is not only a New Testament truth (Romans 12:1), but also an Old Testament truth (Isaiah 1:11-18). The Bible makes one thing clear: your sacrifices mean nothing if you are not His, and you are not His unless your sins have been forgiven. This is were Christ comes in. His death took the punishment for Sin and His blood continually washes us from all sin (I John 1:7). This puts us back with God, and all that we are is now acceptable to Him, because through Christ all that God is, we are. Simply put, we are worthy because Christ makes us worthy.
Perhaps it is a paradox, but the only thing that God truly deserves, the only thing that can truly be worthy of Him, is Himself. The highest can only be matched with the highest, and seeing as how God is the highest, the only thing that God can accept is Himself. However, rather than leave us "out of the loop" (and consequently damned), God made a way (through Christ) for us to receive Him and become like Him, therefore being worthy and acceptable in His sight. Our praise and our service, every part or our lives that constitutes worship, is acceptable unto God, not because of us, but because of Him. We are fools if we think we are doing God a favor by worshiping Him. That we can worship Him, and that our worship is accepted by Him, speaks to a favor He did for us. The fact that the weak and insufficient worship of broken, messed up people is accepted by God is a testament to His mercy and grace, not our talent or skill. Indeed, the very fact of worship is another reason to worship; we could not even begin to do it unless God had done something wonderfully drastic in our lives.
Little is much only when God is in it. Neither Lebanon nor ourselves are worthy sacrifices unless God is in it and us. He has made us a channel whereby all that He is flows forth and shines back to Himself. We are the mirror that catches the beam of His brightness and reflect it back to Him. The whole of the universe, from the mightiest angel to the smallest speck of dust, is bound up into this great dance, this continuous circuit of worship. There is no way out of it except into the nothingness of outer darkness, where, sadly, many have chosen and will chose to embrace meaningless chaos and empty silence, shut out from the land of worship, from the land of the living, forever.
"We are made a channel
Where His Self is poured.
By the Blood of Jesus,
For the glory of the Lord..."
-Jon Vowell
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