“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways’, says the Lord.” ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways, higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.'” Isaiah 55:8,9
One of the great truths of God revealed in the word of God concerning Who He is, is declared in the book of Isaiah when the Lord says: “I am the Lord, and there is no God besides Me.” (45:5) Over and over throughout the Scriptures, God speaks to mankind concerning this absolute, and unchangeable truth. Why? Because it is the bedrock for true faith in Christ, as all concepts and ideas concerning true worship of the living God have their origin, and present expression in the Creator and sole Redeemer of men. As such, the Lord makes a very clear distinction between His thoughts and ways, as opposed to those of men, especially sinful men. He never changes with regard to His nature, expressed by the word, “holy,” nor do His thoughts and ways change in their holy, and good, manifestation to men. This reality touches the whole of mankind, bringing all to see that there is no one who compares with Him, Christ, and as the Apostle Paul wrote, “…there is none good” who would even seek God. God’s holiness, revealed in His word, in Christ, and in His church, is irrevocably true, and unchanging, the very basis for the establishment of every believer in a walk of faith in the power of God, and a communion based upon the “ways” of God. God is truly and only known according to His ways. The same is true with regard to the saving of a soul. One can only know God the Father by faith in the sole sacrifice of Christ, the shedding of His precious blood, and the power of Christ by the Spirit to save. What then of Christ’s living church, or churches? Are they held to the same standard of His thoughts and ways alone, by which true worship can be known and lived? Will God compromise His ways and thoughts concerning true worship, and communion with Christ, for a zealous, even sacrificial service in His name? Again, the answer lies in the word “holy.” God cannot deny Himself concerning what He is and what He will do according to His word. What then are His ways in the individual’s life, as well as that of the living church, the body of Christ, and the local bodies of believers gathered in Christ’s name?
In the book of Revelation, when Christ would have John the Apostle to send a letter to the church located in Ephesus, the Lord would first commend that church for its doctrinal purity, its zeal, and its determination to expose and reject heresy to penetrate it. And yet, the glorified Lord would tell the church, “…Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place – unless you repent.” (2:5) What had this church done to receive such an admonition? The Lord told them: “You have left your first love!” (2:4) They had abandoned that which was the great priority, the absolute first thing, in the church’s relationship with God in Christ. That first thing was not service, but worship. The accomplished work on the Cross, and the call of Christ as a result, is first and foremost for the forgiven, and regenerated believer, to worship God, and commune with the Father, the Son, by the Spirit. It is a call to the individual to know God in the quiet place, to sit at Jesus’ feet as was the case of Mary to hear His words. It is a call to love God, the possibilities of which are revealed in aloneness with Him. This is the first thing, is coming alone to worship, knowing that The Father sees in secret. The Father has placed every believer INTO living union with Christ, that he might know true communion with God.
Dear Father, Make us true worshipers. In Jesus’ name, Amen.