3D Worship Part 5 – Worship is Our Nature: The Second Commandment
Deuteronomy 5:8-10 December 21, 2025
Introduction
Our definition: exaltation and prioritization of the object of your highest love in
any given moment
o Devotion + Desire = Delight in the Lord, worship in Truth and Spirit (John
4:23)
Sections: 1) Our Nature Directed by Truth, and 2) Our Nature Shaped in Spirit
Our Nature Directed by Truth
Deuteronomy 4:20 “But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron
furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.”
o We are saved SO THAT we can belong to the Lord as HIS worshippers.
Deuteronomy 5:8-9a “8 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any
likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or
that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve
them”
o In light of who God is and what He has done, He specifically calls His
people – His worshippers – not to worship any image of Yahweh – only
Yahweh Himself; not to worship any creation of Yahweh, only the creator,
Yahweh Himself; not to worship any version of Yahweh that we create and
define, only Yahweh as He has revealed Himself to us in scripture; and
certainly not to worship any other would be god in the place of Yahweh.
This doesn’t mean that we can’t have symbols of what the Lord has
accomplished for us – like wearing a cross. It does mean that we
don’t worship a cross or any other object or symbol as God.
It doesn’t mean that we can’t imagine being in God’s presence one
day or imagine what Jesus was like. It does mean that we don’t try to
picture or imagine God – who is spirit – as the type of person we want
to worship or pick out only the characteristics of Him that we like, and
say that my God is a God of love and ignore that He is also holy and
righteous and will punish sin.
Our Daily Bread “It is possible for me to worship an idol I call
“Jesus” that leads me away from Him. Perhaps my Jesus
resembles a teddy bear that lulls me to sleep, or an indulgent
father, or a Santa Claus who doesn’t take my sin seriously.
Such misconceptions are not the Jesus of the Bible but an idol
o Our nature is to worship, and if we are not vigilant, this world will offer up
something or someone that our heart goes after as a God substitute – what
the bible calls an idol – and we will find ourselves bowing down to and
serving something other than Yahweh, or have some version of the Lord
that is nothing like who He has actually revealed Himself to be or have
some silly, superstitious, and lie filled spirituality that we may call
Christianity, but is really all about making me feel good about myself and
getting the things I want instead of worshipping and serving Yahweh.
1 John 5:21 “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
Why does this happen?
Dallas Willard, Divine Conspiracy p22 “The human job description found in
chapter 1 of Genesis [Gen. 1:28-30, 2:15] indicates that God assigned to us
collectively the rule over all living things on each, animal and plant….God
equipped us for this task by framing our nature to function in a conscious,
personal relationship of interactive responsibility with him. We are meant to
exercise our “rule” only in union with God, as he acts with us. He intended to be
our constant companion or coworker in the creative enterprise of life on earth.”
o We were made to worship God by serving Him and enjoying His presence
with us as He empowers us to fulfill the work He gives us. We were made
to build His kingdom and bring Him glory as we love Him with all of our
heart, soul, and strength (Deut. 6:5-6).
o D.A. Carson, Worship by the Book (p34) “God’s image bearers delighted in
the perfection of his creation and the pleasure of his presence precisely
because they were perfectly oriented toward him. No redemptive provisions
had yet been disclosed, for none were needed. There was no need to
exhort human beings to worship; their entire existence revolved around the
God who made them.”
But the brokenness that entered through believing a lie that resulted
in prideful, selfish sin fractured man’s ability to walk with God,
fractured man’s ability to be empowered by God to do the work we
were made to do, to direct our worship to Him….because we chose to
direct it to ourselves, and His presence therefore left us to our own
devices.
o In the vacuum of God’s presence…in His absence, our nature will always –
it MUST – seek someone or something to serve and bow down to, we were
literally made that way – it is our job.
o If we do not accept the truth of who God is and what He has done, that by
faith in Jesus we may again walk with Him through the presence and power
of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we will instead bow down to and serve a
false god…an idol.
Romans 1:18-25 “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their
unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about
God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his
invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have
been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the
things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For
although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give
thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their
foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became
fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images
resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity,
to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because
they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and
served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!
Amen.”
Worshipped (bowed) and served….are always rooted in lies
that prevent us from trusting in the One True God, that His
presence and power would be with us that we may worship and
serve Him alone – just as we were made to do.
Left deceived and separated from the presence of God we WILL bow down to
(worship) false gods to which we do feel close to
Left deceived and separated from the kingdom of God, we WILL serve another’s
kingdom – usually our own.
o We must not be deceived into thinking that the Lord is far off (doesn’t want
relationship with us, doesn’t love us, think we’re unworthy), nor should we
be deceived into thinking that God is with me if I am not submitted to Him
by faith (I’m a good person and do all these good things).
Either deception, either lack of truth, will lead to bowing down to and
serving a god-substitute and it will only lead to pain and
judgment….not only for us, but for those around us as well.
But praise God that He is near and that He can still be found! In fact,
He wants us to find Him, He wants us to turn to Him in faith through
His Son Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit – sin no longer
needs to separate us from God if we are forgiven and cleansed by
Jesus!
And it is to Jesus that we all must turn in order to truly satisfy
our nature to worship, and the Lord will help us do that even
when our culture, our family, everything around is trying to
distract us from Him.
Our Nature Shaped in Spirit
Deuteronomy 5:9b-10 “9b…for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting
the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of
those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands [or to the
thousandth generation] of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
It is one thing for our devotion to be to the Lord and to know truth – that our
nature is to worship and we must direct that worship to the one true God – but we
also must be mindful of how our heart and mind – all of our desires – have been
influenced and shaped by our culture and especially by our families and that how
we have been nurtured will deeply impact our nature to worship – the things in
which we find our delight.
o Think about your family for a moment. What would say are some of the
most important things to your family? What does your family value? What
does your family prioritize,
o Generational “curses” and “blessings”
Not a curse in the sense that I am “cursed” and punished for the sins
of my father
It’s a “curse” in the sense that the example of idolatry given by
my parents, my culture, and anyone/anything else who
influences me, will teach me to direct my worship away from
Yahweh.
o if my family prioritizes education, pleasure, money,
beauty, family itself, physical/intellectual/musical/artistic or
any other ability, if my family exalts certain qualities like
hard work, toughness, perseverance, dependability (all of
which are common); if my family prioritizes things like
sports, work, vacation, possessions, and homes…..I am
quite likely to do the same
If those prioritizations and exaltations are to a
greater measure than to the One True God, then
they are idolatry and I am a victim of a sinful
generational influence or “curse” that I am probably
passing on to my own children.
Be a chain breaker
o Deuteronomy 4:39-40 “39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart,
that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no
other. 40 Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments,
which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your
children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the
Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
How do we put aside our idols? Recognize the lie, surrender your kingdom, kick
out the presence of all the god-substitutes and receive the presence of Yahweh
in your life.
o Trust in Jesus for He alone breaks the chains and brings generational
blessings, it is the power of the gospel to forgive, heal, save, transform,
restore, and empower all those who would receive it in faith.
Make disciples (spiritual children) to pass on the presence and power of God (His
blessing) to the next generation, until He returns
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 “9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of
reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the
living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from
the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”
o As we learn to turn from the God substitutes of this world and direct our
worship to serve the one true God, our hope and motivation will no longer
be on the things of this world, but will be in Jesus, the King who will return
to reign victoriously and will judge the living and the dead as to whom they
directed their worship – to whom they submitted in truth and spirit.
Revelation 22:1-5 “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life,
bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the
middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with
its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the
throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4
They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will
be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their
light, and they will reign forever and ever.”
o God’s presence will be with us and we will worship HIM and all darkness,
all deception, will be no more – there will be nothing to draw us away from
the presence of God and we will be in His blesses presence forever bowing
down to and serving Him alone!
Amen. Amen.