Dealing with adversity? Stressed out? Weary of pain? Tired of Platitudes? Wonder if there’s a God? Whatever your plight! Ready to give the Spirit a shot? Not only the Spirit; but Jesus with the Spirit. But why italicize Jesus with the Spirit? Jesus was led by the Spirit. That’s why! He’s the rock upon which my story of relief is built. Why not consider my proven story and experience relief?

The framework for my story is set forth by Francis Chan. He gets right to the point. His frankness is astounding. Consider his best selling title: “FORGOTTEN GOD: Reversing our tragic neglect of the Holy Spirit.” He boldly states that “for some reason we don‟t need the Holy Spirit. We don‟t expect the Holy Spirit to act.” I found this idea to be true in my life. My talk about the Spirit was rhetoric.

I believed in my head slightly. I didn’t give it girth in my gut. Until intense pain shackled body and spirit in Sheol. I will explain Sheol as we get into the book. Simply, it refers to pain gone wild. Overwhelming like a living death. Some just call it a living hell. Sheol isn’t encountered only in the 16th Psalm. It’s a part of your life and mine during pain. Check out my story against your own. Okay!

Are you ready to embrace Jesus with the Spirit? It’s already seeded in your soul through your difficult pain. “My heart is severely pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me. So I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove!! I would fly away and be at rest” (Psalm 55:4-6). Praise God. The Spirit gives us wings like a dove to find rest from our pain.

The Book of Hebrews states that chastening isn’t pleasure, “but is painful.” Then it says with perfect assurance: “Nevertheless, afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness [restoring peace and praise to body, soul and God] to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).

My story throws helpful light upon the liaisons of Jesus with the Spirit within the narratives of the Gospels. It’s the prevailing custom of evangelicals to use apostolic letters to interpret the Gospel narratives. My approach in this piece is just the opposite. I use narratives to interpret the letters—starting with Jesus with the Spirit in Matthew and proceeding to Jesus with the Spirit in Romans, as an example. I employ Jesus to discern apostles; not apostles to discern Jesus.

I consider each narrative as an episode. Episodes are single parts of a series. For instance, the narrative about Jesus’ conception by the Spirit precedes the one that deals with Jesus’ intent to be baptized by John. So what do I include in an episode? I provide the complete biblical text for each narrative followed by an interpretation of the event. I employ the bed-rock and age-old grammatical- historical-contextual approach to understand Scriptural. It means what it says.

There are zillions of books that deal with Jesus and the Spirit. This essay does not deal with such scholarly studies. That’s covered by books listed in the bibliography. My unique approach is based upon real events in encounter of Jesus with the Spirit. First, there’s Part One. It covers my traumatic contact with the Spirit during an extremely painful stretch in Sheol. David wrote of it in Psalm 16. I fully explain it for readers. In a sentence: My massive encounter with visceral death and darkness changed my mindset forever. It will yours also.

Part Two: It covers my study into the Gospel narratives—especially Matthew’s– dealing with Jesus with the Spirit This exciting pursuit was the norm for my study style. Wading into God’s Word became my passion since seminary. You might check some of my biblical studies posted on this site. As part of this section, I reference the excellent work of Gerald F. Hawthorne, The Presence and the Power. It provided support for my insights into Jesus with the Spirit. Authors who are teachers benefit from the input of students. Those without that interaction rely on the works of others—rendering validity in the search for truth. That’s the supportive role that Hawthorne played, as you will see.

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This is the first in a series of brief pieces on biblical praise and worship.

How did John Hubley become interested in biblical praise and worship? Well, it took place exactly like this. I became deeply involved about a decade ago. I had unbearable head pain following invasive inner ear surgery. I could not sleep. I prayed and prayed but prayer seemed not to help. Someone suggested I try praising God. It worked a miracle. Prayer was asking God for grace I did not have. Praise was invoking grace God had already given in Christ. Deut 10:21 became a harbor of peace for me: “He (the Lord) is your praise, He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things.” Along with: “By Him (Christ) let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God” (Heb. 13:15).

Worship came into my life along a different path. I taught a group of pastors about the power of praise. They asked why I didn’t teach about worship. That request kicked me into an in-depth study of worship. I started in the Old Testament. I discovered worship was a verb. It defined a relationship to God; not a worship service about God. That made me curious. The Hebrew verb was shachah that the lexicon said meant bowing in obeisance to God. English translators rendered it at  times worship, bow down, or make obeisance. I wondered how worship got into the act. Then an amazing thing happened. I learned that a Bible Museum had been opened nearby. It had copies of William Tyndale’s first ever (1536) translations of the Hebrew into English. To make a long story short, he explained that he rendered shachah as worship because worship meant bow down in obeisance to God in the Middle English of his time.

In conclusion: Praise and worship are two distinct ways of relating to the Lord. Praise lifts up the grace of the Lord in saving and supporting us as His own. In worship we bow down in obeisance before the Lord as our King. We use psalms and songs in our praise to the Lord. We yield the issues of our lives to the Lord (Your will be done) as the primary expression of worship. No matter what style of worship service we may choose, we must remember that true worship is not synonymous with our worship service. Rather such worship becomes a life changing catalyst through habitually praising and humbly submitting all the issues of our daily lives as willful responses to God’s awesome grace. Amen.

John Hubley

My subject is: Winnowing the will to worship. To start with: What in the world does winnowing have to do with worship? As a matter of fact, what is winnowing anyway? First of all, it’s an ancient term. It meant separating the chaff from the grain. Today, it simply means separating what’s worthy from what’s worthless. What’s worthless often gets in the way when we seek to worship our God.

The theme didn’t just pop into my head. It came right from the third chapter of Matthew. There are three events that Matthew tethered concerning the worship of God: I really mean the will to worship God. First, John the Baptist came preaching willful worship in the wilderness. Second, Jesus came with a will to worship under John’s ministry. Third, Satan tempted Jesus to break his bond of willful worship to the Father. Each event dealt with the will to worship. Worship doesn’t happen just around us but profoundly within us—it’s the product of our will—it’s our will to worship the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.

Let’s start with John. He baptized people unto repentance. Such baptism with repentance involved penitents submitting themselves in obedience to God. Actually, bowing in facedown obeisance to God was the Hebrew medium of worship. So you see, John zealously promoted true biblical worship in the wilderness. Here are his engaging words: “I baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Baptism is more than worship. Baptism is a will to worship. It turn us away from self-will to live for the will of the Father. That’s true repentance. However, John went beyond repentance. He promised that when the Christ came, He would baptize with the Spirit and with fire. He would ignite a fervent fire, kindle an intense will, in their hearts, to winnow worthless ways during their worship. The prophets Amos and Micah had years before warned people about equating worship with attending to attend the temple sacrifices; dancing to just dance lively to their favorite songs and lyrics during festivals.

Matthew continued: Jesus came from Galilee to be baptized by John. He was moved by the promise of the Holy Spirit and fire associated with baptism. He sought to bow in facedown obeisance to his Father at the start of his mission. But something went awry. John refused to baptize him. Instead, he pleaded, “I need to be baptized by You.” Jesus’ will to worship spiked like fermenting wine. He cried out: “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Wow! Jesus was tenacious. “Get with it, John!  It’s what’s required right now!  I must do what my will compels me to do: Worship the Father as His beloved and obeisant Son.” Quickly, John relented. When Jesus came up out of the water “the heavens were opened to Him, And He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’” Jesus was enthralled.

To recapitulate: John preached the baptism of repentance, the proclamation of the will to worship; to bury ones self-will in baptism; and to bow in facedown obeisance to the Father’s will. We perceived how Jesus pursued his passion for the Father, denying his self-will through baptism, and bowing in face down obeisance to the Father. Now we’ll examine what our role becomes in light of how Jesus dealt with Satan—ourselves responding in the same manner.

Matthew continued: Immediately, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus had declared his utter obeisance to the Father, and received His pleasure and delight. Jesus knew when he faced the devil he must uphold his obeisance, and maintain his integrity. Then, Satan taunted him about turning stones into bread, and falling from great heights without injury. Even though these were challenges to Jesus, they were not obstacles to sustaining his godly stature and his well-being. They were simply Satan’s slick preludes to undermine Jesus’ integrity, and destroy his mission as the Son of God.

Satan’s real clincher came with this enticing carrot: “All the kingdoms of the world are absolutely yours, Jesus, “If You will fall down and worship me”  “You who declared your awesome obeisance to the Father in baptism: Renounce your baptismal commitment to the Father; retract your calling as Messiah; abandon your mission to bear the sin of many and make intercession for transgressors.

Satan put everything of redemptive value up for grabs in his wicked effort to ravage the Father and degrade his Son. But comes a surprise!  Satan was amazed at Jesus’ response. Although Satan might have been prepared for the jolting surprise had he paid closer attention to Jesus’ awesome baptism.

Jesus exclaimed with the passion of his entire being: “Out of my sight, Satan, “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only shall you serve”. What was Jesus doing? Did he simply demand the obvious: That Satan back off and bow down in obeisance to God? There’s much more to this than that. Let’s back up for a moment. Jesus’ viewed his worship of the Father as the ultimate will and moral fiber of his mission. He publicly presented himself as the ultimate and willful Worshiper. This is what he meant when he said:  “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent me” (John 6:38).

Was Jesus making an example of his baptism, or was he going much deeper, was he implying that we believers also participate in his obeisance to the Father through our own moment of baptism? Responding to his example is easy in its impact. Participating willfully in his submission to the Father is encompassing in its impact. He boldly challenged Satan to participate with the Son in his ultimate obeisance to the Father—to forsake his selfish desire to dominate the world, and boldly embrace the Son’s obeisance to the Father in both mission and justice.

Our will to worship becomes our participation in his will to worship. Participation involves much more than imitating his obeisance to the Father, although that’s certainly possible. But it’s willfully sharing with Him, it’s participating with Him, in our regenerate minds and imaginations, in his absolute obeisance to the Father, as if his submission becomes our own–for by faith through grace it surely does.

By participating in Jesus’ will to worship the Father, we actually winnow the self will from our worship. The wind of the Spirit effectively sweeps away our self will with its choking stress on outward forms and styles, and graciously frees us to make facedown obeisance to the Father through the Son in our lifestyle forever.

Whenever we read worship in the Bible, it portrays doing obeisance to God as the Lord. However, worship is expressed in many ways in the Bible through what we call liturgies. Liturgies portray various activities in which believers live out their obeisance to God.  For instance in the Old Testament, presenting tithes to God is a liturgy as is rendering sacrifices. In the New Testament being baptized, and sharing in the Lord’s Table are liturgies. They enable believers to live out their willful obeisance to Christ as the Lord.

Since the crucifixion, resurrection and glorification of Christ, worship (as obeisance) has now taken on an awesome intensive relationship to God. The apostles Paul and Peter portray worship as the believers’ participation with Christ in his death, resurrection and glorification. Portrayed as a mystery by these apostles, the true worshiper partakes in Christ’s obeisance to the Father by sharing in his death (dying to sin), his resurrection (living with justice), and his glorification (embracing his eternal glory).

Our biblical theology of worship so far has mentioned the Father and the Son, but not the Spirit. Throughout the Bible the Spirit is portrayed as the person of the triune God that enables worshipers to overcome sin and pride in order to do obeisance to God as Lord. In the New Testament, Jesus and the apostles portray the Spirit as carrying out Christ’s mission after his entrance into Heaven. Therefore, the Spirit now nurtures worshipers in doing obeisance to Christ through holy baptism and the Lord’s Table.

The Spirit served in Old and New Testaments in showing obeisance to God through instrumental music and sung lyrics. Serving the Spirit as worship leaders, Moses led the Israelites after escaping the Egyptians with the “Song of Moses” (Ex. 15:1-18); David openly danced in restoring the Ark to worship with singers and trumpets and stringed instruments (1 Chron.16:1-36), and the apostles sang psalms and hymns and spiritual song submitting themselves publicly to God and to one another (Eph. 5:17-21).

Now, since acknowledging the Spirit’s role in nurturing worshipers to do obeisance to God through bible-based music and liturgies, it follows logically and naturally that almost any vehicles of worship that exist to do obeisance to God is blessed by the Holy Spirit. No matter how a vehicle may please worshipers or doesn’t, if that vehicle expresses due obeisance to God in dealing the issues of their daily lives, it’s a vehicle of genuine worship. Without expressing due obeisance to the triune God, nothing is true worship.

Christ transforms everything.

Christ transforms the way we wait upon our worship. That’s what this challenging and mind-changing essay is about. Christ transforms worship through the impact of his cross, resurrection and ascension to the Father.

Paul in the passage below describes the transformation involved in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. We were buried with Christ through baptism that we not be slaves to sin, and were raised with Christ to walk in newness of life. The thrust of this essay is to show that the apostle wrote about the profound transformation of our worship in Christ.

Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4).

The apostle could very well have ended the quotation above with this statement: “That just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should worship in newness of life.”

Worship in the Four Gospels

Worship maintains its original meaning in Genesis through the Bible to the Gospels. The first mention of worship in Genesis is when Abraham arrived at the altar to sacrifice his only son, as God commanded. Faced with the reality of sacrificing his son, Abraham said to his servants “I will go yonder and worship.” (Gen. 22:5). The Hebrew word for worship is shachah which means “to bow down in obeisance.” Throughout the Old Testament, authorized versions render shachah as “bow down” or “worship.” The New International Version unfortunately renders words that mean “service” as “worship,” in step with the popular view that whatever’s related to the veneration of God may be considered worship.
The Gospels maintain the original meaning of worship as “bowing in obeisance.” It’s shachah in Hebrew and was consistently rendered by proskuneo in the Greek Septuagint published by Jews living outside the holy land before and during the apostolic period. It’s face value rendering of Hebrew into Greek supports the view that worship carried the original meaning in the time of Christ and apostles. For example, when the Magi came to Jerusalem seeking the Messiah, they bowed down (proskuneo) in worship before the Christ Child (Matt. 2:2). That meaning carried all the way to the ascension of Christ where the text records that the disciples worshiped (proskuneo) him (Luke 23:52).

Worship in Paul’s Letters

I used the word transformation above. It’s a noun Paul used to describe the awesome changes that Christ brings to our daily walk and worship. For instance, the apostle used the picturesque verb metamorphoo to describe the transformation that the Spirit performs among those who picture the Christ of grace in reading the Old Testament (1 Cor. 3:1ff).

Metamorphosis; how visual and vibrant. Here’s the quotation:

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:17f).

Being spiritually transformed describes what the Father does through Christ in the Spirit both in our spiritual walk as well as our manner of worship. If transformation applies to the changes the triune God brings to our total lives, then it obviously applies to our worship. Worship is one of the factors that drives the intensity and disposition of our walk.

Metamorphosis explains the transition from our worship as expressing loving obeisance to Christ to our worship as participating in the death, resurrection, and glorification of Christ. Looking at it from a theological perspective, loving obeisance to Christ is really an expression of our participation in Christ’s continuing governance of our daily walk. What a magnificent and meaningful re-alignment it is to become partakers with Christ in his triple saving feats for our personal wellbeing and welfare.

Perhaps the apostle had this vision of worship in mind when he used metamorphoo in the admonition below to the church of Christ in Rome. Does not this “renewing of the mind” in relationship to Christ effectively prove that the participatory manner of Christ-engaged worship is “that good, acceptable and perfect will of God” as we enter into union with Christ in his crucifixion, resurrection and glorification?

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2).

Up to now, we have built a dynamic relationship between the Gospels’ sense of worship as obeisance to Christ, and the apostles’ imaginative participation with Christ. The time has come to examine the phrases that Paul used. They are unique. Paul selected verbs about a part of Christ’s mission, prefixed each with the phrase “together with” (the Greek sun), and produced a series of participatory relationship not used elsewhere.

Paul’s Unique and Unusual Phrases

Here are five phrases that Paul used in Romans to picture the believer’s participation with Christ in his saving works. He challenged his readers to overcome sin by considering their dynamic relationship with Christ, by participating with Christ in his death, resurrection, and glorification. Such is the awesome mystery of overcoming sin and living righteously.

Romans 6:4 We were buried with Him (Christ) through baptism
Romans 6:6: The old man was crucified together with (Christ).
Romans 6:8: Then we shall live together with Him (Christ).
Romans 8:17: That we may be glorified together (with Christ).
Romans 8:17: If indeed we suffer together with (Christ).

Now, why and how do we transit from the Gospel’s use of worship as “bowing in obeisance” to the phrases that involve participation in the death and resurrection of Christ? First, there’s the obvious need for a transition from the Gospels to the apostolic letters. There’s the almost total absence of references to worship (proskuneo) in the pastoral letters. How can we overlook the abrupt ending of references to worship after their standing in the Pentateuch, the Major and Minor Prophets, and the four Gospels?

Even with two dozen references to worship in the Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and several in Acts, one cannot ignore the glaring absence of references to worship in the saga of the early church. The Gospels picked up the practice of worship from the Law and the Prophets, but Paul, Peter and John seemed on the surface to act as if it didn’t require attention.

However there’s another factor that bears directly upon this issue. It’s the neglected treatment of the theological meaning of biblical worship itself. Unwrapping the theological meaning of worship (proskuneo) begins with acknowledging its linguistic sense. It means, as noted above, “to bow in obeisance” or submission or surrender to God. However, there’s more to worship than the lexicon’s definition, although the definition is never lost.

Consider how Paul dealt with the theological aspects of other religious concepts. Take for instance his discussion in Romans as to how Gentiles became part of the covenant of grace though uncircumcised. He argued that Abraham was accounted righteous before God based solely upon his faith. Then he stated that God graciously imputed righteousness to Abraham before he was circumcised.

Through the process of theological reasoning, Paul concluded that God brought uncircumcised Gentiles to salvation by his grace. This theological approach not only evidenced God’s mind and desire, but also witnessed to God’s mercy and compassion. Does not this theological process apply to worship?

Does theological analysis relate directly to participatory worship?

Here’s the logic. Worship as bowing in obeisance before God equates theologically to the worshipers’ submitting to God’s governance of their lives. Bowing in obeisance is what the worshiper does. Participating-in-God’s sovereign oversight is the theological equivalence. It organically fuses obeisance-to-Christ with participating in Christ’s saving feats.

To summarize: As I see it, worship is the believer’s participation in the Father’s mission through the Son (1) involving thoughtful and loving obeisance to Christ during the period of the four Gospels, and (2) involving thoughtful and intuitive participation with Christ in his death, resurrection and ascension, during the period of the early church.

Paul’s emphasis didn’t center upon the part humans play. Although he considered imaginative involvement essential. He sought to exalt Christ, and Christ alone, as the Father’s obedient Son in crucifixion, resurrection and glorification. We are dead with Christ. We are made alive with Christ. We are raised up with Christ. We are seated together with Christ. We are glorified together with Christ. Paul wrote that we “are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22).

After identifying the number of unusual and interesting ways that the apostles dealt with worship as our participation with Christ in his death, resurrection and glorification, it’s time to analyze how these phrases actually relate to us now in overcoming the power of sin in our lives, sharing in the life of the risen Christ, and basking in the blessings of eternal life. Paul gives us helpful insight in Romans 6, but it’s an uphill journey in our desire to achieve practical holiness and righteousness.

Participating with Christ in his saving works is not actual physical sharing in his death, resurrection and glorification. What took place in Jerusalem centuries ago is not duplicated in our bodies today. So what then is our participation with Christ in his saving works? Is participation primarily a symbolic gesture encouraging us to overcome sin and live a Christ-like life? Many accept this interpretation and walk the walk with Christ. Isn’t that enough evidence to let the matter rest at this level?

The answer is No! Paul gave us a clue in Romans 6:10-11 that lifts our insight beyond symbolism to the real world of cognitive and passionate initiative. He reminded us that Christ “died for sin once and for all but the life that he now lives, he lives to God.” The truth that Christ died for sins is a crucial and historical fact. The truth that Christ lives right now to serve the Father is an existential reality. Christ now lives with the Father in order to support our growth, that we may live it out in mind, heart and behavior.

Participating Involves Cognitive Imaging

Paul carefully and caringly exhorted his readers: “Therefore, always reckon (logizomai) yourselves as dead to sin, and then go on living with God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (translation mine). This verse raises our response above simply resting in passive symbolism to decisively imagining ourselves as crucified and risen with Christ in the Spirit.

I highlighted the verb logizomai to emphasize its cognitive and intuitive potency. It means “to take into account,” or “let the mind dwell upon this,” or “imagine this as real.” It’s a verb that Paul used over thirty times in his letters. Participating with Christ in his death, resurrection and glorification involves the pursuit of the whole person in internally recognizing that the power of sin died on the cross, the power of the risen Lord is released by faith, and the blessings of our participation is available here and now.

Paul made clear that engaging the self is not limited to mind and will, but also to intuition, to emotions, and the caring of the soul. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:2: “Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” It’s our abiding love for Christ who died for our sins, arose triumphantly from the grave, and sits majestically on the Father’s right hand that releases our will and energy to participate in his saving feats as our worship.

Summary

I stated in the opening paragraphs of this essay that Paul recognized the transforming power that our relationship with Christ brings to our walk and worship. I also suggested that we could render Romans 6:4 “That just as Christ was raised from the dead, even so we also should worship in newness of life.” I stated that this piece addressed the mystery of worship’s absence (proskuneo) in the apostolic letters by establishing, through theological reasoning, that worship as obeisance to God continued and expanded in the early church through participation with Christ in his death, resurrection and glorification. No participation (koinonia) with the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit, is conceived and carried out without the worshiper’s homage to and heart-felt love for the triune God of grace.

Although Paul, John and Peter employed different linguistic vehicles to explain the worshiper’s participation in Christ’s death, resurrection and glorification, each approach required an active and committed imagination, fired by a burning passion for the triune God, tethered to a sense of divine mystery, that the power of sin died on the cross with Christ, that renewal in Christ is actualized through nothing but vital faith, and that the reign of the Father, through the Son in the Spirit is evident as much now as ever.