Even When

Read His Words Before Ours!
Philippians 2:5-11
John 1:14-18
Revelation 5:13

Jesus deserves our worship.
He deserves our praise.

As I worshipped God just last Sunday, He revealed Himself to me in new and intimate ways.
He called me to offer something I wasn’t sure I could offer.
But when I did,
it led to an encounter with God I’ve never quite experienced before.

As I worshiped in song, I sang because I knew the reality of all He’s done for me before.
I sang because I know what He will do for me in the future.
I sang because I have walked through dark valleys, and I know He has never left my side.
Jesus paid it all for me, and because of that, I owe Him my everything.

But what if I wasn’t feeling those things?
What if I’m walking through a valley and I feel incredibly alone?
What if I can’t remember what He’s done for me in the past?

Does He still deserve my worship even then?
Yes.

EVEN THEN Jesus deserves our worship and our praise.
EVEN WHEN we are in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death….
EVEN IF He doesn’t answer our prayers like we want….
He still deserves my worship.

Why?

Why worship God when we don’t feel like it?

Paul shares why Jesus not only deserves our worship,
but will one day receive everyone’s worship.

Philippians 2:6-11 is a hymn written, not necessarily by Paul, but reiterated by him as it was circulated and sung throughout the early church.

Imagine yourself there with me.

A small house, packed with 15-20 bodies. Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, women, men, and children. All declaring the beauty of Christ together as one body!
Voices raise, a simple, repetitive tune takes shape, and truth is preached as hearts are knit together by the incredible beauty of the Lord Jesus!
“Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
Who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.”

He didn’t need equality with God, because Jesus IS God.
He was God in the beginning and He is God even now.
The divinity has always been His.

“Instead, he emptied himself
By assuming the form of a servant,
Taking on the likeness of humanity.”

Jesus willingly emptied Himself of His exalted position and laid aside His divine privileges to become a human being. A human! And while we are created in His image, we are completely incomparable to God. The humility and love it took to lower Himself from dwelling as God to dwelling with humanity is utterly incomprehensible.

Jesus didn’t just become a human, He came as a servant.

The Lord came down to serve those which ought to be serving Him.

“And when he had come as a man,
He humbled himself by becoming obedient
To the point of death –
Even to death on a cross.”

Jesus Christ, who IS God, humbled Himself enough to become man, then humbled Himself even more to become obedient to all that was required of Him. Though Jesus retained His divinity even as He walked this earth, He didn’t rely on His divine powers to save Him, make His load easier, or remove Himself from the grip of death. No, He WILLINGLY died.

Jesus didn’t die quickly. He didn’t quietly pass away in His sleep. He died a death reserved for foreigners and slaves, a death that was torturous and degrading.

As God of all, He never had to die, but He chose it.

“For this reason God highly exalted Him
And gave Him the name
That is above every name,
So that at the name of Jesus
Every knee will bow -”

Because of Jesus’ great humility, His obedience, and His choosing to die sacrificially, God exalted His name above all names. Salvation is found in His name alone!
His Name holds all authority for all eternity.

“In heaven and on earth
And under the earth
And every tongue will confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord,
To the glory of God the Father.”

When time has ended, and the final battle between God and His archenemy Satan has been won, every knee will bow.

Every angel, every woman, every child, every man, every demon,
all will declare that Jesus Christ is the Lord!

Not all will be saved for eternity, that window will have passed, but all will recognize His rule and reign as King of Kings!

All will sing His praises!

And all of this ultimately brings God glory!

So, my dear sisters, why do we worship even when we don’t feel like it?

EVEN WHEN we doubt God’s goodness?

We worship because Jesus is Lord.

We worship Him EVEN THEN because we will all bow before Him one day,
whether we choose to give our lives to Him now or not.

Let your worship be rooted in the truth of Christ’s character, not your fleeting feelings.
Because the One you worship is LORD of all!
​
If this Sunday you don’t feel like you can worship Him
because of the valley He has walked with you through,
or because of the way He has provided for you,
worship Him simply because HE IS GOD.
He deserves our praise EVEN WHEN.

This Bible study is property of Gracefully Truthful and was first published there as well. For more studies like this one, visit GracefullyTruthful.com!