Sermon Tone Analysis

REGENT UNIVERSITY

 

 

 

 

 

Critical Book Review of

Created For Worship: From Genesis to Revelation to You

Noel Due

(Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, Ltd., 2005)

 

 

 

A Book Review Submitted to

Dr. Pete Sanchez

School of Divinity

 

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by

 Michael A. Spindler

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Rio Rancho, NM

August 8, 2008

 

 

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*Title:*  Critical Book Review of Created for Worship: From Genesis to Revelation to You

I.      INTRODUCTION

II.

CREATED FOR WORSHIP

III.

CONNECTED ELEMENTS

A.     Adoration of God

B.     The Public Worship of the Assembled People of God

C.     The Private Religious Expressions of Devotion to God of Families or Individuals

 

D.

Worship as a Whole of Life Activity

IV.      CONCLUSION

A.     Comments on Author’s Conclusions

                                                   i.

Idols and Their Influence

                                                 ii.

Worship in the Day-to-Day

                                                iii.

Worship in Public Assembly

                                               iv.

Worship in the World to Come

B.     Reader Conclusions

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*I.

**INTRODUCTION*

“Created for Worship” is the work of Rev. Dr. Noel Due.

Rev.

Due was previously a Pastoral Theology Lecturer at the Highland Theological College.[1]

He is currently the Senior Pastor of Coromandel Baptist Church, Blackwood, South Australia.

According to their website “/Coromandel Baptist/ /has some 80 members and is a member of the South Australian Baptist //Union//./”[2]

“God is to be worshipped, not simply because he demands to be, but because this is the proper destiny of his creation.

Anything less dishonours him and disfigures it” (p 39.)

The author carries several threads of discussion regarding worship through a chronological progression with stops in selected books through the Bible that reflect on his thesis – all creation exists wholly to worship God.

Much of this review returned to pages 232-235 and the conclusions made for day-to-day and public worship.

Described therein is the Greek word /koinonia*[3]*/ which translates into English as a noun for fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation.

The reviewer’s use of the word will infer a close active community of believers sharing the communion and fellowship of the Triune God.

 

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*II.

**CREATED FOR WORSHIP*

To give a critical review of a biblical thesis requires that it stand within the context of God’s Word.

The author provides scripture references to reinforce the major themes:  Worship predates man (Ps 148:1-5, etc.)  Despite the fall and man’s idolatry, God has been pursuing him for intimate worship since Genesis (Gen 12:8, Gen 6:9, Ps 115, etc.)  God’s redemption through Christ offered a complete answer for man to reach and attain full Trinitarian worship (I Thes 1:9-10, I Thes 2:13-14, Mt 28:19, I Tim 2:5, etc.)  And, that worship of God for us is intended to continue well after this life (Rev 22:3-5, etc.)

To complement Dr. Due’s work the reader went in search of a contemporary definition for worship:

    Worship aims to unite the believer with the Deity.

Worship is not a mere celebration, not a /horizontal/ rite in which people relate to one another for sociological reasons; it is a /vertical/ rite in which the individual can get caught up in the very presence—feared, beloved, dreaded, or eagerly awaited—of God.[4]

 

*III.

**CONNECTED ELEMENTS*

Dr. Due states his purpose at the end of the opening chapter “/The aim of this book is to highlight the interconnections between these elements…”/ (p 34.)

The four elements he uses are borrowed from Cranfield[5]: adoration of God; the public worship of the assembled people of God; the private religious expressions of devotion to God of families or individuals; and worship as a whole of life activity.

This review analyzes those stated elements, differing or adjacent views, and their connections.

#.

Adoration of God

tasksgsses,rs is one!Lordis our lity to  a requirement that we as those sanctified.

C.J. Mahaney od.  iping then rather than Hitasksgsses,rs is one!Lordis our lity to  a requirement that we as those sanctified.

C.J. Mahaney od.  iping then rather than Hi“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”[6]

(Deut 6:5)1  The author presents a general understanding that loving God is akin to seeking Him and choosing to worship Him.

There is not a major thread or topic on /loving God/.

#.

The Public Worship of the Assembled People of God

Biblical worship under the new covenant has at its core a /koinonia/ or fellowship personally with the Triune God and publically among other believers.

Dr.

Due’s major content in this area deals with building a core understanding of how not to approach public worship.

“/Had the Lord given a set pattern for the gathering of the new covenant people of God we would be worshiping them rather than Him, to this day!/”  (p 234)  We could add to this, by using the analogy of Peter at the transfiguration:  ‘/Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here;  if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah/.”’

(Mt 17:4)[7]   Amazingly we love processes and tasks of our creation or handed to us that we can control, cherish, and own.

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The Private Religious Expressions of Devotion to God of Families or Individuals

There is virtually no distinction of individual old covenant worship in this work except to note that idolatry was not only a problem by kings and  judges – but the choice and consequences of individuals.

among believers God and publicallyelievers who have a stake in n Sunday is not koinonia.

new covenant relationship with

Dr. Due introduces the need for mediation through the old covenant priest and perhaps to a greater degree how the kings and judges had profound effect on the nations.

Contrasted in the new covenant:  “‘/There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus’/ (I Tim 2:5), a fact that excludes any form of human priestcraft” (p.

236.)

All access is given to us, and all responsibility of how we then live under His loving lordship is also ours.

Dr.

Due weaves a thread through his journey from Genesis to Revelation to expose the key hinderance or antithesis to worship as idolatry.

God has been consistent in His pursuit of man.

Man has been consistent at one thing – idolatry, replacing worship of God with worship of just about anything else – even in the new covenant Church.

In a Roman Catholic encyclopedia defining /Snd slluminated to me.

First iss writingractical application.

But that was discarded from this work so to lay a solid foundatiChristian Worship/:

    In accordance with [these] principles it will readily be understood that a certain worship may be offered even to inanimate objects, such as the relics of a martyr, the Cross of Christ, the Crown of Thorns, or even the statue or picture of a saint.

There is here no confusion or danger of idolatry, for this worship is subordinate or dependent.[8]

/Subordinate worship?/

The reviewer is not singling out Roman Catholicism.

Similar statements could be made in other credal statements.

But, idolatry is idolatry.

God was very clear on this – discussed in Conclusions.

Researching elsewhere for theological and practical expressions of public new covenant worship that complemented Dr. Due’s thesis.

We want a-16) NASB) You wish,  "p of actionering of the new convenant people of God we would be worshiping then rather than HiD.A. Carson presents a start of what God worship looks like:

 In thanking, blessing or praising God, a person expresses his or her own relation toward the God he or she is adoring: joyous gratitude for what God has done and reverent alignment with God’s character from which God’s actions spring forth.

It is here that the significance of adoration for action becomes visible.

First, by aligning with God’s character and purposes in adoration one aligns oneself also with God’s projects in the world… Second, in adoration a person names and celebrates the context of meaning that gives significance to his or her action in the world and indicates the highest value that gives that action binding direction.[9]

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Worship as a Whole of Life Activity

Our lives are to reflect the God that owns us.