Theology to Biology to Doxology (Pt 3)

You are what you worship. It is as simple as that. It defines us as humans, making us act strangely at times. Worship is an interesting facet of the human existence, seen today within the church primarily as singing songs and outside of the church as something that cults do. The truth is that worship is instinctual in us humans, done by the most religious and the most irreligious without ceasing.

We are by nature doxological beings. Doxology=worship and worship is the submission, affection and adoration of something for its glorification. It is hardwired into our DNA, no one can avoid it, because we were made to worship. Pastor & author Mark Driscoll says “We were created to worship God and make culture in which God is worshiped in all of life”. It is our designed purpose, and something has gone horribly wrong.

The entrance of sin into God’s perfect world by the sin of Adam & Eve took worship out of its rightful God-centeredness and made it self-centered. Romans 1 describes this Tragic Exchange saying mankind “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:23). Essentially, we now are naturally presupposed to worship ourselves and the world around us instead of the original object of man’s worship, Creator God. I would go so far as to say this doxological error man’s great folly. That thing we call “the human condition”. Idolatry.

In light of this, Driscoll continues saying “when idolatry is committed, all of life is implicated, damaging individuals and societies”. Romans 1 elaborates on why this is such a devastating issue, and directly causes external brokenness and evil.

[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. [26] For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; [27] and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. [28] And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. [29] They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, [30] slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, [31] foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. [32] Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:24-32 ESV)

You see here that the worship issue doesn’t stay at home. It goes into the world waging war with the truth of God, which God established for harmony, but because of idolatry (misguided worship) the world is now the disharmonious Earth we live on.

What is at the root of this? How did we come to this? I dare say the issue is completely rooted in the theological. Hear me out, Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, this we all know, but what you may not realize is that the sin was committed intellectually before Eve touched the apple. Check it out:

[The Fall] [3:1] Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” [2] And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, [3] but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” [4] But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. [5] For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [6] So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:1-6 ESV)

See what happened here? She didn’t just disobey because she was a punk, she reasoned with herself about what God had revealed to her. She worshiped herself, she served herself instead of God by giving herself a treat. Essentially believing a lie about God on a theological level. This theology gave way to an identity built on works done by the Man & Woman (the rebellion) instead on God. The theological here instantly gives way to the biological shift in the man & woman, making rebellion the default mode, because that is the lens through which they understand God.

So the problem is that this is now the nature of man. Romans 3:23 rightly shows the human condition when Paul states that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rm. 3:23). This has resulted in a world living in disharmony, trying to appease the gods of self, success, sex, money, approval and religion by offering sacrifices of time, money and happiness in acts of cruel, self-deprecating worship to merciless gods that can, by nature, never be appeased.

Oh crap. We are in a pickle if this is true. And this is the context of the gospel, which is the good news better than all of the bad news which I have just informed you of. God did not leave man after sin, he promised reconciliation (Gen 3:15) and in Christ has given just that. Jesus is God, who came to earth 2000 years ago and lived a life where he worshiped just God the Father for 33 or so years(Hebrews 4:15). Going around teaching about God and how he is pissed about idolatry and how the punishment for idolatry is death, but also how God is like a Dad who loves His kids and wants to be with them(Matthew 7:7-11). What huge juxtaposition, how is that even possible? By the cross. Jesus was executed on the Cross, despite living the perfect life that neither you nor I are capable of. But what happened at the Cross is the pivot of human history (Colossians 1:20). God punished the sins of man on the Cross. Jesus suffered the Hell we have earned. In exchange, by grace through faith, God’s sinful kids are counted as perfect as Jesus (Ephesians 2:1-10, 2 Cor 5:21, Hosea 2:23).

There is a theology you can hang your hat on. And a God worthy of worship.