How Do We Worship?

Part 5 of 6

Text: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

1Corinthians 6:19-20, NLT

19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

We worship God with our bodies.

Two part discussion. By “body”, we mean our “being” or “lifestyle” (as is the case with the text) but we also worship God through physical expression. Literally, we worship God with our bodies.

“Body” as lifestyle:

  • The call of the New Testament is the same as the Old Testament: be holy (Leviticus 11:45 and 1 Peter 1:15-16)
      • Leviticus 11:45
        • 45 I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
      • 1 Peter 1:15-16
        • But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
    • Bible Words
      • vodq* ‎kadosh: sacred (ceremonially or morally) or “saintly” (literally: “holy”)
      • a%gio$ ‎hagios (hag’-ee-os): sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated) (from the word “hagos” which is an awful, impure thing. It’s like us saying “blameless”—without blame, the exact opposite of blame)
      • “Hagios” is the same word used in the Septuagint in place of “kadosh”.
        • Why is that significant?
          • It means when Hebrew scribes translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek for the Greek-speaking Jews, this word captured the meaning of the Old Testament word. This word is also used to describe God so they did not take it’s translation lightly!
  • So what’s this mean?
    • We are to be “set apart”.
    • We are to be different from the world.
      • We are to act, think, talk, walk, dress, and simply imitate Christ.

We will talk more about this “lifestyle of worship” next time.

“Body” as physical expression:

  • Physical expression in the Scriptures (not exhaustive):
    • Clapping (Psalm 47:1)
      • Ps 47:1 Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.
    • Dancing (Psalm 30:11; 149:4; 150:4)
      • Ps 150:4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
      • Ps 30:11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
      • Psalm 149:3 Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.
    • Making music (playing instruments) (Psalm 33:3; 149:3; 150:3-5)
      • Ps 33:3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
    • Shouting (Psalm 33:3; 66:1; 71:23; 98:4)
      • Ps 66:1 Shout with joy to God, all the earth!
      • Ps 71:23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you — I, whom you have redeemed.
      • Ps 98:4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;
    • Singing (Psalm 9:11; 30:4; 33:1-3; 47:6)
      • Ps 9:11 Sing praises to the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.
      • Ps 30:4 Sing to the Lord, you saints of his; praise his holy name.
      • Ps 33:1 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
      • Ps 47:6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.

“God gave you a body. God gave you countless Biblical examples.

Use it to glorify Your loving Heavenly Father”

Ann Ortlund in Up With Worship