All worship and service that is apart from Christ, though seemingly worship and service to God, is of religion. From the human perspective these things may seem to be very good, but they do not have much value in God’s eyes. Serving in this way should be only an initial experience and should lead us to Christ. It is the most pitiful thing if one who serves God stays merely in religious practices. Any kind of religious service should be just an introductory experience that ushers us to Christ. From God’s word we clearly see that only worship and service that are in Christ are of revelation. Any worship, any service that is apart from Christ is of religion.
From beginning to end God just wants us to have a relationship with Christ. We must know that God had a purpose in creating the universe and that for generations before the time of the apostles this purpose was never told to anyone. God hid this purpose in Himself and made it a mystery. According to Colossians 2:2, the mystery of God is Christ. God’s purpose is Christ. God created the universe for His Son, Christ, and God redeemed us also for His Son, Christ. This is God’s purpose, but until the time of the apostles He never told anyone; rather, this purpose was hidden in God Himself as a mystery. This hidden mystery of God is Christ.
In the age of the apostles God opened the veil of the mystery to them (Eph. 3:3-5). Immediately, this unveiling became a revelation. God unveiled this mystery, which had been hidden throughout the ages, to the apostles and showed them that Christ is God’s mystery, God’s purpose. When this mystery was unfolded, what the apostles saw was Christ Himself. Hence, the revelation that the apostles saw was the revelation of Christ. Such a revelation was unveiled to the apostles. Previously, Christ was hidden; neither Abraham nor David nor any of the prophets in the Old Testament knew Him. Although Christ was spoken of in the Old Testament, those in the Old Testament did not know that this Christ is the center of the universe. It was not until the time of the apostles that God lifted the veil. Then the apostles were able to say that God’s mystery is Christ. God does not want anything that is apart from Christ. Everything that is acceptable to God, praised by God, or counted by God is in Christ.
Deep within me I have a feeling that I cannot utter. The apostle Paul wrote so many Epistles, yet there was only one central purpose-that the churches and the believers at that time would see that God’s center is Christ. Anything that is outside of Christ, no matter how pious, good, or religious, is of no value in God’s eyes. Paul said that although the Jews required signs and the Greeks sought wisdom, the apostles preached Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:22-23). God did not want the apostles to preach signs or wisdom; instead, He wanted them to preach the crucified Christ as Lord. Why did He want this? It is because Christ is God’s sign, God’s wisdom, and God’s power (v. 24). In the early church, some believers laid much emphasis on signs, and others very much stressed Greek wisdom. The apostles, however, told them that service before God is not a matter of signs or wisdom but a matter of Christ. Today the service that God desires is not related to signs or wisdom but is of Christ. What is of Christ is actually just Christ Himself.
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