He died for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. That is why all glory belongs to God through all the ages of eternity. Amen.” (Galatians 1:4-5).

I am still humbled by this profound truth. God loves us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His own Son to rescue us from evil. There was no way that we could have rescued ourselves. We were trapped in slavery to sin. But God sent His Son to die for us. We can never repay this great kindness, this incomprehensible gift. I cannot begin to understand the horror of what Christ suffered for us, taking upon Himself all the curses of all sin ever committed. God deserves to be worshipped simply because He is God. But this amazing grace, this awe-inspiring love is more than enough to make us want to worship Him forever. He deserves all the glory for ever and ever through all the ages of eternity.

The cross is the reason for worship. What Christ did for us on the Cross is what should fuel all pure worship. We will never be able to truly worship God until we understand the grace we received from God through Christ’s sacrifice. We won’t be able to understand that until we have been convicted of our sins and have fallen upon God for grace which He gives us through the blood of Christ. When we know the deep gratitude of a forgiven sinner, then we will know why all the glory belongs to God. And we won’t just know it, we will also be filled with a passion for thanking Him, for praising Him, for worshipping Him through all eternity. We will be seized with a zeal seek after God with all our hearts, throwing off every hindrance to dwell richly in the courts of our Savior.

So how do we prepare ourselves for worship? I think it begins with calling out to God with the desperate cry of a heart that needs His grace. It continues with repentance of any unconfessed sins. Then we need to thank God for every sin that He forgave and recount every blessing we have received. This is how we thank God for the grace given to us on the cross through the bloody sacrifice of His Son Jesus. Then from profound heart of gratefulness we can lift up our faces to praise and worship Him for He truly deserves all the glory for ever and ever. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

Lord, help me never to stop thanking You for what You did for me on the cross. Please bring me back daily to the same depth of gratitude for Your forgiveness and love as I felt on the day I was saved. Renew my passion for You, Lord Jesus. And help me to give You the glory that You deserve for all the ages of eternity!