Series on Worship: No. 2

Here is my summary of chapter 2 in Noel Due's book, Created For Worship.

Summary of Chapter 2: Worship in the Biblical Prologue

In the second chapter of Created For Worship, Due gives a brief overview of worship for the whole of the biblical narrative by focusing on the first eleven chapters of Genesis. He states that this overview will set up the next two chapters of the book; he also notes that keeping this ‘big picture’ in mind throughout the book will help to better understand the battle for worship, mentioned in the previous chapter. The expressions of the battle for worship found in Genesis 1-11 are found throughout the biblical narrative, especially in Revelation. He brings out the expressions in five main sections that can be maintained as ‘before the fall’, ‘the fall’ and ‘after the fall’.
Firstly, Due says that worship is going on before creation and before the fall. He shows that worship must be understood as existing before God created human beings. Angelic beings worship God, as well. In fact, all of creation worships God. He particularly emphasizes four categories of ‘heavenly beings’ that worship God: seraphim, cherubim, living creatures and elders. Each of these have their own distinctiveness in form and function. So, when the first man and first woman came into existence, worship was happening all around them, in the heavens and on the earth.
Thus, Due asks why all of creation should be fashioned to worship. Obviously, God created all things for his glory, but Due continues by stressing that God did not need to create in order to receive glory because of the eternal relationship of the Trinity. He mentions the Westminster Shorter Catechism and shows the unity of the concepts of duty and loving response in worship in the holy love between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Within the Trinity, there is what Due calls the ‘grammar of communion’, or the parameters and elements of ascribing worth-ship. And so, it follows that human beings, created in the image of God, should naturally and joyfully worship God.
Created in the image of God, human beings are given the tasks of reigning over all the earth and taking care of the land. According to Due, these are expressions of worship in obedience. This sets up Adam, the first man, as king-priest of Eden. Primarily, Adam was to reign as earthly king over God’s creation; secondly, he was to care for the immediate and specific place in which God put him, in Eden. Adam’s priestly function can be seen in the similarities between Eden and the future temple of Israel. The Second Adam, Jesus Christ, was to restore this kingship/priesthood of the First Adam after the Fall. This new Priest-King, Due says, brought a whole new element to the service and worship of human beings, that of outward expression informed by the inward disposition of the heart. He shows this in Jesus’ refutation of Satan in the wilderness. It is because of this new kingship/priesthood of Jesus Christ that man is given the opportunity to be in right relationship to the Father and to supernaturally and joyfully worship only Him. So Jesus wins the battle for worship, the battle which is exemplified in the fall.
Secondly, Due points out that God is worthy of worship as both Redeemer and Creator. It is in view of God the Creator where a battle for worship takes place, namely, in the fall. Satan’s whole bent is to rob God of worship. This is why he is depicted as cunning and sly as a serpent. Due gives much attention to an accurate understanding of the link between the serpent and Satan throughout the biblical narrative. He mentions that the serpent’s whole goal was to steal human worship and not cause them to cease worship because ceasing to worship would not be possible. When Adam as the King-Priest turns his worship away from the Creator, the woman, the serpent and the earth are affected by his disobedience. Now worship is distorted and what follows is a slippery slope for Adam’s offspring, but not without hope.
Thirdly, after the fall, from Genesis 4-11, Due brings out the effect of the fall on the battle for worship on God’s creation in three main events: Cain murdering Abel, the Flood and the tower of Babel. In the story of Cain and Abel, he points out contrasting dispositions in worship. The one of Cain, self-justification, led him to murder his brother, Abel, whose disposition was of gratitude and faithfulness unto God. This story is to be an ongoing example to God’s people of right and wrong worship, and how wrong worship plays out and ends in death. Due outlines several important themes coming out of the story of Cain and Abel.
Seth is then born to Adam and Eve and his line leads faithfully unto God to Noah. Within this line are several who ‘walked with God’, just as Noah did, having the idea of living submitted with a worshipful heart. This notion is set over and against the rest of the human race which is totally wicked before God, and so God floods the earth. Noah, having kept all of the animals in the ark, emerges and immediately makes a sacrifice of atonement because: 1) he is still a sinner before God, an act of obedience in faith to God’s promise, 2) it was to be the practice of God’s covenant people in order to learn from God there is no rest for the wicked, 3) after the Flood, it is a new beginning for the human race, 4) Noah is a new Adam and 5) it looks forward to the ultimate atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Due reminds the reader that sin is still present in the world after the Flood.
In Genesis 11 Due notes that the whole world is unified under one language. What follows is unabashed rebellion in a unified fashion depicted in the building of Tower of Babel. He observes the repetition of some letters that give the notion of the Hebrew word for ‘folly’. This, he also links with the Babylon. All of the effort of building the tower and the Babylonian idolatry culminates in the idea of outright human rebellion to worship God in the way in which He created man to respond in joyful obedience to Him. Due states this as a bad-to-worst case scenario. Thus, God exercises his sovereign power causing them to spread out and cover the whole earth by confusing their unified language, reminding them that they are not God. He demands worship from all creation.