universal worship

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!"
1 Chronicles 16:29-31

God's desire has always been that He would be worshiped by all the peoples of the earth. The reason He called Israel into relationship with Him was so that through them, the knowledge of God would spread to all the earth. They were to be a light to the nations. Even the Old Testament is filled with a global sense of mission. This magnificent worship song gives us insight into the great heart of God for ALL the world.

That vision of the whole earth in worship of God still must drive the hearts of God's people. I like the perspective that John Piper gives: "Missions exists because worship does not." The hope of spreading the good news of Jesus among every ethnic group is that God will be loved, revered, and worshiped across the globe. It is this outrageously global perspective that means that the Christian message is always on the move. This passion is a calling worth living for, now and forever.

The Christian vision is equally compelling in the New Testament. The way that Paul put it placed Jesus at the very center of global focus: "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11). I will love, live, and choose to see my world in the light of that vision and mission.