Friday, December 6
Read Ellen G. White, “Growing Up Into Christ”, pp. 67–75, in Steps to Christ.
“The cross of Christ will be the science and the song of the redeemed through all eternity. In Christ glorified they will behold Christ crucified. Never will it be forgotten that He whose power created and upheld the unnumbered worlds through the vast realms of space, the Beloved of God, the Majesty of heaven, He whom cherub and shining seraph delighted to adore — humbled Himself to uplift fallen man; that He bore the guilt and shame of sin, and the hiding of His Father's face, till the woes of a lost world broke His heart and crushed out His life on Calvary's cross. That the Maker of all worlds, the Arbiter of all destinies, should lay aside His glory and humiliate Himself from love to man will ever excite the wonder and adoration of the universe. As the nations of the saved look upon their Redeemer and behold the eternal glory of the Father shining in His countenance; as they behold His throne, which is from everlasting to everlasting, and know that His kingdom is to have no end, they break forth in rapturous song: “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by His own most precious blood!” Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 651, 652.
Discussion Questions:
1. In class, talk about finding the right balance in worship between reverence and joy. Or, work through this question: Are reverence and joy mutually exclusive, anyway?
2. The Israelites placed the wall of Jerusalem under divine protection through the dedication ceremony and thus acknowledged that a wall is useless unless God defends it. Solomon expressed it well: “Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain” (Psalms 127:1). What should this tell us about any of our endeavors for the Lord?
3. What is the role of music in your own church’s worship experience?
4. Scripture is clear: Jesus is our High Priest in the sanctuary in heaven. What, exactly, is He doing for us there? What can the ministry of the priests in the earthly temple teach us about what Jesus is doing for us in the heavenly one?
