The God who gives Himself to be known.
A call to worship.
Themes
History • Abraham • Israel • Covenant • Law • Word • Truth • Way • Life • Vicarious humanity • Communion • Participation in Christ • Knowing God • Triune God
We are not observers. We are participants. We are not spectators of some revelation. We are drawn into communion with God. We do not create theology. We are seized by His self-revelation, by His self-disclosure. We do not generate knowledge about Him. We are given participation in Christ's knowing of Him.
Scripture reading
Genesis 12:1–3 Hebrews 1:1–3 John 17:3
This call to worship1 is about God beginning a long, 2000-year journey that started with Abraham—a journey where He patiently and painstakingly, deliberately, tenderly, and personally shaped our capacity to know God, culminating in the Incarnation. It is about us, then, being drawn into that same story.
It begins in Genesis with Abraham: Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you… and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” And then in the book of Hebrews, we read about the climactic culmination of this 2000-year journey: Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And to cap it off, John recorded these words that Jesus Himself prayed: And this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Prayer
Father in Heaven, You are not a God far off. You are not a distant force. You are not a God to be discovered by our searching. You are not an object for our observation. You are not a puzzle for us to solve. You are the God who gives Yourself to be known. You are the God who has always been the Revealer. You are the God who has crossed every distance to make Yourself known to us, not from above us, not alongside us, but from within us— within our humanity. In the beginning, You formed history itself as the space in which You would speak. You called Abraham. You formed Israe. You gave covenants, and laws, and promises. You reordered our existence all to prepare us for the One who was to come. And in the fullness of time, at just the right time, You came Yourself. Not just with words, but as the Word. Not just with teaching, but as Truth itself. Not just with guidance, but as the Way itself. Not just with life, but as Life itself. Jesus Christ— Your eternal Son— fully sharing in Your divine being, fully sharing in our human nature. In Him, You became what we are, so that in Him we may become what He is. He did not come to help us climb up to You. He came to stand in our place. He came to live the life of full obedience that we cannot live. He came to offer the perfect response to You, the response we cannot offer. He came to be our vicarious humanity— our substitute in life, in death, in resurrection, and even now, in His ascended intercession. And now through Your Spirit in us, You draw us into His life. We do not stand outside this reality. We are brought into it. We are not observers. We are participants. We are not spectators of some revelation. We are drawn into communion with You. We do not create theology. We are seized by Your self-revelation, by Your self-disclosure. We do not generate knowledge about You. We are given participation in Christ's knowing of You. And so, Father, our worship today is not our invention. It is not our attempt to reach You. It is our inclusion in Christ’s perfect worship of You. It is our participation in His ongoing communion with You. It is Your Spirit praying in us. It is Your Son standing for us. It is You, God, bringing us into Your own life. And one day, when all things are consummated, we will behold You face to face, not as autonomous knowers, but as glorified participants in the inexhaustible life of the Triune God. In the name of Jesus Christ, who is Himself both Your self-revelation to us and our perfect response to You, Amen.
1
This call to worship was given to the small assembly of Christians that gathered in Pathway Church, Beaverdam, Michigan, on June 15, 2025.