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The Three Worship Wars
Vernon M. Whaley, Ph.D.
Genesis 3 – 4

Adam and Eve’s worship of God was p in the garden: perfect worship in a perfect p . . . until man became m . His unspoiled union with God was b when he chose to worship self instead of God. How did this happen? It began with mistaken worship. And, a resulting worship war.

In this lesson, we will examine the worship wars, beginning with the very first case of mistaken worship. But first . . .

I. What Is a Worship W?

  • Personal preference over issues such as musical style (traditional or contemporary)?
  • Preference over musical instruments (all, some, or none)?
  • Preference over approach to worship (formal?casual? liturgical? animated?)?
  • What are other areas considered “War Issues in Worship?”
  1. The fallout is often very d to the body and cause of Christ.
  2. Leaders refer to such clashes as “w wars.”
  3. W is a state of open and declared, hostile conflict.
  4. The focal point of this conflict is the o of worship.
  5. What—or who—is worthy of man’s p?
  6. Remember that all things were created to w God.
  7. Worship began in the s world, long before man was made.

II. Worship War #1 – S vs. God

A. The P. The author of the first worship war was a character named S . Satan is a spirit being and belongs to the order of angels called c (Ezek. 28:14).He is known as:

  1. the a
  2. the a
  3. the d
  4. the t
  5. a l
  6. a m
  7. the ruler of ds

B. The P

  1. Satan is not just some nondescript and docile being. He has a p.
  2. Satan was created with a free will, and he willingly d God.
  3. Satanopposes e God does and represents.
  4. Satan is i and capable of slick strategizing.
  5. Satan is p. In fact, he is “puffed up with pride” (1 Tim. 3:6 nkjv).

C. The P

  1. Satan seeks to s , kill, and d (John 10:10).
  2. Satan was not a in his sin.
  3. Other angelic beings rebelled too, but S was the root of it all.

D. The P

  1. “Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned,” God thundered. “So I drove you in d from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones . . . I threw you to earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings” (Ezek. 28:16–17 niv).
  2. Because of Satan’s c and envy, his once close, intimate r with God was forever severed.
  3. Satan’stitle and influencewerer, and he suffered the d of the ages.
  4. But the cost of Satan’s rebellion wasn’t to him alone.
  5. All of has had to pay the price.

E. The P

  1. The effects of Satan’s sin were w. It cost everyone.
  2. Satan’s sin affected other angels (Rev. 12:7),
  3. Satan’s sin affected all people (Rom. 5:12, 18), and
  4. Satan’s sin affected every nation of the world (Rev. 20:3).
  5. Satan’s fall positioned Satan as the r of this world (Eph. 2:2; John 16:11).
  6. Satan lost the war.He could n d God.
  7. Satan decided to h God by strategically turning his attention to God’s greatest handiwork,Man.

III. Worship War #2: Satan vs. M

A. The P

  1. The players in this drama were A and E, our first parents.
  2. Having come into a world already full of w,it was natural for them to r to God in worship.
  3. They knew i that they were to worship God, and Him alone.
  4. But Satan wanted to r mankind’s worship of God with worship of self.

B. The P

  1. Adam and Eve were innocent and t.
  2. They were intellectually, emotionally, and physically h.
  3. They weretotally without fearand void of any e thoughts.
  4. When the father of lies approached, Eve took his falsehood atface v.

Satan is self-serving and envious; he seeks to be like God. And so, to establish his “godhood” over Adam and Eve, he engaged in a cunning process of pretext.

C. The P

  1. Satan’s strategy for winning this worship war involved d.
  2. Satan is a master of d.
  3. He is the chief c.
  4. Satan f approached Eve, not Adam.
  5. Satan’s first tactic was to c the word of God.
  6. Eve Suddenly she questioned God’s i.
  7. Then Eve questioned His m.
  8. Eve l, and Satan robbed her of her f.
  9. Now he robbed her of her c.
  10. A spirit of j arose within Eve’s heart.
  11. Eve reasoned: I need it. I d it.
  12. Eve fell for Satan’s propaganda—and bowed to the idol of “self.”
  13. But Satan sold Eve a bill of goods. She bought it—hook, line, and sinker.
  1. She t.
  2. She a
  3. She g to her husband.
  4. And they willingly d.

D. The P

  1. There is always a penalty for doing w.
  2. Crime, once committed, can never be u.
  3. The serpent was condemned e to crawl on the ground and eat the dust of the earth.
  4. H between his offspring and the children of man—forever—was set in motion. And God foretold of the One who would one day “crush” Satan’s head (Gen. 3:15 niv).
  5. Eve, along with women of all ages, would experience p childbirth.
  6. In the new c hierarchy, women would be ruled by men (v. 16). Adam was cursed to a life of hard l .
  7. Adam’s disobedience brought death to the entire h race, beginning with him. And Adam was driven from the garden, n to return.

E. The P

  1. The collateral d is unthinkable, as with any war.
  2. And in one fell swoop, the battle for worship was l.
  3. Mankind was condemned to d.
  4. Their relationship with God was s.
  5. All of life—c. including man’s w.
  6. Where once it was natural and free, it was now i because of mankind’s lack of proximity with the God who lovingly created them.
  7. C with God was nowfrom afar.
  8. It was further inhibited by a feeling they had never known: g!.

IV. Worship War #3: Cain vs. Abel

A. The P.

  1. The first player is Cain, a f.
  2. His younger brother, Abel, is a s.

B. The P.

  1. The Worship by Cain:
  1. Cainwas somewhat a.
  2. Cain had a patronizing spirit as he made his s to the Lord.
  3. Cain did not bring God the b of the fruit.
  4. Cain’s t “demonstrate[d] the intense paganism of his worship,” wrote author Noel Due. “He hoped to build up c with God.”5
  1. The Worship by Abel,
  2. Abel brought God “the b of the firstborn lambs from his flock” (Gen 4:4 nlt).
  3. Abel had an expression of genuine, personal d and worship.
  4. God accepted Abel’s s.
  5. God recognized it as an act of f (Heb. 11:4).

C. The P

  1. All worship wars are essentially fought in the s world.
  2. The battle for worship between Cain and Abel was unique in that the conflict was almost entirely in the h of one man.
  3. Cain became enraged at the very One he sought to w.
  4. No one was going to tCain what to do.

D. The P

1.“Now you will be cursed in your w with the ground,” God decreed, “the same ground where your brother’s blood fell and where your hands killed him.

2.You will w the ground.

E. The P

1.War always affects i people.

2.Because of Cain’s evil heart, A, too, lost his life.

3. There are no d of Abel.

4.The cost to Cain was the g of all.

5.Cain would never be able to enjoy his brother’s c again.

6.In an act of brutality, Cain destroyed his closest f and the one who could have taught him how to worship God.

V. Pof Worship from This Lesson

  1. Misguided worship begins in the h.
  2. Satan is alive and well, my friend. And he wants to w out your worship. If he can’t hoodwink you into worshipping him directly, he’ll try to get you to worship him indirectly, by bowing to the idol of “self.”
  3. But God is a God of s chances. He proved this by providing Adam and Eve another son: Seth, the head of the messianic line.
  4. God, not s, is our object of worship. We are to worship Him and Him alone—His way. Worshipping God’s way comes with a great p .