“The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until it is once more worthy of Him-and her. In all her prayers and labors this should have first place. We do the greatest service to the next generation of Christians by passing on to them undimmed and undiminished that noble concept of God which we received from our Hebrew and Christian fathers of generations past. This will prove of greater value to them than anything that art or science can devise.” (A.W. Tozer)
Tozer intimates that there are multiple obligations lying upon the Church, but he sets out the greatest or heaviest obligation as the Church’s great need to purify and elevate her concept of God. It is fitting that a conception of God should be elevated and lifted higher and higher. No human being can ever have too high a conception of God as long as it is in line with the truth. We see this line of thought throughout the prophets as they cried out to the people about the glory of God and that they should lift up their eyes to see His glory. For anyone concerned to see the glory of God, that person would desire to see that glory in greater and still greater elevations.
We should also see that the conception of God that we have needs to be purified. All conceptions of God that are lower than they should be are clouded with sin. As we have seen in other blogs from Romans 1:18ff, people have to suppress the truth about God in order to go on in sin. So sin must be repented of and the darkness of the mind must be enlightened in order for a higher conception of God to be renewed into the soul. Regeneration is putting “on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” Sanctification is going through His discipline “so that we may share in His holiness” (Heb 12:10). To know God we must be purified in order to have a purified conception of God.
Another reason that the Church must elevate its concept of God is because of worship. If people were really concerned with worship, they would not be so caught up with all the externals. Instead, they would be caught up with God. Worship is all about adoring God. To have true worship or, even better, to desire to have God’s glory be declared and experienced in true worship is to desire for His glory to be declared. Worship is primarily about God and not what people like or prefer. If people like and prefer God over themselves, then they want the glory of God displayed. The churches must begin to desire for God to be worshipped in spirit and truth rather than trying to please people with great sound and pop music under the guise of worship.
A third reason is because of evangelism. The glory of God is necessary for the conviction of sin and for true conversion. Without the glory of God there is no true evangelism. While many try to do evangelism today based on man-centered models and focused on the need of man, it is doomed to failure for two reasons. One, because it is not true evangelism and God will not honor it. Two, men are not converted with a practice of evangelism that is not based on a high concept of God. An evangelism that does not have a high view of God will never produce true conviction of sin and true repentance. That type of evangelism will never see men turned from the dominion of Satan to the kingdom of God where the glory of God shines in the hearts of His people.
A fourth reason is simply because of love for God. A love for God demands that His people pursue His glory. A group of people pursuing a love for God with all of their being is a people with a high view of God. If a group of people do not have a high view of God they will not pursue God much at all. They may make some noise and appear to have zeal, but their zeal will be without knowledge and will be for self. True worship always seeks to exalt God in heart and life, and an exalted view of God enables and drives true worship.
A fifth reason is because a high view of God is necessary for the next generation. Indeed, even if they gain the whole world that art and science offers and lose their souls, they will have lost it all. Art and science both need a high concept of God in order to guide art and science into the knowledge of God in all that it does. The Church must exalt God and His glory instead of water it down to make things more attractive to the unconverted. For these reasons and more, each church must begin to give itself in prayer and labor to see this happen. If indeed this is the most important thing, then the churches must give themselves to praying as Christ taught (Hallowed by Thy name). After all, the first petition in the model prayer is for God’s name to be revered, held in awe, and glorified. Christ taught this and perhaps this is one reason why. The church can go no higher than its conception of God.
God Loves... Himself 
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