Ganges River, Varanasi, India

From the dawn of time, all people have been worshipers. Consciously or not, we inevitably place our trust in something—whether it is money, education, science, technology, tradition, or love; or whether it is a spouse, friend, teacher, priest, deity, or ourselves. This confident assurance is faith. We are all worshipers at heart, and the thing we trust becomes our god.

How do we explain this instinct to worship? Why are we like this? It is because we were created to worship God. Since the creation of the world, God’s eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen in all He has made, proclaiming His glory and calling us to worship Him as the Creator and Sustainer of all things. Of all earth’s creatures, only man is able to consciously appreciate God’s glory and praise Him for it. The animals glorify Him unconsciously, obeying Him by instinct. Man, however, was given the privilege of consciously placing his trust in God and obeying Him. Herein is the glory of man.

God gave Adam an opportunity to increase in glory by trusting and obeying Him—a command that required him to affirm that God alone is trustworthy. If he trusted in God, Adam would mature as God’s image bearer. If he trusted in anything else, he would become a broken image. Because he was the father of all mankind, his choice was pivotal; filling the earth with glory or brokenness.