What is the true worship of God: then and now

Did our forefathers actually worshiped God? Yes they did! One of the difficulties I had embracing Christian faith was the fact that most things we deemed original or good was from the ‘white man’.

Thus accepting western education as well as a religion that had no root in our culture or origin seems an affront to me. I am one of those who believe that there should be local content in everything we do, because each environment has unique sociocultural challenges that need to be addressed according to the need of the people and demand of the society. I thus affirm again that our forefathers did serve God. Did God hear them? Yes He did. In Yoruba land for example, there were many deities (small gods) worshiped by different communities and the central belief was that there was an invincible, holy and mighty God which mankind was incapable of worshiping appropriately or approaching directly, thus the need to use those small gods as emissaries to God and intermediaries between man and God. The people acknowledged there was a mighty God but means of worship was faulty, the same way the Old Testament was a shadow of true worship of God (Hebrews 10: 1-4).  This was the same way the Athenians erected a temple to an unknown God before Paul preached to them to show them the way (Acts 17: 22-34). Sacrifices of different types were offered by our forefathers just the way the Israelite offered different types of sacrifices (sin, peace etc.). Just as our fathers had intermediaries (deities) so did the Israelites. They had high priest who approached God on their behalf and this high priest had to first of all offer sacrifices for himself before approaching the holy place (Hebrews 8:1-6, Hebrews 1:1-2). The law of God was bastardized by the Israelites as they replaced the law of God with the tradition of men and this was done for personal gain and the same ways some worship of God by our forefathers, which was wrong but sincere was bastardized and handed over from generation to generation. The Israelite were however better off because theirs’ was a written document which could always be referred to. God has however abolished all those old ways; replacing it with a new and living way in Christ Jesus. Where it is not required that people used any intermediaries (whether prophet, priest, deities) between God and Man. He gave us Jesus Christ. Following the laws of Moses is the same thing as subjecting to those old rituals of our forefathers which we term earthen. That was why the Jews, even those who were converted Christians were not comfortable with the new and living way that proclaimed that outward circumcision was nothing because the circumcision of the heart came only by accepting Jesus which was the new and living way because no man could actually fulfill the whole law, therefore those in authority used the law to oppress the people. How many of us still use intermediaries (Pastors, prophet, priest etc.) to approach God when a new and living have been paved for us. How many of us because of money, fame, position etc. keep people in bondage under the law and the tradition of men. All those worship are modern occultism that needs to be abolished because God no longer dwell in those worship. That old covenant is obsolete (Hebrews 8:13 therefore come to Jesus, the giver of the new and the living where which every man obtain access to God with no limit or restriction. Jesus told the woman by the well, the hour has come when true worshipper will worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4;23-24).

Peace