Worshipping God for a Biblical Worldview

This article appeared in BreakPoint's Findings Journal.

“When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny” (Psalm 73:16,17).

“After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven” (Revelation 4:1).

A QUESTION OF PERSPECTIVE
What happens when God’s people gather for worship? It depends on your perspective.

There is a dramatically beautiful photograph of the city where I live, Knoxville, Tennessee, that was apparently taken from a tower on a ridge north of town. The city appears safely nestled in the lee of the snow-capped Smoky Mountains, with a brilliant, blue sky overhead. It is a surprising picture to Knoxvillians seeing it for the first time (“What a lovely picture. Wait a minute, is that Knoxville?”). You can work in the city all your life and have no sense of how close are the overarching mountains: They are hidden from view by the lower ridges and foothills of south Knoxville.

Our view of things is always a matter of perspective. Because life breaks in upon us suddenly, we often have the sense that things are out of control, that if our lives are to have any sort of order and meaning, we must establish it. Chaos seems to rule. Or perhaps instead we feel our lives dominated by the decisions of others: an overbearing spouse or boss, an overwhelming senses of responsibility to provide for those whose lives have been entrusted to us.

A longing for perspective

We sometimes wish that we could get above it all for just a moment to get our bearings, to try to see if there is more to the picture than we can see from our restricted point of view. Chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation are given to us for just such moments. This is not a picture of a parallel universe or an alternative reality. This is the center of all that is. Wherever we are, whatever life has just dumped at our door, we can return to this vision of an open door into the very throne-room of God, the mission control of our cosmos and of whatever else exists.

A change in perspective of worship

It is an astonishing picture, and when we see it, everything begins to change, starting with our worship. In fact, the first thing we note is that the central experience of reality, the greatest honor given us as creatures, is to worship the living and true God who reigns over this cosmos and is bringing all things¾including you and me¾to their appointed end. This open door into God’s throne room should change our vision of worship from that which dominates most congregations to that which dominates the Scriptures: In other words, our vision should change from earthly to heavenly worship.

TOWARD A HEAVENLY VISION OF WORSHIP
What do I mean by that? There has been a strong drive on the part of the American church to reach people who do not know Christ by making Sunday morning seem as culturally relevant as possible: Its setting, words, music, prayers, message are all designed to fit our culture comfortably. The motive is right, but the effect can be devastating. The motive is to seek and save the lost, to incarnate the Gospel in the particular language of our culture. But there is a danger of missing precisely the glorious difference that biblical worship offers us between the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of our God and of His Christ.

Worship should be for us a taste of heaven. When worship is less than a taste of heaven, it does not tend to create citizens of another kingdom, those culture-changers who reveal Christ in the midst of their world, even as Jesus revealed His Father to His world.

In biblical worship, a door once again opens into heaven, and we are invited to enter and join with angels and archangels, and with those we love who have gone before us into the presence of the King. As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). When we fail in our worship to move from an earthly to a heavenly vision, we deprive worshipers of the one completely unique and absolutely essential gift that the Church brings to the world, namely, knowledge of the true and living God. Note several ways that John’s heavenly vision illustrates this:

(1) Worship in spirit and truth recognizes that there is but one throne and one King who sits upon the throne, who alone rules and reigns in majesty. If we are called to move from an earthly to a heavenly vision, then clearly our priority must change, for in heaven we are confronted by the throne of God and by His searing presence. He is enthroned at the center of reality, ruling and reigning. Therefore, our great concern in worship must be for His glory alone. Anything that detracts from His glory, or fails to lift us up to it, must be avoided, and only what contributes to His glory should be permitted.

Here we strive to establish our reputations, to build our little kingdoms, to make our place on earth and achieve our hopes and dreams. But when we gaze into the center of reality, we see that God alone reigns, and that He alone is to be praised and worshiped. Here wealth, reputation, intelligence, beauty cannot help us at all. Here we are among those bowing and shielding their faces at the glory of God.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the music that fills these two chapters of Revelation: One after another, praises are raised to the throne from the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, the creatures and elders together, the angels, and finally every creature in heaven and on earth. Don’t miss the fact that our praises are depicted here. In worship our songs rise and mingle with the songs of heaven, and together we bring honor and glory and praise to God. This means that we should sing songs that center on bringing glory to God, not merely songs that give us a certain feeling because of their musical beauty, or songs that make us feel comfortable about ourselves by expressing rather low and limited views of God. Of course many different styles and types of music will do, and it is happiest when the beauty of the songs we sing resonates within us. But the key is this: The focus from beginning to end is on the grace and glory of the Lord and all that He has done to redeem us. So, too, our churches should be designed and appointed, our ministers clothed and conducting themselves so that the focus will be on God alone. Unless we maintain that vision of the Lord enthroned in glory, we will likely miss the confidence of those whose hope in the Lord is like an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. Worship that seeks to peer into heaven, and to rise up to enter the throne room of God, promotes a worldview that aspires to the same. Anything less in worship leaves us dragging our tongues on the earth, mired in the self-referential worldviews of an age in flight from God.

(2) Worship in spirit and truth recognizes that we are not worthy to give God the worship He deserves, or to understand His Word, or to do His will. Whenever the Bible depicts the scroll in God’s hand, it represents generally God’s Word and specifically His will, His eternal purposes for human history. John weeps because no one is found in heaven or on earth who is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals. In other words, John weeps in despair that there is no one worthy to accomplish God’s will, to save His people and establish God’s kingdom.

Here we see living confession and heartbroken repentance. When we worship as we ought, when we enter into heavenly worship where our priority is God’s glory, then our longing will be to see His will done. When we realize that we are on holy ground, that all of our hopes and dreams are as nothing compared to His great purposes for us and for human history, that the display of His glory and the eternal good of His people are tied fast to the accomplishment of His will, then like John we will long to see His kingdom come and His will be done on earth as in heaven. Worship that concentrates on knowing, proclaiming, and entering into the will of God as revealed in His Word promotes a worldview that aspires to the same.

So here we confront the central problem of those who seek the living God in worship: No one is worthy to accomplish His will. No one in heaven or on earth can be found who can give God the glory that He deserves, because none is worthy to take the scroll of God’s will and open its seals. Unless we are willing to face and mourn our own brokenness and sin in the light of God’s glory, we will likely miss the joy of those who have been redeemed.

(3) Worship in spirit and truth recognizes that there is One who alone is worthy to explain God’s Word and accomplish His purposes, and who is, therefore, worthy to receive our worship and praise. The central and climactic moment of this scene occurs as John stands weeping. One of the elders says to him, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals” (5:5). This, of course, makes perfect sense to John. Israel longed for the promised Messiah to come as the conquering Lion of Judah and destroy her enemies. This had been predicted by the prophets and longed for by the people.

But when he wipes the tears from his eyes and looks to see the mighty Lion, he sees instead “a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain” (5:6). The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders break into song, a new song to the Lamb of God, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (5:9, 10).

At the heart of the Revelation is this testimony from God Himself that the most powerful thing in heaven and earth is self-sacrificing love. Only such love can accomplish God’s deepest purposes for human history, and for your life and mine. So in our worship, we adore the Lamb of God, we sing His praise and feast upon His sacrifice, for He was slain and with His blood He purchased us for God. Like all the rest of the Christian life, worship is not about us, as Rick Warren reminds us in the opening words of his book The Purpose Driven Life. Worship is about God, and particularly about Jesus Christ, in whom the whole of the biblical worldview finds its orienting center and driving force.

Furthermore, it is clear that only Christ can reveal to us the meaning of the Scriptures. We don’t need merely more biblical preaching and teaching, but rather more apostolic preaching and teaching: Namely, teaching centered on Jesus Christ as the sole interpreter in understanding Scripture. The living Word interprets the written Word. Preaching and teaching that are biblical without being Christ-centered leave us bound under the Old Covenant. Unless we realize that the Word and will of God can be rightly understood only in the light of Christ, we will likely live under law rather than under grace. Which means we will never rightly understand either, and will flounder in our efforts to carry a biblical worldview out of our worship.

(4) Worship in spirit and truth recognizes that it is not just about me, or even about us, but is about the redemption of all creation and the gathering of those from every tribe and language and people and nation. Biblical worship, in other words, reminds us that our biblical worldview compels us to mission in the name of Christ.

God intends to redeem the cosmos and the people of the earth through the likes of you and me. We are His plan! Can you imagine anything more glorious than this? A door swings open into heaven, and you see yourself there, part of a mighty multitude of worshippers, and realize that you are not just there for decoration: You are at the very heart of God’s redemptive plan. Your name is written in the scroll, not the false name that people give you, not the curses and insults they hurl at you and that you too often buy into and allow to control your view of yourself. No, your new name, a precious and sacred name, is written there by the One who loves you and gave Himself for you.

And how does He see you? As a king and a priest who will reign with Him forever: “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (5:10). This is the fulfillment of His promise in the previous chapter: “To him who overcomes, I will give him the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (4:21, 22). Unless we realize that authentic Christian mission flows directly from worship in spirit and truth, we will likely miss the point of God’s redemptive plan and the biblical worldview: To transform the kingdom of this world into the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ, who will reign forever and ever (Rev. 11:15).

A CALL TO RENEWAL IN WORSHIP
What of you and me? Do we have an ear? Do we hear? Do we believe this, or will we continue to wring our hands, wondering what our lives are all about? Will we continue to fear in the face of trouble and war and a weak economy? Will we continue to believe the lie that life is out of control and that we aren’t worth much anyway? Will we continue to let the culture shape us, creating desires that it can never satisfy, closing our eyes to the glorious vision of what is lasting and true and satisfying to the very depths of the soul? Will the little foothills of guilt and anxiety block from view the majestic mountains of God’s grace and glory?

Don’t let worship be a chore, something you do out of obligation. What a tragic waste if that is all it is to you. Realize what can happen whenever God’s people gather together to worship him. Prepare yourself for it. Come expecting it. Let His Word and Spirit transform you so that, through you, the nations might be transformed. “You have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men … see that you do not refuse him who speaks” (Hebrews 12:22-24).

John Wood is senior pastor of Cedar Springs Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.