“Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.”
This ancient hymn captures three eras of worship: as it was in the beginning—the worship of Old Testament Israel, as it is now—the worship of New Testament Christianity, and worship in the world without end—the worship of heaven. In one sense separating worship into these three eras emphasizes their discontinuity; yet, while there are certainly discontinuities between the worship of Israel and the New Testament church, for example, there are also important continuities, and where we find an emphasis on the continuity is in that little phrase, “and ever shall be.”
Yet Christians have long wrestled with the continuities and discontinuities of worship, and confusion in this area has often led to problems with theology and practice of worship. The solution is found in a proper understanding of the foundations of biblical worship.
Understanding properly how worship as it was in the beginning and worship as it is now relate to worship in the world without end helps us to recognize what shall ever be, the center of true worship and, consequently, the purpose of what we do as we gather for worship now.
Scripture presents us with two extended descriptions of the worship of the world without end that provide the foundation for our discussion, notably one set in the context of worship in the Old Testament and the other set in the context of worship in the New Testament. In both cases, these descriptions of heavenly worship were presented during a time of problems with earthly worship, revealing the fact that problems with our worship now are corrected when we bring our worship into proper relationship with the worship of the world without end.
Isaiah 6
This was true for the nation of Israel; during Solomon’s reign and especially following the divided kingdom, God’s people forsook the pure worship of God and began first to fall into syncretistic worship, and eventually full blow idolatry. Even noble kings in the southern kingdom, such as Uzziah, approached worship presumptuously and not according to God’s explicit command by entering into the sanctuary though he had no right to do so.
It is no coincidence that the death of Uzziah is the very context for the prophet Isaiah’s vision of heavenly worship in Isaiah 6:1–13. In a way, this was God reminding Isaiah of the true reality upon which pure earthly worship was supposed to be based. God called Isaiah up into the heavenly temple itself, where he “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up” (verse 1). Surrounding God were seraphim singing the Trisagion hymn (“thrice holy”),
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of his glory!
The sight of God in all of his holiness and splendor caused Isaiah to recognize his own sin and unworthiness to draw near to the presence of God in his temple, what Uzziah should have known before entering the earthly temple as he did. Thus, Isaiah confessed his sin before the Lord: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (verse 5)!
Yet God did not simply expel Isaiah from the temple due to his impurity; rather, God provided means of atonement. One of the seraphim took a burning goal from the altar and placed it on Isaiah’s lips, proclaiming, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” Now Isaiah was welcome in the presence of God by the means God himself had provided.
Standing accepted in God’s presence, Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord giving him a message, to which Isaiah willingly offered obedience, and God sent Isaiah forth with that message of both exhortation and promised blessing to the nation of Israel. Later, Isaiah’s message to the people of Israel reveals that if they submit to God’s exhortation and commit themselves to him, then “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all people’s a rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined” (Isaiah 25:6). God displays his acceptance of forgiven sinners through a celebratory feast.
This reality of heavenly worship contained a theological pattern that should have provided a corrective for the syncretistic and idolatrous worship of God’s people:
God reveals himself and calls his people to worship
God’s people acknowledge and confess their need for forgiveness
God provides atonement
God speaks his Word
God’s people respond with commitment
God hosts a celebratory feast
Isaiah’s vision and message from God were supposed to correct the idolatrous worship of his people, but, of course, the hard-hearted people did not listen, and thus they never experienced the full blessings God had promised to them if they repented.
Revelation
In the book of Revelation, God granted the apostle John a similar glimpse into the temple of heaven. As with Isaiah during the reign of King Uzziah, it is no accident that this vision of heavenly worship came at a time when worship on earth was in chaos; even a noble church like the one in Ephesus had lost its first love, and many Christians like those in Laodicea had become lukewarm.
In John’s vision, like Isaiah’s vision, heavenly worship contains a theological pattern that should inform and correct earthly Christian worship. It begins with a Call to Worship: “Come up here” (chapter 4 verse 1), followed by a vision of God himself and angels singing the Trisagion hymn (verse 8) and hymns of praise for creation (verse 11).
Then follows the presentation of the scroll that reveals the unworthiness of all people to open it (chapter 5 verses 1–4) except for the Lamb who was slain, he who provided atonement and ransomed a people for God (verses 5–12). The heavenly worshipers respond with a doxology and a choral “Amen” by the four living creatures (verses 13–14). Most of the rest of the book foretells God’s Word being opened as he enacts his plans for humankind, and the responses of God’s people in the form of praise and service (6:1–19:5).
The book climaxes with the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6–21), when a great multitude will sing,
Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure.
This, finally, is the fulfillment of what Isaiah had promised for those who would listen to the Word of the Lord. The heavenly temple will descend, and for the first time God’s ultimate intention for his people will come to full realization: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Revelation 21 verse 3). The purpose of humankind was communion in the presence of God for his glory, and in that day the purpose will come to pass.
Thus, the theological pattern of worship in Revelation is the same as it has been since the beginning as described in Isaiah’s vision:
God reveals himself and calls his people to worship
God’s people acknowledge and confess their need for forgiveness
God provides atonement
God speaks his Word
God’s people respond with commitment
God hosts a celebratory feast
True Reality
These two visions of worship in the world without end establish some important foundational principles through which we must assess the discontinuities and continuities of earthly worship. First, the similarities of heavenly worship between Isaiah’s vision and John’s vision reveal that this is eternal worship, the reality of heavenly worship as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. The heavenly worship of John’s vision, coming as it does after the incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, does elevate the Lamb who was slain in a way absent in Isaiah’s vision, but nevertheless even the atonement provided Isaiah was based upon the sinless Servant who was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. The core and essence of heavenly worship in both cases is the same.
For this reason, second, earthly human worship is not something new for us, unique to us, or initiated by us; worship is perpetually taking place in the world without end. When we worship, we are entering into something eternal.
Third, we enter into this eternal worship, not of our own initiative or merit, but only at the invitation from God and on basis of God’s atoning work. In both eras, God called the sinner into his temple; they did not seek him out or initiate the encounter. And in both eras, acceptance into God’s presence was permitted only after the sinner’s guilt was atoned for by means that God himself provided.
Fourth, the theological pattern of heavenly worship in both visions reflects that initiating call of God and his atoning work that enables sinners to be in his presence. The pattern of Revelation, Adoration, Confession, Propitiation, Instruction, Dedication, and Communion provides a contour to the worship of heaven that magnifies the true reality of eternal worship and the only means by which sinful humans are able to participate.
Consequently, fifth, worship is not us performing for God, but a reenactment of God’s work for us. Everything about the eternal worship into which Isaiah and John enter is initiated by God, provided for by God, and shaped by his covenant relationship with his people. God is the primary actor. All of the actions of the worshipers are in response to God’s work and actually a reenactment of God’s covenantal work.
Everything about the eternal worship into which Isaiah and John enter is initiated by God, provided for by God, and shaped by his covenant relationship with his people. God is the primary actor.
On Earth As It Is in Heaven
What, then, is the relationship between this eternal worship of the world without end and the worship taking place here on earth, both as it was in the beginning (Old Testament worship) and as it is now (New Testament worship)? This is critical for us to understand since throughout church history, many of the errors that have crept into Christian worship resulted from a mistaken understanding of the proper biblical relationship between worship as it was in the beginning, as it is now, and the true worship of the world without end.
The heavenly worship revealed in Isaiah’s vision was supposed to be a corrective for the false worship of Israel because their own worship contained the same theological pattern as true heavenly worship.
The worship patterns that God had established for Israel at Mt. Sinai were not arbitrary. The order of worship God prescribed reflects the eternal heavenly “theo-logic” in which in the assembly, God’s people reenact through the order of what they do God’s atoning work on their behalf. The encounter at Sinai began with God’s initiative: “The Lord called out to [Moses] out of the mountain” (Exodus 19:5)—God himself called Moses, Aaron and his sons, the elders, and all the people to draw near to worship him (chapter 24. Verse 1).
The people had to remain at a distance, however (verse 2), emphasizing the fact that sin cannot come fully into the presence of God. For this very reason, this worship service continued with necessary consecration of the people. Moses presented God’s “rules” to the people as a way to reemphasize their own sinfulness and then offered the necessary sacrifices of atonement so that they would be accepted (verses 3–8). God communicated his approval and acceptance of them based on the atoning sacrifice when the leaders of the people “saw the God of Israel, . . . and he did not lay his hand” against them (verses 9–11).
The ultimate expression of the fact that they were now welcome in his presence for communion with him was that “they beheld God, and ate and drank” (verse 11). Once again, to eat and drink before the presence of God was a powerful statement that the people had gained acceptance with God, not through their own work, but through the means that he had established.
This first service of worship for Israel followed a progression that became standard for the worship of God’s people from that time forward. This same theological pattern characterized the progression of sacrifices within the tabernacle assemblies, moving from the sin offering to the guilt offering to the burnt offering to the grain offering and finally the peace offering. The same structure appears at the dedication of the tabernacle (Leviticus 9) and later Solomon’s temple (second Chronicles 15–17).
In this way, the worship of Israel embodied the same theological pattern of the eternal worship of heaven:
God reveals himself and calls his people to worship
God’s people acknowledge and confess their need for forgiveness
God provides atonement
God speaks his Word
God’s people respond with commitment
God hosts a celebratory feast
Israel’s worship was not, like the pagan worship around them, a performance for God initiated by them; rather, their worship was a God-initiated visible reenactment of their covenant relationship with him. God calls these acts of worship “memorials,” meaning more than simply a passive remembrance of God’s atoning work, but actually a reenactment of what he had done. This principle of memorial applied to every Sabbath and to each of the holy days, festivals, and solemn assemblies of worship in Israel. In each case, the structure of the worship assemblies follows a theological order in which the worshipers reenact the covenant relationship they have with God through the atonement he provided, culminating with a feast that celebrates the fellowship they enjoy with God because of what he has done for them.
The theologic of earthly worship reflected the real worship of heaven so that in participating in the earthly forms, the worshipers would be realigned with true reality—the reality of heavenly worship. What this reveals is the power of corporate worship to form the people’s present reality by participation with the heavenly future reality.
But these reenactments were not merely backward focused; as Isaiah’s vision revealed, they were also upward focused—toward the real worship of heaven, and forward focused—toward the worship of the age to come. In the words of Allen Ross’s memorable title, these worship practices were “recalling the hope of glory.” This theologic of earthly worship reflected the real worship of heaven so that in participating in the earthly forms, the worshipers would be realigned with true reality—the reality of heavenly worship. What this reveals is the power of corporate worship to form the people’s present reality by participation with the heavenly future reality.
So there is a fundamental relationship between the worship of Old Testament Israel and the real worship of heaven, but it is essential that we recognize the external physical forms and rituals of Israel’s worship were but a mere shadow of the true form of heavenly reality. But the time is now here when the shadows have passed away. What remains is the true reality—the formative spiritual theologic of heavenly worship.
