I often ask odd questions. Sometimes, answers to my questions are not easy to find. Nothing is more frustrating than to go to a FAQ page, only to find that my question is not listed.
The question, “How did the church service originate?” is one that remains (or should remain) relevant to us today. A related question should be, “What type of service or worship pleases God?”
Fortunately, answers to these questions are not missing from the Bible. The pattern for weekly gatherings, cleansing from sin before approaching God, worship of God, receiving instruction, and building up the community of believers are all found in great detail in the book of Exodus in the Bible. Specifically, God outlined to Moses very specific instructions for temple construction as well as how the people and priests were to approach Him in worship.
Next time you are in a church service, consider that the traditions go back in time multiple thousands of years.
We must note a few important insights given in Scripture with respect to the worship of God. The most important of those is the topic of today’s post. Specifically, God prescribed who could approach the Holy of Holies, the method of approach, and the attitude of the congregation in coming to the temple. This is all described in Exodus 25:9 as a pattern God gave to Moses, “According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.”
In other words, the worship of God originated from heaven. The pattern God gave to Moses informs us that this is the same pattern of worship in heaven. There is a Holy of Holies, a place where God resides. No one may approach in sin, and where there is sin, no one may approach empty-handed. A sacrifice – a blood sacrifice – is required to approach the Holy of Holies.
Yes, in the New Testament, God tore the veil separating the common assembly area of the temple from the Holy of Holies. This signifies that we are able to approach, where before Christ’s death on the cross we could not.
We must understand two important aspects of the veil having been torn. First, only the High Priest could approach the Holy of Holies. In no less than 15 verses, the book of Hebrews in the Bible helps us understand that Jesus Christ became our High Priest. See, for example, Hebrews 4:14-15.
Christ became our High Priest, so that we have access to God the Father. John 14:6, Romans 5:2, Ephesians 2:17-18, Hebrews 10:19-20
Second, nothing about the law of approaching the Holy of Holies has changed. The requirement of purity and a blood sacrifice was not altered or reduced. All of the laws regarding sinlessness, a blood sacrifice, confession of sin, and repentance which we find in the Old Testament remain in full force and effect. This means that, although we have access to God the Father through Jesus Christ, we may only enjoy such access through righteousness and sinlessness.
By this, we know that confession of sin and repentance remain vital elements of our worship of God. When we attend a church service, confession of sin must be a central part of our liturgy and the intention of our hearts.
Indeed, the first image of worship to be constructed in Exodus 25:10-22 contained the mercy seat. The ark of the covenant would become deadly to those who approached it sacrilegiously, and it was to be fiercely safeguarded through specific instructions. This was all because the ark of the covenant was where God’s presence rested, and it housed the “testimony,” or what would become the written law of God. Where the presence of God rested, there also was mercy, and God maintains very specific requirements for those who would approach Him.
Thus, the ark of the covenant represented the presence of God, God’s law, and atonement for sin. These are all critically important elements of worship, particularly for our church services today.
In Romans 3:25, the “mercy seat” is ascribed to Christ. Hebrews 9:5 also refers to the mercy seat, and Hebrews 9 explains how Christ became our High Priest and revealed the more complete atonement first introduced in Exodus 25.
From Exodus 25:10-22 spring several vitally important components of the worship of God, particularly for our church services:
1. Gathering together in worship of God;
2. Instruction in the law of God;
3. Reverence for God and the holiness of God; and
4. Atonement for sin and confession of sin.
The object of our gathering together as well as our instruction is to be God alone. All of our worship and the construction of our services are to maintain reverence for God and be rooted in pleasing God alone.
Nehemiah chapters 8 through 10 contain a great reminder about conducting church services. Nehemiah and Ezra restored reading “the law”, which was the Bible at that time. The congregation stood while the law was read, and the priests exhorted the congregation to regard the day as holy. In chapter 9, the congregational response to hearing the Bible was confession of sin, followed by a great prayer of repentance. Nothing about God’s expectations for gathering in worship has changed.
There is, perhaps, no better example of proper worship of God than Isaiah 6:1-8. “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.’ And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar He touched my mouth with it and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”
Notice first the grandeur of God. There is also a certain reverence for the holiness of God. This reminds me of Exodus 3:5, “Then He said, ‘Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’” We would do well to remember this plain instruction. The worship of God involves approaching God, and must do so in reverence.
Immediately, Isaiah is struck with his own sin and undoneness. He confesses his sin and is cleansed by the hot coal from the altar of sacrifice.
Once Isaiah is forgiven, he desires to be used by God in service for the kingdom of heaven.
We cannot miss the importance of reverence and confession of sin in worship of God. Remember, Christ could only have approached the Holy of Holies if He led a sinless life, which He did. Sinlessness, including the absence of a sinful motive of any kind, is the only true worship of God, and it is why there is so much emphasis on perfection and holiness in the Bible.
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