New Covenant Worship
by Doug Reed
Often, when
we think of worship, we focus on its form. Are the old hymns better or the new
choruses? Should worship be formal and reverent, or should it be unfettered and
lively? Which instruments should we use if any at all? In this article we will
not attempt to answer any of these questions. My hope is that we will be able
to look beyond form and study worship from a new covenant perspective.
Jesus to
the Samaritan woman at the well:
“Woman,
believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither
on this mountain, nor in
It is
helpful to remember the context of Jesus’ statement when trying to ascertain
its meaning. The woman at the well was a Samaritan. The Jews did not consider
the Samaritans to be full blooded descendants of Abraham. The folks in
The Jews in
The heart
of this conflict ran very deep. Remember the old covenant temple was the house
of God. By saying they had the correct temple, each side was saying God lived
with them and favored them over their neighbor. The resulting animosity was so
great that the Jews had little to do with the Samaritans.
When the
woman at the well perceived Jesus was a prophet, she thought she had
encountered a golden opportunity. At last this immense conflict could be
settled! Jesus’ answer was certainly unexpected. He said that the day was
coming when the question of who had the right mountain would be irrelevant.
What could possibly bring such a dramatic shift in mindset? The answer is
fulfillment. The day was coming and was already present when old covenant
worship would find fulfillment. That day would bring worship in spirit and
truth.
To
understand this fulfillment it is helpful to understand the ancient mindset
concerning worship. We as 21st century Christians associate worship with things
such as singing hymns and choruses of praise. However, in the ancient world
worship was more closely associated with sacrifice. In fact, some scholars say
that worship in that day was sacrifice.
No place is
this more evident than the first century temple in
The
different sacrifices practiced in the temple are too numerous to examine in
detail. However, let us attempt a simplification in hopes of understanding the
types and shadows represented in the temple services. Alfred Edersheim in his book “The Temple its Ministry and
Services” describes three major types of sacrifice. There were offerings for
sin and trespasses, the burnt or gift offering, and the peace offering. Let us
examine each and its fulfillment in turn.
Sin and
trespass offerings always came first in the temple’s order of worship. Trespass
offerings were for individual sins. The sin offering was for the whole person.
Sin offerings were often given for the whole nation at the time of the major
feasts.
It is easy
to see the fulfillment of such offerings for sin and how such fulfillment would
end the debate over which mountain was the true place for sacrifice.
”For Christ
has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that
He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place
every year with blood of another—He then would have had to suffer often since
the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” (Hebrews 9:24-26)
The old
covenant sin and trespass offerings did not stop sin from occurring. However,
they took away sin’s power to bring wrath. Before Christ the sin and trespass
offerings were thought to avert physical wrath from the people. It allowed
Yahweh’s continence to shine upon the people in the form of physical prosperity
and a secure land in which to dwell. Christ’s sacrifice, which fulfilled the
sin offering, broke the power of sin to keep us from dwelling in God’s presence
and from knowing heavenly blessing and treasure.
While we as
Christians can never offer the sacrifice for sin, part of worship is
participating in its benefits. We may come to God mindful of our shortcomings
and failures. Yet, if we leave with such a consciousness, we have not truly
worshipped. In worship Who Jesus is and what He has done supersedes who we are
and what we have done. Thus, we leave worship with a righteousness
consciousness.
Moreover,
Jesus’ once and for all offering for sin eliminated the need for any further
sin or trespass offerings. This is why in the first century the temple and the
entire old covenant system of types and shadows was waning and ready to pass
away as the Parousia approached.
It is
important to note that God allowed the Law and its system of sacrifices to
remain in the interim period but only as a tutor to lead to Christ, for the Law
pointed to Christ. Those who were in true obedience to the Law were coming to
Christ and the fulfillment of old covenant worship. It is ironic that those who
refused to leave behind their trust in the shadow were in disobedience to the
Law in spite of their zeal for its letter. The truth had come. It was time to
let go of the shadow.
The second
major type of offering was the burnt or gift offering. It followed the sin
offering and wholly depended on the acceptance of the first. This offering was
entirely consumed by fire, and it represented being given or surrendered to the
Lord.
”I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
(Romans 12:1)
In Romans
12 we see that believers were to present themselves as a living offering to God
as their spiritual service of worship. Paul is not clear on which type of
offering he meant. Some suggest that he was speaking of a firstfruits
type of offering. Others, the burnt or gift offering.
In a sense the first century believers fulfilled both the gift offering and the
first fruits offering.
“For our
God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29)
The firstfruits
offering was not subject to the fire of God. It was a gift offered to
God to ensure that the rest of the harvest would follow (See James 1:18).
Through participation in Christ, who Himself fulfilled the firstfruits
role, the firstfruits
believers escaped the fire of judgment that consumed the old covenant world. As
the type suggests, their resurrection came first, then the rest of the harvest
followed.
Yet, while
the first century believers escaped the fire of God’s wrath, they went through
the fire in a purifying sense. As John the Baptist promised, they were baptized
both with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (Matt. 3:11).
“In this
you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been
grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more
precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to
praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ….” (I Peter 1:6-7)
Thus, all
that was of the fleshly old covenant world was consumed so that which was of
faith remained. We see this process in the life of Paul. Recall his words in
Philippians three.
“For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in
Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have
confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so:
circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a
Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal,
persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law,
blameless.
But what
things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also
count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as
rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own
righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in
Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith….” (Phil 3:3-10)
Paul
suffered the loss of his own righteousness that he might gain the righteousness
that comes through faith in Christ. Paul speaks of his co-death with Christ as
spiritual reality, yet it also had a practical working out in the loss of all
things.
We can see
this reality in Jesus’ call to take up one’s cross and follow Him.
”Then He
said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My
sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world,
and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me
and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own
glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there
are some standing here who shall not taste death till
they see the
Jesus’
exhortation was to lose one’s life (soul) through Him or lose it in the
judgment of God at the end of the age. Being crucified with Christ was a one
time event, yet it was worked out daily in believer’s lives, and often not
apart from suffering.
We see a
very beautiful picture of the burnt offering in the story of Elijah at
God was not
just showing off when He sent fire from heaven and consumed not only the
offering but also the altar made of twelve stones. This was a type of
Considering
the reality of eschatological fulfillment, one must ask does God still want the
gift offering? Certainly, we still have the privilege
of giving ourselves to God. In fact, this is the heart of worship. We are to
receive God and to be given to God. The fullness of worship does not occur
until both of these are accomplished. The glory of who Jesus is and what He has
done must supersede who we are and what we have done. Moreover, it remains true
that the life given to God is without a doubt consumed by God. Yet, in a very
real sense the only service of worship that remains is the third type of
sacrifice, the peace offering.
The peace
offering was the most joyous sacrifice of all. Actually, it was more of a meal
than a sacrifice. Unlike the other two offerings, the peace offering did not
accomplish anything. Rather, it was a celebration of completion. The sin
offering and the gift offering were accomplished. What remained was blessed
fellowship with the Lord.
During the
peace offering the animal given was divided up and eaten by both the priesthood
who represented God and the worshippers. Thus, it was akin to sitting down to a
meal with God.
We see the
meal with God imagery throughout the scriptures. For example, in Revelation
3:20:
“Behold, I
stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice
and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”
To the Jews
this passage was no doubt reminiscent of the peace offering. In Jesus’ words we
see the Lord’s desire that we partake of the peace offering with Him. Worship
is answering God’s desire that we sup with Him.
The old
covenant temple was a house of worship. It was considered the place where
heaven and earth met and became one. The infinite touched the finite in the
most holy place. Through Christ we have become the place of worship. We are the
place where the Infinite Creator and the finite creation meet and become one.
Worship is the celebration of our union with Christ. This is where worship
should take us. At times worship is solemn. However, it always should end in a
celebration of our fellowship with God. Indeed, I believe most of the Christian
life should be a celebration of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. The
fulfilled view can help give back this celebration to the people of God. No
longer is the peace offering a future hope. All is fulfilled. In the words of
our dear brother David Embury, “Christianity is not a
battle but a banquet.”
Considering
these things, it is easy to see how fulfilled worship ended the war between the
Samaritans and the Jews. Likewise, fulfilled worship also brings peace between
us and our neighbor.
”Now it
happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax
collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when
the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does your Teacher eat
with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard that, He said to them,
‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go
and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to
repentance.’” (Matt. 9:10-13)
Here Jesus
quotes a famous passage from the book of Micah. God desires mercy and not
sacrifice. Remember sacrifice was a great part of worship in that day. Was
Jesus telling the Pharisees that God no longer wanted worship? Was He
foretelling the end of the sacrificial system? I believe Jesus was speaking of neither, rather he spoke of the nature of worship. It was
not a means to earn God’s favor, rather it was
participation in the mercy of God. In this we see one difference between
worship in the flesh and worship in the spirit.
Consider
the Passover lamb. Every year at the Passover feast thousands
of families would bring their Passover lamb to the temple. Josephus
records that so many lambs were offered that it took thousands of priests to
serve the temple. Many of the Pharisees no doubt thought their keeping this
feast made them right with God. Consequently, they looked down upon those who
did not keep the tradition. What they missed was that each and every Passover
lamb that died did not point to their deeds but to the deeds of Another, Christ
our Passover lamb. Their obedience did not bring God’s mercy,
rather it was Christ’s obedience that brought favor. Participation in the
Passover was participation in the mercy of God. It displayed the fact that
mercy was a gift given even to the tax collectors of the day. When the
Pharisee’s sacrifices became self-righteousness, mercy disappeared.
Likewise,
those in our day who believe their form of worship is superior to their
brother’s do not understand the nature of worship. It still does not earn us
God’s mercy and kindness, rather it is participation
in these things together. Therefore, worship is an expression of God’s love for
us and our love for Him, but such communion cannot exist apart from love for
our brother. It must include recognition of God’s mercy not only for ourselves but also for our neighbor.
In these
things we see the heart of worship in spirit and truth. It has nothing to do
with style or form. It is about receiving from God through Christ and being
given to God through Christ and thus entering into the fullness of fellowship
with God and with our neighbor.
as of 9-2006