Worship: May it be on earth as it is in heaven
Lately I’ve been captivated by this thought… What would worship look like if it were “on earth as it is in heaven?”
Jesus prayed: “May Your kingdom come, may Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6.10) I pray that would be true in my life, in my family, in our church, in our community, our city & our world. But what would worship in our churches look like if it were “on earth as it is in heaven?”
I’m not sure we could come up with all the answers, but here’s a few things I’m confident we can be certain of.
Our song would be Holy, Holy, Hloly…
For one, we would cry out holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty much more often! This is the song of heaven. We hear it in Isaiah 6 & Revelation 4.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
The whole earth is filled with his glory!”
Isaiah 6.3
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—
the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”
Revelation 4.8
Worship wouldn’t be about us…
We would never walk away saying things like, “I didn’t get anything out of that worship experience.” Nothing about that kind of worship experience would be about us. Except for this one fact – we would be utterly convinced of our complete unworthiness, our sinfulness. How woefully inept we are in the presence of the Almighty God. This is exactly how Isaiah felt when he witnessed the worship of heaven.
Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
Isaiah 6.5
There would be no more worship wars…
In that moment I’m convinced we would fall down on our knees, on our faces in holy worship. No one would argue or ask questions about raising hands, clapping, instruments – “Why are there harps playing?” There wouldn’t be any discussion of song choice or musical style. None of that would even matter because we would be so caught up in the worship of the King of kings & the Lord of hosts. This is what John witnessed when he caught a glimpse of the worship of heaven.
Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,
“You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things,
and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
John 4.9-11
This is a prayer & a posture I think we should consider. LORD, may Your worship be on earth as it is in heaven.
What would that prayer & that posture in worship mean for you? Mean for your church? What would it change?
From time to time we all need to reorient our perspective on things. And there’s no greater way to reorient your perspective on worship than to catch a glimpse of what worship is like in heaven. Take a moment & read what Isaiah saw & what John witnessed as they tried to captivate in words (that I’m sure fall short) their experience of the worship of heaven.
Isaiah 6.1-4
It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
The whole earth is filled with his glory!”
Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.
Revelation 4
Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow. Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God. In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal.
In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—
the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”
Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,
“You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things,
and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
May Your Kingdom come.
May Your worship be done.
On earth as it is in heaven.
