The Hope of God’s Perfected Worship #3
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. Revelation 21:22
Ever since I began to understand the implications of this one verse of Scripture I’ve longed for its fulfillment more than any other. Why? Because it promises a Day so chocked full of hope I can barely begin to imagine it. John’s affirmation of the “temple-less” worship of the new heaven and new earth is his declaration that we are destined for an eternity in which EVERYTHING we do will be a revelation of the glory of God, a declaration of the worth of God and a reveling in the goodness of God! The very fact that there was, “had” to be a temple in Israel’s worship of God was a testimony to just how broken God’s worshippers and his worship had gotten.
We won’t go to a special address in the new heaven and new earth to worship God, for there will be no separation or distinction between worship and non-worship activities. This is the life of doxological wonder Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden of Eden before sin and death entered the world and everything was broken. Whether Adam and Eve were tilling the earth, making love as husband and wife, “walking with the Lord in the cool of the day,” playing with the animals, creating culture, having a conversation, creating/building something, enjoying a meal… everything they did was “music in God’s ears”! Can you imagine this?
They did not have to plan services of worship for the Lord’s Day, because their whole life was worship service, just as ours will be in the new heaven and new earth. Through the grace and truth of the gospel, we are to begin this transformation NOW! Jesus is the fulfillment of temple worship. By his death and resurrection the worship of God has been utterly transformed. We are a new people, in a new creation story who are meant to sing a new song, forever! Increasingly, may our services of worship propel a generation of worship servants into every area of life as a foretaste of the Day when the knowledge of the glory of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea! Long deeply and hope outrageously for the day of the temple-less worship of God!
