Worship: revelation and response

This article is an extract from the Crosslands Foundation course Music as Ministry.

In essence, Christian worship is a right response to God’s revelation. God reveals and we respond — this is a rhythm that is present throughout the Scriptures, and in our lives. When God commands us to worship Him, He is calling us to respond to who He is and what He has already done for us in Christ.

God reveals His glory — the outward display of His inner beauty and majesty — in many ways. We see His glory in creation as “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of hishands” (Psalm 19:1). Every atom vibrates for His glory and all the vastness of the cosmos sings His praise.

Supremely, God’s glory is revealed in Jesus Christ. Jesus is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:15). In Jesus “we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

• We see God’s glory revealed in Christ most clearly at the cross, where He bore the curse for those He made but cursed His name; we glimpse His majesty robed in weakness, His purity shrouded in shame, His authority met with meekness.
• We see His glory in His resurrection and ascension from the depths of the grave to the highest throne of heaven.
• We see it in His sovereign reign over all things, and — one day soon — in His return to right every wrong, destroy the enemy and bring heaven to His people forever and ever. What a glorious God we worship!

Today, the Father and the Son reveal their glory through the Holy Spirit. He testifies about Christ through the word of God (John 15:26). He is “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” who opens the eyes of our hearts to see God’s glory in Christ, the strength of our hope and the power at work in us (Ephesians 1:17-23). The Spirit reveals Christ to us, to the glory of God the Father.

Worship starts with God, not us

He reveals; we respond. Musicians may spend a lot of time thinking about our role in leading God’s people in their gathered worship — and that is right. However, let’s remember that we are simply responding to what God has already done for us: revealing His character and nature, working to save us in Christ, opening our eyes to His glory through His Spirit. The order of these things is key: worship starts with God, not us.

Think about it: What might happen if we reverse the order and begin to think that what we do comes first, then God reveals Himself? Or, instead, how might seeing that worship is a response to God help free us from putting pressure on ourselves for a particular outcome or expression of worship, or guard us from an unhealthy need for control? Getting this all in the right order makes a huge difference to our understanding of what we’re doing when we gather together in worship as God’s people – and what we understand about any part we may play when leading God’s people in corporate worship.

Jesus is the focus of our worship

God the Father reveals His glory in His Son. The Holy Spirit testifies to the Son and opens our eyes to see Him. When Jesus is the focus of our worship, we are in agreement with heaven.

There are, however, subtle ways through which the focus of our worship may shift from Jesus onto our own abilities or performance.

Reflection

• Can you see any evidence of this in your own music ministry? Is there a trusted friend or leader you could ask to speak honestly into your life to help you spot where the focus may have slipped?
• How might keeping the focus on Jesus free us from insecurity about our performance as sung worship leaders?