Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2:4-10
Today, we are continuing the series of lessons I began two weeks ago titled “Pleasing Our King”, with specific applications to our worship. In our previous lesson, we discussed who is our King and authority in all things, how He communicates His will to us, what to do when He is “silent” on a matter, and what our motivation should be in pleasing Him. You can review that lesson and the notes for it on the website.
These things we discussed last week are important foundational principles we need to remember as we seek God’s will so we can know we are being pleasing to Him. Today, I would like to continue to build on these principles for part of the lesson and then make some specific applications to the music that we offer to God in our worship. I would like to examine
1. The nature of our worship and service as the Royal Priesthood
2. Where we must go for our instructions for worship (which covenant)
❶ THE NATURE OF THE KINGDOM AND OUR SERVICE
In our scripture reading, Peter tells us that we as Christians are a Royal Priesthood under our Great King and High Priest. He tells us about the worship and work of priests under the New Covenant, especially about the nature of the kingdom and of our service and worship to God as priests. I would like make two points from this passage.
WE ARE A SPIRITUAL KINGDOM AND PRIESTHOOD
We are the Spiritual Nation of God; a Spiritual Israel, the descendants of Abraham. And we are a spiritual kingdom of Priests:
"you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood" (1 Peter 2:5)
"To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever." (Revelation 1:5-6)
Though we are in the world, we are not a kingdom that is of this world. Many teach that Jesus is going to establish a physical Kingdom, but this is not what scripture teaches. He also tells us that His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). He reigns now has our King and High Priest now. We are told by Paul that our citizenship is in Heaven. This world is not our home. We are united with Christ in the spiritual realm. We are in a spiritual relationship with Him. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2 that when we became Christians, we were raised up with Christ and “seated” with Him “in the heavenly places”. There is a lot in there that is beyond my comprehension. I don’t know how all that works, but let it suffice to say that we are reigning alongside Christ right now, being Royal Priests to our God in Heaven in the spiritual realm.
WE GIVE SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES IN OUR WORSHIP AND SERVICE TO GOD
“you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5)
First, all work and worship within the kingdom begins with full self-sacrifice to God. In a sense, we not only give sacrifices, but we are sacrifices. This is foreshadowed in the Old Testament with the burnt offering. This sacrifice was brought to the temple by the one offering it. It was killed and then it was prepared by the Levitical priest to be taken to the altar where it was fully consumed on the altar as a sacrifice to God.
As New Testament Priest, Jesus gives us the prime example of what it means to give yourself as a “burnt offering” to God. He fully consumed Himself with doing the will of God, even to the point of His death on the cross, where He completely emptied Himself of life itself as an offering to God on our behalf. Paul uses burnt offering terminology when He talks about the offering that Jesus gave to God for us in Ephesians 5:2:
"and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."
Paul teaches us that we need to follow in Jesus' steps in giving ourselves to God as a sacrifice in Romans 12:1.
"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."
Unlike the Levitical burnt offering and our Lord's offering for us, we are called living sacrifices in this passage. We put our lives fully on the altar to be sacrificed to God for His worship and work. We are "fully consumed" in His work and service. If we want our worship and work to be pleasing to God, this is where we must begin. It begins with us giving our whole being to the Lord.
After we give ourselves to be totally consumed on the altar for God, we then from our hearts offer to God sacrifices that are pleasing to Him, sacrifices that are referred to as a "a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God" (Philippians 4:18).
Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2 that we offer to God spiritual sacrifices. They are not like sacrifices like the ones offered in the Old Testament. Jesus in John 4 tells us that the true worshipers under the New Covenant would worship God with true, spiritual worship. But what does it mean when we say we offer “spiritual worship and service”? There are a few ways in which we could look at this, all which may be correct:
• First, our sacrifices come from within the worshiper. Our wills, our intellects, and our emotions are active in our sacrifices. This is seen in Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:19 which we will look more in depth at shortly. We are told in these passages that our worship is done "with the heart." It is where our worship comes from. In my opinion, this is why Jesus tells us in John 4 that the place of worship under the New Covenant would not be important. No matter where we are, we have everything we need to offer worship to God.
• Second, our sacrifices, although they at times include physical things in this world, are in a sense "not of this world." Just as we as Christians are told that we are not of this world, and just as Jesus tells us that the Kingdom is not of this world, in the same way, even though we worship here, our worship (our sacrifices) also are not of this world. They are not sacrifices that are merely outward or physical in nature. Even though we may do things in this realm for God, our service and worship to Him is “spiritual” in nature. There are things that we do not see that are happening in the spiritual realm as we worship and serve God. Our sacrifices are being offered before the throne of God in the heavenly places where we reign as a kingdom of priests to God. It is not limited by location, because we worship the God who lives and works within us through the Spirit.
• Third, the phrase “in Spirit” can also bring along with it that we perform our worship through the Spirit of God or in the Spirit of God. Paul talks this way about our worship in Philippians 3:3:
“Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; 3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh (or on outward things)” (Philippians 3:2-3)
There is something different about our worship in contrast to the Old Testament system because we have the Spirit of God within us as God’s Temple. We worship in the Spirit. Paul’s also speaks elsewhere of praying at all times “in the Spirit” (Eph 6:18). We pray, worship, and serve as God’s priests “in the Spirit” because we have the Spirit in us and also because we are led by the Spirit through His word. Of course, no action can be deemed a “spiritual” action unless it is a Biblical action.
All of these things may be included whenever we are told that our worship is spiritual worship.
❷ WHERE DO WE FIND AUTHORITY FOR OUR WORSHIP AND WORK AS PRIESTS?
Where did the Levitical priests go to find out what God wanted in the worship they offered? Since they were under the Old Covenant between God and Israel, they went to the Law for their instructions. They worked and worshiped based on the covenant they were under with God. The same is the case with us. We, as God’s New Covenant priesthood, worship God and serve Him based on the teachings that Christ and His Apostles give us within the New Covenant. This is a point that is made in Hebrews 7:12. Since there was a change in the priesthood from the Levitical priesthood to the priesthood we are now under today, this necessitated that a new law also would be given to fulfill the prophecies and shadows of the new priesthood. We were given a new law to govern the worship and service of God’s kingdom of priests.
The whole Old Testament system of laws regarding the priesthood and their service and worship has been fulfilled in Christ and the coming of the New covenant just as Jesus said it would:
"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17)
Jesus, through His work, fulfilled the law and brought in the New Covenant that it predicted. The things of the law were shadows of what would come later in Christ. These shadows were not meant to be brought to the New Covenant. Once the shadows were fulfilled in Christ, they were replaced by what they pointed to ˗ to the true spiritual worship and work that God calls His priests to under the New Covenant. As we study the worship of the New Covenant priesthood, we need to keep these things in mind. We need to remember that in Christ we have the fulfillment of the temple, the priests, and service, and the worship of the priests. The whole law is fulfilled with Christ, and once it was fulfilled, we were given a new law which fulfilled the Old law.
This is important because there are churches who want to bring the shadows and laws of the Old Testament into New Testament worship. We as members of the New Covenant, which all of the OT types and shadows pointed to, need to look at the New Covenant for authorization for what we do. We are no longer under the law because we have come to Jesus, the One in whom all the law pointed to.
