As an introduction to this, my first official Substack post, let me give you a little background. My family is connected with a local and global network of churches that is intentionally ordering our families and churches around the patterns of Acts and the New Testament. This is lived out primarily by gathering weekly in homes as a family of families around a meal (The Lord’s meal) and a discussion (1 Cor. 11:17 – 14:40). As might be expected, when discussing these ideas with many 21st-century Christians from traditional Western-style churches, there are issues that arise. One of the initial questions that is often asked is on the subject of “worship”. There are many other issues that I may address in later posts, but for now, I’d like to think through how we can reframe the idea of “worship” in our churches today. As I’ve been reading and learning and contemplating these ideas, my hope is that this series of three posts will help my family and our extended family of churches think through these issues, and also serve as a catalyst for others to re-think how their church families can honor God through one-anothering.
Laying the foundation
What do we think about when we hear the word “worship”? Thoughts likely come to mind about a type of musical expression, but Scripture paints a much larger picture than just music alone. Bible teachers sometimes acknowledge that there is more to worship than just singing songs…they accept that we worship through giving, study/teaching of the word, celebrating the Lord’s Supper…or they may even go so far as to say that worship is a “lifestyle” (Romans 12:1-2). These are not bad ways to honor our Creator, but how do we get beyond the music that seems to dominate our cultural and traditional norms and ideas? How do we take the idea of a lifestyle of worship and actually begin practicing a lifestyle of worship in our everyday lives? Not many teachers tread down this pathway very far beyond some basic practical advice or ideas. My contention would be that we need to build a new Biblical foundation for what worship means.
To understand worship from a Biblical framework, we must go back to the beginning—Genesis chapter 1.
What if the creation account wasn’t just about material origins, but about God inaugurating the cosmos as His temple (house of worship)?
Old Testament scholar and author Dr. John Walton has argued that Genesis 1 is best understood through the lens of the ancient Near Eastern readers. For Israel’s first hearers, the seven days of creation would not have sounded like a science lesson like we make it out to be today, but more like a cosmic temple inauguration.
Put simply, ancient Near Eastern readers were not primarily concerned with the details of how the house was made, but rather they would have been more concerned about the things that made it a home. It’s a difficult paradigm shift for our modern minds to make, but it makes sense…even for a toddler-aged version of myself.
While I was too young to recollect this completely, right around 1980 my family of 6 moved to a new home across town. I was just 4 years old, and I DID NOT like the idea of moving into a new home. As the movers came and packed up our belongings and our old house was emptied, I was in denial. In my four-year-old mind I couldn’t comprehend how this other space full of empty rooms could function as a home for our family. As my mother recounted to me years later, it wasn’t until that fateful day when the movers unpacked our belongings into the new house…more specifically when they moved our beds into the bedrooms…that I finally commented with excitement in my high-pitched toddler voice, “Ahhhh….now this is a HOME house.”
Cute, right?
I wasn’t concerned with how the builder framed the structure, or what kind of foundation it had, or what year it was built, or whether it used oil or natural gas for heat…all of the technical things. I was concerned with the functional things that made a house into a home. Ultimately in my brain it was the beds that made the difference.
The same could be said for the ancient Near Eastern mind as they interpreted the creation account from Genesis 1. The things that made the cosmos a home were the things that brought order and function to the cosmos. They also would have fully understood the Genesis 1 account as the setting up of the functions of a cosmic temple.
Days 1–3: functions of time, weather, and food are established.
Days 4–6: sacred objects are placed in the temple—sun/moon/stars, animals/creatures, mankind.
And on day 7 in Genesis 1? God rested—not because He was tired…but because the work was finished. All of creation was ordered and functioning (and it was good!) and now God took up residence in His cosmic temple.
The universe itself is His dwelling place.
This contextual understanding helps us better understand Isaiah 66:1:“Thus says the LORD: 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?'”
We also see this 7-day temple inauguration pattern throughout ancient Near Eastern cultures, and even with Moses building the Tabernacle in the wilderness and Solomon constructing the Temple in Jerusalem. This pattern would have seemed obvious to the original readers…not so obvious to our post-modern minds.
But I’d like to focus briefly on day 6. According to ancient thinking, day 6 is the day where the image of the deity (The idol or the tselem in Hebrew) would be placed in the temple. Then on day 7 the presence of the deity would take up residence in that space. From that time forward, the deity would be honored through caring for the idol/image/tselem, making sacrifices, offering gifts, etc.[i]
But this is where the biblical account is radically different. Unlike pagan temples where man-made idols of wood or stone represented the gods, the Tabernacle in the wilderness had no image in it. The Jerusalem temple had no place for an image or an idol. Why? Because based on the creation account of Genesis 1, God’s image was already placed on humanity: “So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
Every person you meet carries this divine image - it’s inscribed on our very being.
“Creation is not just raw material for our use. It is God’s temple.
And people are not just faces in a crowd. They are His image-bearers.”
This gives new meaning to the second commandment:
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image…” (Exodus 20:4)
Why? Because God already placed His image in the created order of the cosmos…or his cosmic temple. It’s inscribed on each of us. For us to try to substitute wood or stone is to abandon our calling as His living image bearers. When we put other gods before Him, we’re abdicating our responsibility as the stewards of His image for all of creation.
It’s why the serpent’s temptation in the garden was so diabolical: “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5). Adam and Eve were ALREADY created in His image.
We have a responsibility as His image bearers to represent Him and fulfill our role in the created order. We must not abandon that calling.
This vision also reshapes how we view the rest of humanity…the more we understand this, the more we begin to see the world quite differently: creation as God’s dwelling place, and all humanity as His living image bearers. You see, true worship begins not just with songs, but with fulfilling our role as image bearers, and honoring the image of God in others.
In part 2 of this 3-part series, we’ll trace these ideas forward into the New Testament, where God’s Spirit takes up residence not just in creation, but in us as His followers…His “living stones being built up as a spiritual house” 1 Peter 2:5
Matthew D. Andersen is based out of the NYC area and is part of the METRO equipping team, a network of leaders who are establishing churches as families… patterned after Acts.
[i] While some scholars have claimed that God co-opted the ancient way of thinking to fit within the pagan temple framework so it could be easily understood by the ancient mind, I still have trouble reconciling this idea. It seems to make more sense to me that God’s cosmic temple design was first a part of the created order of the universe, and Satan has counterfeited these ideas throughout the centuries through pagan temples, rituals, and other religious “knock-offs”. God creates, Satan counterfeits. God is a God of order, Satan causes disorder. I have not done enough research and study around this idea to state it conclusively, but it seems to make much more sense based on this Genesis 1 argument.
Thank you for sharing. This was great
Interested to see where you take this. Any plans to cover the transition of humanities understanding of worship?