*Gospel-shaped worship is a way to describe an order of service which moves us through the progression of the gospel from the beginning to the end of a service. In every service, we want to see the glory of God, humbly come to him in our need as finite, sinful, broken men, see and embrace God’s grace in Christ, and respond in faith and trust and consecration to Christ. For all the distinctiveness of each worship service, it is our goal that each service would move us from GOD to MAN to CHRIST to RESPONSE.

Gospel-shaped worship starts with a vision of God high and lifted up. This spiritual sight of God moves us to see ourselves as we truly are: broken, sinful, and in need of grace. It’s only when both of these elements are present – seeing God as He truly is and seeing ourselves as we truly are – that we can begin to understand the Gospel. It is at this point that our worship progresses to beholding Jesus Christ.

We see this in Isaiah 6. Isaiah has seen God, and it has led him to cry out, “Woe is me!” What happens next?

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” (verses 6-7)

Notice a few things about these verses:

Sacrifice. There are burning coals on an altar, which implies that a sacrifice has been completed.

Application. The seraph takes the burning coal and touches it to Isaiah’s lips, right after he has just confessed that he is a man of unclean lips.

Atonement. The result of this burning coal from the sacrificial altar being directly applied to Isaiah is that his guilt is taken away, and his sin is atoned for. He is forgiven of his sin and his unrighteous standing before the holy God is removed!

These verses describe the work of Christ. Jesus Christ sacrificed himself in dying on the cross in place of sinners. The sacrifice is applied by the Holy Spirit to the source of our hearts. And the sacrifice results in atonement – complete forgiveness of sin and a righteous standing with God.

When we see God high and lifted up, and therefore see ourselves low and enslaved to our sin, God’s answer is His gracious offer of forgiveness through the sacrifice of His Son in our place. This is the heart of Gospel-shaped worship, and it is what we come together to celebrate each week as we sing, pray, and feed on God’s Word to us.

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