Often times in scripture (especially in the Old Testament), there is an altar associated with worship (Gen 8:20–22, 12:6–8, 13:18, 22:9, 26:25, 33:20, 35:1–3; Ex 27:1–8, 30:1–10; Deut 27:4–8; Josh 8:30–31; Judges 6:24–27; 1 Sam 14:33–35; Mt 23:18–35, Rev 9:13). If we understand what an altar is and its function within context of worship, we can gain further clarity on a biblical definition of worship. So, what is an altar and what does it have to do with worship?
An altar is uniformly understood as, “[t]he platform upon which offerings are made to the deity. This may include a ritual sacrifice of animals or a burning of incense before God (Ex 30:1–10).” (Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 62).
With this definition in front of us, it becomes clear, once again, that worship and sacrifice go hand-in-hand. In fact, the Hebrew word for “altar” (mizbe’ah) is a part of the same semantic domain as the word “to slay”. Moving from point A to point B, then, we can deduce that when we worship, there is some sort of SLAYING going on. In an Old Testament context, it was an animal that was given as a sacrifice. But in a New Testament context, where does “slaying” come into the picture? The Cross.
This means that the Cross is the ultimate place of worship; Jesus’ very own death is the sacrifice made for the sins of the world is an act of worship. This comes into view when we consider the Lord’s Supper. The Greek word for “altar” is thusiasterion which is the word used for the Eurcharistic table (Heb 13:10) (F. L. Cross and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 46). When we partake in communion, then, we are participating in the ultimate act of worship. We are giving God credit for that which belongs to God alone. ONLY GOD is able to provide a means of salvation for humanity. Jesus and the Cross alone can free humanity from its fallen state of decay and corruption. It is in the death of Jesus that we can find a means to salvation. When we partake of the bread and the wine that symbolize Christ’s broken body (bread) and shed blood (wine), we are not only testifying to our commitment God’s covenant with us, but we are also worshipping him for his salvific work in our lives.
This is the first sense in which sacrifice and worship come together: the Cross. Jesus is the one who is slain on the altar and it becomes the ultimate reason to worship God.
The second thing that is slain in Christian worship is the “old man”. In Romans 6:6–7 Paul says,
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin (ESV).
This means that when we worship God, we lay our own lives down before him. We take ourselves, our own selfish desires and carnal ways and inclinations (the old man), and give them to God. We remove ourselves from the center of our own little universes and replace it with Him, who alone deserves to reign as King over both our lives as well as the created order.
In sum, when we give our lives to him and entrust him in such a way that leads to salvation, we participate in an act of worship.
One way which makes worship different than praise is that God alone deserves worship (for more on the difference between praise and worship, See here.). In the same vein we give our live to God alone. Together with this, as mentioned before, God alone saves. Additionally, Christ’s substitutionary death demands an exchange of our lives for his. He gave his life in place of ours and so now we live for him; his life in us. This sacrifice is an act of worship that has substitutionary atonement at its very core.
