The Overflow of Worship

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8 ESV)

            We have now come to a major turning point for the life of the prophet Isaiah. In 7 short verses Isaiah has been shown the awe invoking majesty and holiness of God on the throne, the utter depravity of his own soul, and the cleansing forgiveness and mercy of God our Savior. Can you even begin to imagine what Isaiah must be thinking or feeling at this moment? He stood, just moments before, condemned in his sin to a justly deserved death, but now, due to nothing he has done, he stands forgiven, cleansed, and redeemed. However, the beauty of the gospel is that the story doesn’t stop here though many of us act like it does.

            As we think about the gospel, we oftentimes have the wrong end goal in mind. We tend to present and see the gospel as a tool to obtain the gifts of forgiveness, justification, adoption, etc. the gospel brings but we miss the ultimate reason the gospel is defined as “good news.” While all of the gifts may be good things by themselves, if they are the end goal they have fallen very short of the ultimate good of the gospel – God. John Piper in his book God is the Gospel says it this way –

“If the hearers of the gospel do not see the glory of Christ, the image of God, in all the events and gifts of the gospel, they do not see what finally makes the gospel good news…Until the gospel events of Good Friday and Easter and the gospel promises of justification and eternal life lead you to behold and embrace God himself as your highest joy, you have not embraced the gospel of God. You have embraced some of his gifts. You have rejoiced over some of his rewards. You have marveled at some of his miracles. But you have not yet been awakened to why the gifts, the rewards, and the miracles have come. They have come for one great reason: that you might behold forever the glory of God in Christ, and by beholding become the kind of person who delights in God above all things, and by delighting display his supreme beauty and worth with ever-increasing brightness and bliss forever.”

            When we make the gifts and reward the goal we end up making them gods instead of allowing them to point us to God. Forgiveness, eternal life, and justification are all great things, but what makes them great? Our forgiveness is great because it is forgiveness for our great sins against an infinitely holy God. We want eternal life, but is it so we can spend it by ourselves or whoever we want, or so that we can spend it with God? Justification becomes vastly more glorious when we see that our guilt has been removed before such a righteous judge. This is good news. This is the gospel! How amazing and awesome is our God! Who wouldn’t want to know this God?

            It is easy to understand why mission seems so foreign to us when we see salvation as a selfish grasp at gifts for ourselves, but when the reality of the true good of the gospel sinks in, the power it unleashes is unstoppable. When we are able to truly see the glory of God in Jesus Christ there is a passion and joy that is awakened that can’t be explained or quenched. God’s glory revealed to us in the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf stirs in us a delight in Him, and this delight isn’t one that can be held in, it wants to go out. Mission is the overflow of our worship.

            Isaiah’s response to God’s question in verse 8 isn’t an obligatory acceptance of the inevitable; it is a joyful exclamation of worship and fulfillment to his desire. Isaiah has finally seen the wonder and beauty of His God and it is overflowing in him. Infinite amounts of grace, love, goodness, and glory are begin poured into Isaiah’s heart as God reveals Himself and atones for Isaiah’s sin. Where will Isaiah direct this overflow? It is too good to go to waste. God is ready and presents the answer to him – go!

            This same infinite love and grace and has been poured into our souls. We have been given the good news of God. He is not far from us but has come near in Jesus and by His blood. We are always carrying in ourselves the infinite glory of God. We have not come to the end of Him. His glory, His grace, His love, and His forgiveness are as eternal and vast as He is. It is always overflowing from us and our delight in Him should be ever increasing. So what do you do with this passion and joy in the good news of our God? Go!

            Today you woke up with realities of eternal life, true love and ultimate forgiveness residing in your heart and soul, but the greatest news is that all of those come from an infinitely good and powerful God that through His Spirit resides with you as well. You now go to work, eat lunch, raise your kids, study for school, etc. along with the Spirit of the Living God. In you and with you resides the power of God, the gospel. The good news that we have an infinitely holy God, who knows our terrible and awful sin, but has chosen to save us and bring us back to Himself by the death of His own Son is now overflowing in you. So go this week and every week on knowing that you have not just been given a gospel of salvation from your sins but a salvation to God. Then let that good news spill from you wherever you go. And come Sunday to be reminded again of this great gospel - the good news that God has come in Jesus to bring us back to Himself. Go!