Lookahead:  Therefore, I believe that in heaven, we will continue in this give/take relationship. To put it in extremely simplistic terms, and according to a well known worship leader by the name of  Kalley Heiligenthal, “Worship is communion.” Sometimes at night I’ll pull up a YouTube video and fall asleep to that and the others that automatically follow.  Last night I was listening to a documentary about the Ark of the Covenant and when I awoke, a video about heaven just happened to be on…with the following description of this communion…

(The Samaritan woman said,) “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain (Mount Gerizim), and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” John 4:20

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:21 – 24

Jesus was speaking to a Samaritan woman here and implying that whatever the Samaritan people’s brand of worship was, it would not be relevant going forward. 

So what was the Samaritan people’s brand of worship?

I believe the Samaritan woman and Samaritans in general were concerned with earthly, natural aspects of worship, i.e., following legalistic rules about proper format, location, etc.  And they were probably obsessed about whether the Jews “had it right” or the Samaritans?

Jesus revealed (and we now know) that worship was about to be changed forever.  Rather than a natural, rules-based experience, it would now be a supernatural experience, in which people would have genuinely worshipful hearts.  All the accoutrements and window dressing would be gone.

So what were the rules?

Well, when the woman had the Ahah! Moment and understood Who she was talking to, the first question she immediately asked was related to: “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain (Mount Gerizim), and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” John 4:20

The Samaritan woman’s focus on this is interesting.  To try to understand the context somewhat…in the North of Israel, where Samaria was, two abominable worship centers had been established (with golden calf idols) centuries before in ~931 B.C.  The LORD endured it for a couple of centuries, in His longsuffering.  But these people were slapping God in the face once again, reverting back to the totally rebellious behavior of Moses’ day and judgment eventually came.  The golden calf in Dan was (probably) carried away by the Assyrians in ~732 B.C. (And in ~722 B.C. Judah’s King Josiah tore down the altar at Bethel, and destroyed that associated golden calf.)   The people in the north were exiled to other Assyrian territories, and heathenish foreigners from Babylon, Hamath, Sepharvaim, etc. were substituted in. These new people groups mingled with the few Jews, who Assyrian King Sargon II had left behind, to become the Samaritan people group.  The Samaritans adopted a form of Judaism, but it is believed that they only adhered to the first five books of the Old Testament, i.e., the Torah.  They were ostracized (actually hated) by the Jews from the South.  In the time of Christ, Samaritans were probably banned from entering the Temple in Jerusalem altogether.

The Samaritan’s convention of worshipping at Mount Gerizim was an arbitrary choice that seems to have arisen from ignoring 34 Books of the Old Testament—which answered a lot of questions about why Jerusalem was the chosen place of worship.  Also, Mount Gerizim seemed acceptable, because it had some favorable history in the Torah.  Abraham and Jacob built altars in close proximity to this mountain.  Additionally, it was believed that Abraham passed  the “Isaac Test” on Mount Gerizim. Finally, the Israelites pronounced blessings over Mount Gerizim when they finally  entered the Promised Land. 

The Samaritans had partial revelation and were not waiting for the Messiah to save them. They were expecting a prophet and a teacher IAW Deuteronomy 18:18, but not a Jewish King from the Davidic line. The former would endorse Mount Gerizim as the place of worship in Israel, and the sacred tabernacle items would be moved there. His appearance would signal that a final day of redemption was soon coming. 

The Samaritans had actually built a temple at Mount Gerizim which resembled the Temple in Jerusalem.  (They had the blueprint in the Torah!)  However, 100 years or so before Jesus met the Samaritan woman, their temple had been destroyed, as ordered by John Hyrcanus, the Jewish ruler of southern Israel and the High Priest.

The Samaritans were probably still experiencing generational PTSD from this, which would explain why the legitimate place of worship was still on the people’s minds.

However, as a result of the fact that the Samaritans only had 5 out of 39 books of the Bible at their disposal, they had less of an understanding of Who God was and Who the Messiah would be. They did not know the latter as Savior. We will see that, in heaven, one major reason for worship (by humans—as well as angelic beings) is that Jesus came to earth to save and redeem humanity.

In terms of how this applies in 2026, my theories follow. (And I guess we might first do a little self-assessment about whether or not our churches are still operating in Samaritan mode today when it comes to worship.  Have they erected altars to false idols or even cultic altars, making their worship (best case – a lifeless counterfeit of the real thing, or worst case – a genuine insult and offense to God)?  Have their man-made rules and regulations or traditions and formulas, watered down the worship to remove God from the equation?)

Worshipping in Truth

I do not believe that worshipping according to some worship leader’s criteria, or forced worship (because people feel that we are commanded to worship through the rain and pain) is “worshipping Him in truth.”  If we’re being taught that we have to sing this particular set of songs in order to please Him and hence avoid reprisal, this is not the kind of worship that Jesus said we would be doing. Worship is a spontaneous response to receiving revelations about His greatness. It springs from an intimate relationship between a human being and God.

Worshipping in Spirit

An essential part of the worship process—and the energizing force behind it all—is the person of the Holy Spirit.  God’s spirit dwells within, and it is “deep calling unto deep.”  So during worship, we essentially are yielding to the Spirit.   

And in fact, if we view heaven as the gold standard for what worship is, I believe that there is actually a reciprocal relationship between the worshippers and the Object of worship.

The lyrics in one of Michael W. Smith’s songs say: 

Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You, I want to see You
To see You high and lifted up
Shinin’ in the light of Your glory
Pour out Your power and love
As we sing holy, holy, holy.

Is it possible that, when everyone in heaven is singing, “Holy, holy, holy,” that God is pouring out His power and LOVE?

I believe that may the case. 

Or on the flip side, is heavenly worship simply about giving with no receiving?  Again, as we will see when we break down the Revelation scriptures, people are in reverential awe of the Matchless One, but they are also acknowledging the things that He is continuing to do for them all.

I don’t believe that God purified and sanctified us so that He would have a reliable labor force in heaven.  We are His children—someone to keep Him company, someone to LOVE, and someone who will grow more and more in LOVE with Him. 

The professor in my last Seminary class spoke of a loyal covenantal chesed and the fact that God has always used covenants in dealing with humans. 

Per Google AI:  “Because no single English word can completely capture (chesed’s) depth, translators render it as “steadfast love,” “loving-kindness,” “mercy,” or “covenant loyalty”…Unlike modern, sentiment-driven definitions of love, chesed is fundamentally relational, action-oriented, and bound to a formal promise…The covenantal framework…directly connects to a berit (covenant). It describes the expected loyalty, comradeship, and devotion between two partnered parties.”

Therefore, I believe that in heaven, we will continue in this give/take relationship. To put it in extremely simplistic terms, and according to a well known worship leader by the name of  Kalley Heiligenthal, “Worship is communion.”

Sometimes at night I’ll pull up a YouTube video and fall asleep to that and the others that automatically follow.  Last night I was listening to a documentary about the Ark of the Covenant and when I awoke, a video about heaven just happened to be on…with the following description of this communion:

“One of the most beautiful depictions of heavenly worship is found in Revelation 4:10-11… This awefilled scene highlights the central role of worship in heaven where all creation recognizes and exalts the greatness of God. We too will join this eternal chorus experiencing worship in its purest form. But heavenly worship will not be monotonous or repetitive. Every moment in God’s presence will reveal new facets of His character, His unfathomable love, infinite wisdom, and radiant holiness. Each revelation will inspire fresh waves of awe, joy, and adoration. Imagine the joy of standing before God, your heart overwhelmed by his majesty and goodness, your soul completely fulfilled by his presence. Worship in heaven will be an active, ever deepening communion with our creator. A dynamic experience that will grow richer and more wondrous with every passing moment.”¹

But perhaps the final way to describe or express the act of “worshipping in the spirit” would be that worship is not a bunch of motions that we should be going through—or “acceptable” physical actions.  Worship is a heart response to Someone Who is unbelievably astonishing and utterly worth it.

Worshipping in Heaven – the Master Template

• And before the throne was something like a sea of glass, as clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures…And each of the four living creatures had six wings…(and they) never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”  Revelation 4:6,8  

This is the dimension of God that they can’t help but worship (“giving glory, honor, thanks”): He is holy…and He is holy eternally.  Their zeal and dedication is a reflection of the incomparably vast and timeless and perfect holiness of God.

Therefore, the dimension of God that they can’t help but worship is His perfection in holiness.  

• Each time they proclaim the words of worship, twenty-four elders (who BTW have thrones of their own) prostrate themselves before God and announce, “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and came to be.” Revelation 4:10, 11

The dimension of God that they can’t help but worship is His creative power.  

• Then Jesus is manifested as the sacrificial lamb, and innumerable angels declare: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Revelation 5:12 

The dimension of God that they can’t help but worship is His redemptive power. 

• Then the countless thousands who God saved during the Tribulation worship Him by falling on their faces before Him and declaring “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever! Amen” for Jesus  and the Father “will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'” Revelation 7:11-12, 17

The dimension of God that they can’t help but worship is His healing power. 

• Then all the residents of heaven worship God, shouting, “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.” Revelation 19:6

The dimension of God that they can’t help but worship is His indisputable dominion and eternal victory over all that is not holy and good.  

Three observations of note: 

1. There are five waves of worship here with the following sub/groups:  four angelic beings who I like to view as the most elite – God’s Secret Service protection, the elders (God’s executive team), the angelic host (God’s messengers and warriors), the most recently persecuted children of God, concluding with a crowd too numerous to count, that is comprised of everybody who has been allowed into heaven.
2. Respectively, the Object of worship is the Lord God Almighty, the Lord God, the Lamb, the Father and the Son, and the Lord God Almighty.  In the end everyone has joined in the worship—and there isn’t a single worshipper who is worshipping…say for example…themselves or leadership or the talented musicians or the video remixes or God’s totally impressive technical creations.  Each one has a heart of worship which basically means that they can’t help but worship the One True Living God of us all.
3. Each one has a continually unfolding revelation of Who God is.

And a reminder that there is no Option C here might be helpful.  Everyone, everywhere is going to have to bow the knee to Jesus, even if they don’t bow their heart:

…every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:10-11

If they are not worshipping God and His infinite goodness, by default they will be serving agents of evil. 

However, we thank God for Luke 1:73-75 –

He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us deliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.

To my final point in this series, does choosing Jesus today mean that we can have the Master Template experience now as we bask in God’s Glory?  As I implied, I believe that the closer we get to God—as a function of getting to know more and more about Him—the more zealous and dedicated our worship becomes—as our hearts become more and more worshipful.  As long as we are seeking God, and not this Master Template experience, why couldn’t we have a heavenly experience on earth?  Isn’t that what Kingdom living is all about?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g4EDHhQAng