God is a Spirit

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).

The message is simple and clear. They that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth. But are we? Are we worshipping God? Are we worshipping Him in the spirit? And as Pontius Pilate asked Jesus Christ, “What is truth?” Are we worshipping God in truth?

“…they that worship him”. Is it God whom you worship? Or is it the Mother Mary, or a saint or some statue or figurine or even self? Jesus Christ said, “The Father seeketh such to worship him”. “Him” is God and none other!

“Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind” (Colossians 2:18)

“He disputeth against the first kind of corruptions, and setteth down the worshipping of Angels for an example: which kind of false religion he confuteth, first this way: because that they which being in such a worship, attribute that unto themselves which is proper only to God, to wit, authority to bind men’s consciences with religion, although they seem to bring in these things by humbleness of mind” (Commentary from the 1599 Geneva Bible).

I’d like to drive this point home. We are to worship God and only God and in the spirit, for God is a spirit. But are you walking into a church bowing and praying to an image? Are you worshipping an angel or saint or even a pastor? Let’s take a look at the first and second commandment as given by God.

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Exodus 20:3-5)

We are to pray to God only. No person, no other deity, no other righteous or religious entity or figure, no image or anything. Only to God.

Let’s get this straight as to just who God is. Before God gives the Ten Commandments He identifies himself as, “I am the Lord thy God”.

The word “Lord” in Hebrew is “Yehovah” or Jehovah. It means by definition, “The existing one”. It is the proper name for the one true God.

God comes from the Hebrew word, “Elohiym”. This is a plural which represents and embodies the Holy Trinity.

Jehovah is the name of the one true God. God, a spirit manifested in the Holy Trinity. This is who we worship and none other.

We, “must worship him in spirit and in truth”. The key word here is must. Jesus is instructing us that we “must” worship God in spirit and in truth. It is not an option or a consideration. It is a requirement. It always comes back to us. Are we listening and doing as we have been commanded to do? There is no other way to worship the one true God than in spirit and in truth. This is a must.

We must examine how we worship God. Is it by simply attending church? Is it getting involved in a religious ceremony or ritual? Are we being holy by reciting prayers and liturgical passages? Or are we worshipping God by being “spiritual” and being a good person? The devil can and does all of these things. Think about that for a moment.

Now, about worshipping in the spirit. What is required to do this? Do we need to go to church? Face east? Do we need to have some necklace, crucifix, bobble, clothing, cloth, or ornament? Is it mandatory that we fast? Offer sacrifices or some other food and drink offering? Do we have to memorize and recite specific prayers? Is there a specific time? Do we have to worship a certain number of times during the course of the day?

Jesus once again makes it clear.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30)

When Jesus says “my yoke is easy”, he is speaking in contrast to the troublesome laws imposed by the Mosaic law.

When he says, “my burden is light” he is speaking in contrast to “the precepts of the Pharisees, the observance of which was most oppressive” (Thayer’s)

To worship in spirit and truth one must rid themselves of all things, religious, ceremonial and ritualistic.

So, what is our spirit? The Greek New Testament word for spirit is “pnuema”. It literally translates as wind or breathe. It is our essence without our physical, worldly matter. It is the “immaterial, invisible part of man” and the “sentient element in man, that by which he perceives, reflects, feels, desires” (Vine’s).

To worship God we must become in touch and in tune with our inner man. Now this is where the hard reality of truth comes into play. It can be most unsettling and disturbing when the facade of our outer man faces the reality of the inner man. It can be painful. So much so that many can not and will not face the truth of this encounter. Who we really are, what we have done and continue to do, what we really think and believe are most often at odds with what we portray and confess.

But here is what we need to really grab a hold of. Jesus said that we are to worship God in spirit and in truth. Jesus did not say we are to worship God in spirit and perfection.

The Greek word for truth is “Alethes”. It is a compound word meaning “not hidden” or “not concealed”. This is what God wants from us when we go to worship him. He wants us. Not a façade or hypocrite or some version of us we think He would prefer. God wants us, warts and all. This is who, “the Father seeketh such to worship him”.

In worshipping God you are going to have to uncover and expose yourself to God and be honest about it. This will reveal your good, your griefs, sorrows and needs. It will also expose your sins.

Repentance comes when you are honest with yourself and God about these sins. You recognize sin as such and hand them over to Him. Ask for forgiveness in all earnest. We have a merciful God and He will forgive.

But the key to it all is that we “must worship him in spirit and in truth”.  The living, breathing element that is our spirit and animates our body must lay bare at the altar of the one true God. Nothing else matters. This is how we grow closer to God and become more like Jesus. This is our life long effort to make the inner man and the outer man one in the same.

Bill Hitchcock