Tuesday, April 12, 2011

What Does it Mean to Worship God in Spirit and in Truth

Jesus told the Samaritan woman in John 4:23 "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.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." The Lord went on in the next verse to say that "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" So what does it mean to worship God in spirit and in truth? I think the key phrase here is, "God is a Spirit." We as men, that is mankind, live our lives in the flesh. We are truly like Adam, described in 1st Corinthians 15:47, "of the earth, earthy:" while the Lord Jesus is, "the Lord from heaven." It is impossible for temporal mankind to comprehend eternal spiritual things. It is no wonder then that Apostle Paul said in 1st Corinthians 2:14 "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him..." The apostle said in verses 11 and 12 that no one knows the mind of God's Spirit except "Spirit of God," and only those things that God has given us to know, do we begin to understand. He also said in verse 13 "we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." We do not, indeed cannot compare the natural with the spritual for the natural man connot know what is the mind of the Spirit of God. This is one reason that using illustratons such as an egg or the composition of water to explain the nature of God falls so far short. God asked in Isaiah 40:25 "To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal?" Again in Isaiah 46:5 "To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?" There is nothing in mankind's experience to understand or equate the nature of God to. That is, except the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Philippians 2:6 that the Lord, "being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God..." When asked by the incredulous Jews if the Lord had seen Abraham, Jesus said in John 8:58, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." No wonder then that when asked by Philip in John 14:8-9 "Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us," the Lord Jesus responded with these words, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" Men professing Christianity will readly acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Prince of Peace. Yet the only verse in the Bible that refers to the Lord as "the prince of peace," is Isaiah 9:6. But reading the entire verse, Isaiah declared, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Only when we see in the Lord Jesus the fulness of God, do we begin to understand spiritual things. The Bible says in Colossians 2:9-10 "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power..." Jesus said in our reading, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." If you would worship God in spirit and in truth, you must recognize Jesus Christ as the only true God and Saviour. 



2 comments:

  1. Exactly. God is an awesome God. It's wonderful to know who He is. I want to be found worshipping Him in spirit and in truth when He comes again.

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