God is Spirit
“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”—John 4:24
God is spirit, which is to say, God is without form in His essence and being. He exists without body, without form, and is immaterial. What does that mean? It means that God is invisible. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”—1 Timothy 1:17. He is invisible, and has never been seen, or as the Scripture says in John 1:18, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known.” Christ is the image of the invisible God, and through Christ, we see God the Father. As Jesus said,
“’If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.’
Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”?’”—John 14:7-9.
How can someone have seen God the Father? Or how can Jesus say that if we see Him we have seen the Father? It is because Christ is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation”—Colossians 1:15. Christ is the visible manifestation of God the Father; the two are distinct, but of one essence.
God is spirit, and from our passage today, we know that we are to worship Him “in spirit and truth.” But what does it mean to worship Him in “spirit”? Is it by or through our “spirit” that we are to worship Him? Or is it through His Holy Spirit? Since Christ had not taught about the Holy Spirit yet, nor had He been sent (see John 16:7), so it must mean that it is by our spirit. We are “spirits” (1 Corinthians 7:35; 1 Thessalonians 5:23) that inhabit bodies. And it is our “spirit” that reveals the true essence of who we are, “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God”—1 Corinthians 2:11.
When God wants us to worship Him in “spirit and truth,” we worship Him in the essence of who we are, our true beings, stripped of all of our own self-righteousness, aware of our sin, knowing that God wants us to come to Him with broken hearts, or as David wrote about in the Psalms, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise”—Psalm 51:17. We also worship Him in “truth,” which means according to how the Word of God has revealed Him.
God is spirit, and He desires that we come to Him as spirit. We cannot come to Him any other way. We can’t come claiming to be good, or having something that God wants. We come knowing that we are broken, sinners deserving of judgment, but coming in faith, knowing that God forgives the greatest of sins because He offers the greatest of Saviors—Jesus Christ, the Lord. Amen.
God is spirit, which is to say, God is without form in His essence and being. He exists without body, without form, and is immaterial. What does that mean? It means that God is invisible. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”—1 Timothy 1:17. He is invisible, and has never been seen, or as the Scripture says in John 1:18, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known.” Christ is the image of the invisible God, and through Christ, we see God the Father. As Jesus said,
“’If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.’
Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”?’”—John 14:7-9.
How can someone have seen God the Father? Or how can Jesus say that if we see Him we have seen the Father? It is because Christ is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation”—Colossians 1:15. Christ is the visible manifestation of God the Father; the two are distinct, but of one essence.
God is spirit, and from our passage today, we know that we are to worship Him “in spirit and truth.” But what does it mean to worship Him in “spirit”? Is it by or through our “spirit” that we are to worship Him? Or is it through His Holy Spirit? Since Christ had not taught about the Holy Spirit yet, nor had He been sent (see John 16:7), so it must mean that it is by our spirit. We are “spirits” (1 Corinthians 7:35; 1 Thessalonians 5:23) that inhabit bodies. And it is our “spirit” that reveals the true essence of who we are, “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God”—1 Corinthians 2:11.
When God wants us to worship Him in “spirit and truth,” we worship Him in the essence of who we are, our true beings, stripped of all of our own self-righteousness, aware of our sin, knowing that God wants us to come to Him with broken hearts, or as David wrote about in the Psalms, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise”—Psalm 51:17. We also worship Him in “truth,” which means according to how the Word of God has revealed Him.
God is spirit, and He desires that we come to Him as spirit. We cannot come to Him any other way. We can’t come claiming to be good, or having something that God wants. We come knowing that we are broken, sinners deserving of judgment, but coming in faith, knowing that God forgives the greatest of sins because He offers the greatest of Saviors—Jesus Christ, the Lord. Amen.
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