“Yet
a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the
Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the
Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and
in truth.” John 4:23-24
Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well. He was revealing to her that a time was
coming and in fact had come in the person of Jesus Himself, when true worship
will be done in the spirit. A temple
will no longer be required or necessary to worship God. Jew and Gentile will be as one to God. The veil between God and man shall be torn
asunder.
One of the greatest obstacles people have in believing in
God is the fact that He cannot be seen with the naked eye. People have said, “If I could only see God I
would believe in Him.” That statement
comes from ignorance in what true Christianity is. It is not see and believe, but rather see the
unseen as if it can be seen and believe.
That is faith in a
nutshell. God can be seen, only not in
the natural. God reveals Himself in
nature around us. To the spiritually
discerning, God reveals Himself all the time.
For those who wish to know and worship God, they need to
step into the world of the Spirit. Not just any spirit, but the Holy
Spirit. Evil spirits abound. Becoming fine-tuned in our faith so we can
determine which spirit is from the Lord and which is not requires diligence on
our part. If we don’t feed our spirit
man with the word of God we shall be spiritually weak and lack discernment. The
Lord wants us to have wisdom and discernment, but we have to have the ‘want to’. If we don’t have the desire to draw closer to
the Lord, then He cannot help us become all He knows we can be for Him. We must seek it and then receive it when God
offers it to us.
The Mosaic Law was temporary, until Messiah came to fulfill
the necessary sacrifice once for all time.
Through Christ, God bridged the gap between the creature and his/her
Creator. God desires us to worship Him
with our mouths and with our lives. Spirit
living is to live your life as a reflection of Christ. We should strive to think like Him, speak
like Him and act and react like Him in all things. That may seem like a tall order, but in the
spirit all things are possible. Worship
God with your lives in spirit and in truth.
Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!
NOTE: “True”
worship is contrasted with the worship regulated by the temporary provisions of
the law, especially the separation of Jews and Gentiles and the requirement of
temple worship at Jerusalem. The ceremonial and sacrificial aspects of the law
were not false; they were temporary and provisional. Worship “in spirit” is
worship in the Holy Spirit. He continues the work begun by Jesus (14:16–18;
Acts 2:33).
Prominent marks of the age of the Spirit are the removal of the barrier between
Jews and Gentiles, and the ability of Christians to worship without the need
for a temple of any kind. [Reformation Study Bible; P & R
Publishing; 2nd Edition; 2010.]
