GOD IS SPIRIT

Mark Reynolds

When Jehovah reveals something about Himself in His Word, the reader should give the most earnest heed. For example when God told Moses: “I AM THAT I AM” (Exo. 3:14), He revealed a tremendous truth concerning His eternality. When the Holy Spirit inspired John to write, “God is love,” He revealed something about His motives in dealing with mankind (1 John 4:8).  When God told Noah that His spirit shall not always strive with man (Gen. 6:3), He indicated that His patience, while longsuffering, is not endless.  And when Jesus told the woman at the well that God is Spirit, He revealed one of the first, the greatest, the most sublime, and necessary truths in the compass of nature! (Clarke, 541). This revelation gives vital insight to the nature of God, and our relationship with Him. Notice only two of many observations we can learn from God telling us He is Sprit.

GOD IS A LIVING PERSON

Without the spirit, a body is dead (James 2:26). On the other hand, however, a spirit without a body is still very much alive. What a great revelation about the God of heaven! Jehovah God is not an inanimate object, like a pagan idol with a mouth that cannot speak, eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear, and hands that cannot work (Psalm 115:4-7).  He is alive!

      In an amusing, yet true account, a woman who had deceived people by telling them she could speak to the dead was asked by Saul to contact a departed spirit. Her reaction is very telling: “And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice...” (1 Sam. 28:12). She cried with a loud voice, because she was actually communicating with the dead!  No one was more surprised than she. It would have been equally amusing to see the reaction of those who talked to idols if one of them had actually talked back. Idol worshipers were careful to carve a mouth on their god, but never expected their god to use it.

      Unlike false idols, the God of heaven is alive! Although He no longer speaks directly to His people as He did in the days of the Patriarchs, and on occasion during the Mosaic Age (Exo. 20:19; Mat. 3:17; 17:5), He still speaks through His living word (Heb. 4:12). Not only does He speak, but He also sees and hears: “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1 Pet. 3:12). God hears and answers the prayers of His righteous people (James 5:16). Because God is a living person we can get to know Him personally and communicate with Him freely.

GOD IS INVISIBLE

This attribute of God has been especially disturbing for humanity since the beginning of the world. Even Jacob’s beloved wanted to keep the gods of her fathers, so much so that she stole them, placed them with her belongings and sat on them to hide them (Gen. 31:34). Those who had been led out of Egypt by the mighty hand of God, seeing miracle after miracle, still could not get used to the idea of worshiping a God they could not see. They felt the need to create something they could appreciate with their five physical senses (Exo. 32:1, 8). No one has seen the true and living Father God (John 1:18). Rather than being disheartening to God’s people, it should be of great comfort, and herein lies the point Jesus was trying to make with the woman at the well.

      While we use our physical senses in worship to God, i.e. we make a sound with our mouths, eat the Lord’s Supper, etc., it is not with our physical senses where the deepest connection is made. “God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).  It is not a question of locality in worship (John 4:21), nor is it merely intellect and our five senses. To worship, men must get down to the deepest thing in their personality, spirit and truth. Man’s spirit must lead him in worship as he approaches Almighty God. Yes, man’s worship must be regulated by the truth of God’s Word, but if his own spirit is not involved he has not truly worshiped. Just as Jesus did with the woman at the well, the Christian must remove all the masks of his life and get right down to the core and ask the question: Is my spirit prepared to approach God?

CONCLUSION

Many of the problems people have in the concept of God and worshiping and serving Him, come from a misunderstanding that He is Spirit. How could the Old Testament sacrifices of burning flesh be a sweet smelling savor unto God? He is Spirit. How can God be more pleased in simple acapella singing that proceeds from sincere hearts over elaborate bands and choirs? He is Spirit. How can God be pleased by a sincere public prayer led by an uneducated man who butchers the English language? He is Spirit. Much error is practiced today because man tries to approach God using only his physical senses, and leaving the spiritual out. However, when Christians allow their own spirits to respond to God’s revelation, they can approach the God of heaven Who is Spirit. No greater task can ever be achieved.

Clarke, Adam. Clarke’s Commentary, Vol. V. (Abington Press, New York, NY:, n.d.).

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