"But the hour is coming, and now is,
when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth;
for the Father is seeking such to worship him." John 4:23
How did people worship God prior to Jesus? In truth but not in spirit? In spirit but not in truth? In neither truth nor spirit? Those are rhetorical questions, Mainly because I don't necessarily think they have an answer. What we can talk about is what does it mean to worship God in spirit and truth, so that we can accomplish the task now.
Truth:
I believe that to worship God in truth has a lot to do with coming before God as you really are. We are not to come as we hope we were. We are not to come as what people think we are. We are not to come as anything other than what we are, warts attached. So often we attempt to come to church as someone else, and while we may in fact convince other people that it is the true us, we cannot convince God, because God knows us better than we know ourselves. We can trick a lot of people, perhaps ourselves included, but we cannot trick God, so it is better if we don't try.
Spirit:
I mentioned in another post that we have dual realities that make us us, the earthly and the heavenly, the physical and the spiritual. Coming to God only as physical beings is coming as one half of a whole person. In much the same way as truth, worshipping in spirit forces us to face reality. We must come to God as a complete person, one who walks and talks but also feels and transcends.
If we come to God in these two ways we will bring true worship to the throne. True worship is what God hopes and expects from us.
+ How do you come before God, in truth and spirit, or elsewise?
+ How have you come as someone other than yourself?
+ How have you come as only a half person?
Truth:
I believe that to worship God in truth has a lot to do with coming before God as you really are. We are not to come as we hope we were. We are not to come as what people think we are. We are not to come as anything other than what we are, warts attached. So often we attempt to come to church as someone else, and while we may in fact convince other people that it is the true us, we cannot convince God, because God knows us better than we know ourselves. We can trick a lot of people, perhaps ourselves included, but we cannot trick God, so it is better if we don't try.
Spirit:
I mentioned in another post that we have dual realities that make us us, the earthly and the heavenly, the physical and the spiritual. Coming to God only as physical beings is coming as one half of a whole person. In much the same way as truth, worshipping in spirit forces us to face reality. We must come to God as a complete person, one who walks and talks but also feels and transcends.
If we come to God in these two ways we will bring true worship to the throne. True worship is what God hopes and expects from us.
+ How do you come before God, in truth and spirit, or elsewise?
+ How have you come as someone other than yourself?
+ How have you come as only a half person?
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