God is... Spirit

God is.

So today, God is spirit.

They're the words that Jesus said, aren't they?

John 4, 24.

He's speaking with a woman in the middle of a very hot day in Samaria at a well.

It's a place that Jewish people didn't normally go to visit.

They kind of avoided it, but Jesus deliberately goes to that place.

It's full of people that weren't kosher.

The Jewish people thought that Samaritans, they were mixed breeds.

They had no time for them.

They were people that were sort of Jewish, but not really.

And Jesus has this conversation with a woman who's there in the middle of the day because of her shame.

And Jesus makes this statement in verse 24, God is spirit.

God is spirit.

So Jesus said it, and so we believe it.

And that settles it.

But what does it mean?

If Jesus said it, it must be true.

It must be important.

But what does it mean that God is spirit?

And so what I want to do this morning is talk about what it means that God is spirit and what it means for us.

Three things on that first point.

What does it mean?

God is, first of all, the original uncreated spirit.

He's the original uncreated spirit.

There are other spirits.

God is not the only spirit.

According to the Bible, angels are spirits.

We have spirits.

You and I have human bodies.

And we have spirits as well as bodies.

We are not just bodies, are we?

Angels are created.

And we are created.

We're not uncreated.

But God, in contrast, God is uncreated.

You and I were born into existence.

And we were born, angels were created.

There was a time when angels didn't exist.

God made them, but nobody made God.

There has never been a time when God did not exist.

Have you thought about that?

I remember thinking about that when I was a little boy.

And I've tried to think about it this week.

And it blows my mind.

My mind can't cope with it.

My mind can't comprehend something that didn't have a beginning.

If you try to think about it now, it's impossible.

It's impossible for us to comprehend.

But it's not impossible for it to be true.

Because it is true.

It is true of God.

God has no beginning.

God owes his existence to nobody else.

You and I, we owe our existence under God to our parents.

God owes his existence to nobody.

So there are other spirits.

Angels are spirits.

We have spirits.

But God is unique.

There's nobody like him.

He is the uncreated, original spirit.

In the letter of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 9, he's called the father of spirits.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

In other words, he is the one who created all spirits.

And so that's the first thing Jesus is saying when he says God is spirit.

He's saying God is the original uncreated spirit from whom all other spirits come.

Secondly, when Jesus says God is spirit, he's telling us that God has no body.

God has nothing material, physical about him at all.

Do you remember the time after Jesus' resurrection when he appears to his disciples after the resurrection?

It's Luke chapter 24 and verse 39.

Luke 24 · chapter mention

And they're gathered in a room and they are confused.

They're really discouraged.

And Jesus appears in the middle of them.

And he stands with them in the middle of the room.

And in the conversation, he asks for something to eat.

Why did he do that?

He was hungry.

Well, yes.

But he did that to prove to them and to you and I that he was really risen.

He was bodily risen from the dead.

He said to them this.

He said, a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.

So Jesus is saying he wasn't just spirit.

But he is telling us there, isn't it, what a spirit is.

A spirit does not have flesh and bones.

A spirit has nothing physical about it.

God has no body.

And so we must banish and put away in our thoughts any thinking that God has bodily parts like you and I do.

He has no limbs.

He has no head.

He has no face.

He has no inner organs.

Nothing of that kind.

He is spirit, as Jesus says.

Now that is very difficult, isn't it?

Difficult for you and I to really get our minds around.

And to think of God in that way because we don't really know what a spirit is.

But it's clear from scripture, from that verse in Luke 24 and elsewhere, that a spirit has nothing physical.

Nothing material about it at all.

That's what God is.

God is spirit.

So when the Bible speaks of God's hands, as it does, and speaks of his fingers, and speaks of his arm, and speaks of his eyes, and speaks of his heart,

the Bible uses all those terms, doesn't it, about God.

You don't have to look very far to find the Bible using those terms about God.

What is it doing?

The Bible is using human terms to tell us something true about God, but it's not speaking literally.

We're not to think literally that God has a hand, or that God has an arm.

We say Jesus is seated at the right hand of God.

We're not to literally think that there's a massive great arm in heaven that Jesus is sitting by.

The Bible speaks about God's eyes searching us and searching the earth.

And we're not to think literally of God with eyes.

What the Bible means when it uses that kind of language is that God's arm is his strength.

It's talking about his strength and his power.

When it talks of his fingers, it is talking about the intricacy of how he made us.

It's talking about his skill in creation.

When it talks about God's hand, it's talking about God's action.

It's saying God is at work.

Or when it speaks of God's eyes, it's speaking of his knowledge of what's happening, his knowledge of us.

When it speaks of God's heart, it speaks of his plans and intentions and so on.

And so when you read those things in the Bible, don't take them absolutely literally true.

And think, well, God has those things.

He has a kind of massive eye like Sauron.

But understand, the Bible is using those terms to speak to us in ways that we can understand.

God is a spirit.

He doesn't actually have physical properties.

Neither does he, strictly speaking, have feelings in the way that we do.

Feelings belong to the body, don't they?

And when you love somebody, when you hate something, it produces a feeling in you because you're physical.

Because you've got a body.

The feeling you have when you love someone, that feeling is not actually the essence of love.

I hope you understand that love is much more than a feeling.

I know a lot of people talk about love just as a feeling.

And so sometimes people come to see me and they say, well, I don't feel like I love my wife anymore.

I want to say to them, I couldn't get less.

Love is not feelings.

And if you lose your feelings, you think, well, I've lost my love.

You realize that's nonsense, isn't it?

Love is much deeper.

Love is much richer.

Love is much more solid than a feeling.

Love is much more solid than a feeling.

We have feelings because we love others.

And we have those feelings because we have bodies.

The physical part of us produces those feelings.

But God does not have a body.

And so he does not have feelings in the way that we have them.

Now, that doesn't mean that he doesn't love, of course.

It doesn't mean that God doesn't show mercy or hate sin or pity us in our difficulties.

But when we think of God in these terms, strictly in relation to God, we are talking about something greater, richer, deeper than just feelings.

When we talk, when we read about God's love, what we're saying is, what the Bible is saying, God has this settled determination within him.

This absolute determination that he is going to do you good.

That's what love is.

And he's going to do good for his people.

And God loves his church.

And he has a love for those for whom he died.

And that love indicates to us, if you are a Christian this morning, that should give you great comfort and satisfaction in the knowledge that whatever happens,

if you have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, God's settled determination is that he is for you.

That's what Romans 8 is teaching us.

He is for you.

And all that happens is under God's control and authority.

And ultimately, however horrible it may seem this morning, God is saying, ultimately, this will work out for your good.

And I don't say that lightly.

Because it's not just about feelings.

It's much deeper and richer than that.

When I say that God does not have feelings, you must not jump in your mind to think, oh, well, Paul is saying that God must be like a stone.

That God is cold.

It's quite the opposite.

God's love burns eternally and infinitely for his people.

Just as his righteousness results in terrible judgment.

He has an eternal hatred of sin.

And so when Jesus says God is spirit, we're saying that he is the original uncreated spirit.

But we're saying he does not have a body like we do.

Thirdly, it tells us, the Bible tells us that he is invisible.

That clearly follows, isn't it?

If you haven't got a body,

if you don't have any physical parts,

then you can't be perceived.

You can't be seen by us.

The Bible tells you very, very clearly that God is invisible.

And Colossians chapter 1 verse 15 speaks of the invisible God.

Colossians 1:15

It uses that expression.

1 Timothy 1 verse 17, when Paul is in a doxology praising God,

1 Timothy 1:17

he says, God is the king of the ages, immortal.

That means he will never die.

Invisible.

So he can't be seen.

And so God can't be perceived by human sense at all.

God can't be seen.

God can't be touched.

God can't be tasted.

There is no way in which we can physically perceive God.

The Bible says in John chapter 1 and verse 18,

John 1 · chapter mention

no man has seen God.

Why?

Because he's invisible.

Because he is spirit.

Now if you read your Bible,

you've got some questions in your mind,

you think, well, what about those times in the Old Testament

when God appeared?

So in the Garden of Eden, we're told that God walked with Adam in the cool of the day.

Adam is obviously able to see him in some way.

Or think of Abraham.

If you read Genesis 18 really carefully,

you can see that those men met God and they gave him a meal.

That was the Lord.

Or Joshua, at the beginning of the book of Joshua,

meets the commander of the Lord's army,

and it's very clear that he's met the Lord himself.

What's happening there?

Paul, you're saying that God is invisible,

but in those instances, it's clear God appears to people,

and he can be seen.

What's happening?

Well, yes, God appears.

He takes on, in those cases, a human appearance,

a human form.

Not in the way that Jesus did when he was born, of course,

as a baby, as a true human being,

but God takes on a human form so that he can be seen.

But in himself, he is invisible.

They are simply appearances of God.

They are simply a form that God takes for those purposes.

The Lord takes a form for those purposes,

to speak and deal with individuals at that particular time.

But it's not how he truly is.

It's not how he really is.

God is truly invisible and cannot be seen.

He is the original uncreated spirit.

He has no bodily parts.

He has no body, and he is invisible.

And then fourthly and finally on this,

we need to say this, don't we?

Jesus Christ, who is God,

became flesh,

became human.

And so fourthly,

Jesus Christ has revealed God to us.

So I quoted that verse from John 1

that I mentioned a moment ago,

no one has seen God.

No one has seen God.

At any time, okay, he's invisible,

but then it goes on to say, isn't it,

but the only begotten?

Jesus Christ has declared him.

Jesus Christ came into this world

to show us God.

He reveals God to us

in a way that has not been revealed before.

The Old Testament tells us about God.

It tells us who God is.

It tells us what he's like.

It tells us a great deal about him.

But now, Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

has come into our world

to show us what God is like,

to switch the lights on.

And he shows us what God is like

in the way that he lived,

in the things that he did.

He is God made flesh.

He's God become flesh.

He has taken on,

added to himself,

a human nature for our sakes.

He is the final revelation of God to us.

You will not find anything more about God

than you find in Jesus Christ.

And so, other religions,

there's no point in looking to them

because they will not tell you the truth

there may be elements of truth in them,

but there's a great deal of false.

But they will tell you nothing

that you will not find in Jesus Christ.

Philosophy, your own reason,

your experiences,

none of those things will add

to what you will find about God in Jesus Christ.

In fact, they're likely to lead you astray

and they will deceive you.

And so, if you want to know what God is like,

you look at Jesus Christ.

And you look at him

as he is revealed to us in the scriptures.

Do not think that you need a vision of Jesus

or dreams about Jesus.

Now, I know some of you have had that.

And I know that God can use those things

to bring you to himself amazingly.

I don't deny that.

But the Bible's really clear.

If you want to know what God is like,

you read about Jesus Christ in the scriptures,

in the gospels,

as he's prophesied in the Old Testament,

as the apostles speak to him,

speak of him in their letters,

they read the scriptures

and what they teach you about Jesus

because in Jesus you see God

because Christ has become,

has been made flesh.

And so you look at Jesus

and what do you see?

You see his love.

You read the gospels and you see his love.

You go to this story in John 4

and you'll see that Jesus wants to do her good.

She comes to the well.

He's got no reason to talk to her.

In fact, in that culture,

for a man to talk to a Jewish woman

who's got a pretty shady past,

it was unthinkable in lots of ways.

But he does speak with her.

He cares for her.

Why?

Because he wants to do her good.

And that tells you something about God this morning.

Whoever you are,

however low you may feel this morning,

however you might feel that others in this room

take no notice of you

or want nothing to do with you

or no one can help you in your problems,

that's not true of Jesus Christ.

Jesus cares for you as he cared for this woman.

And he wants to do you good.

And that tells you something about God.

It tells you that God cares for you.

That whatever others may think,

however others may feel about you,

makes no difference

because God cares for you

and he wants to do you good

if you will listen to him and respond to him.

And so as you read the gospels,

we see, don't we, again and again,

Christ's compassion

for those who are in trouble

and in life's difficulties.

For those who are ill.

For those who have children

where there just seems to be

no answer for their condition.

For those who are struggling

and battle with anxiety.

For those who are weighed down with sin.

How does Christ deal with them?

He pities them.

And he shows compassion to them.

For those who are weighed down

with guilt and sin.

He shows love to them.

And when he sees the crowds,

when he's exhausted,

do you know what it's like

to be exhausted, isn't it?

When you're tired.

If you're anything like me,

when you're really tired

and you're really exhausted,

you don't want to see anyone.

You want to kind of disappear

into a screen or a book.

You want to be on your own and recover.

But when Jesus is in that condition,

when he's absolutely spent,

he's had a day full of people

and ministry.

He'd taken off from his disciples

to be alone.

And suddenly the crowds

find out where he is

and they come.

And the Bible says,

when he saw these crowds

as an exhausted man,

this is how he responded.

He didn't say,

oh, good grief.

I need to get away

from these people.

It says he had compassion on them.

He felt for them.

He looked at this crowd

when he's absolutely spent

and he says,

they are like sheep

without a shepherd.

And they had nobody

to provide for them.

nowhere else to go.

And so he is kind,

doesn't he?

This woman in John chapter 4,

John 4 · chapter mention

go home and read it.

Read between the lines.

It's obvious that Jesus

could have ignored her.

He could have brushed her off.

But he's kind to her.

He speaks gently with her.

He wants to help her.

And you see that all the way

through the Gospels.

And you want to know

what God is like?

God is kind.

Again,

this morning,

you might feel

you're very down

and you're very low.

And you might feel,

well,

nobody's helping me.

Well,

God is kind.

And if you will come to him,

you will find

that he is a kind God

who will help you

in a way that you cannot imagine

or get from anyone else.

you see Christ's righteousness.

You see,

Jesus in the Gospels angry.

He's angry with religious hypocrisy.

He's angry with those

in the temple

who are using

kind of God's house

to make money.

They are defiling

the place of God's holiness.

They're using

what is for God.

They come to a place of worship

and they turn it

into a way of making money.

And Jesus has got

some very strong things

to say to people like that.

He's angry with them

because he is righteous and holy.

We see Jesus weeping

over the city of Jerusalem

because of their hardness of heart

and their refusal to trust him.

And we see him at a graveside

going to a friend's grave

and weeping bitter tears

and he loves

the bereaved family.

And even though he knows

he's going to raise

the dead man from the grave,

he sees his friends grieving

and he weeps with them.

And maybe this morning

you've been bereaved

and you've lost someone you love

and Jesus knows

and he has compassion

with you

if you will come to him.

And he will provide comfort

and help to you.

In all of this,

what I'm trying to get through to you

is this.

We are seeing God

as we see Jesus

in the scriptures.

And if you're a Christian,

if you're a believer this morning,

one day our hope is to see God,

isn't it?

It's what the Bible tells us.

One day we will see God.

1 Corinthians 3 verse 2,

1 Corinthians 3:2

we shall see him as he is.

Sorry, 1 John 3, 2.

1 Corinthians 13, 12

says we will see him face to face

and I will be known

as I am known.

But I've taught you

that God is invisible.

So who will we see?

We will see Jesus.

There's not some God

hiding behind Jesus.

No, when we see Christ,

we see God.

Jesus himself said,

doesn't it,

he who has seen me

has seen the Father.

And in glory,

we will see

Jesus Christ,

God in his fullness.

God is a spirit

without body,

without parts,

without passions,

as the old confession puts it.

He is invisible.

But he's revealed himself to us

fully and finally

in the Lord Jesus,

the incarnate Son of God.

Now what does this mean?

Three things

that it means.

First of all,

it means this.

It means that you and I

can begin to understand ourselves.

And we need to know

this about God

so that we understand ourselves.

People today

in the city in which we live,

they don't understand themselves.

You have this problem like me,

I think,

that there are times

when we do something

that we are absolutely shocked by.

Or we find ourselves

saying something

and we find,

I don't even understand myself.

What makes me tick?

We don't understand ourselves

and so much of our problems

but actually

in our culture today,

if you go to school

or college,

you'll come up against this.

It'll be the same

with people in work.

They think of themselves

just as bodies.

Nothing more.

We said at the beginning,

we are spirits

as well as bodies.

People tend not to believe that.

They think of themselves

as bodies

and just chemicals,

physical properties.

And if you press them

and drive them

to the conclusion,

they may well say,

well, everything you feel,

everything you do,

it's really the result

of a chemical reaction

and a kind of electric phenomenon.

The physical effects

on your body,

the elements that make up

your body

can be explained in that way.

But if that is true,

that's really depressing.

And in fact,

no one really actually

lives like that.

If that's all you are,

there's no reason

for you to do anything good.

Because what does

good or evil mean

if we're just a collection

of chemicals

or electrical impulses?

You've got nothing

to hope for.

Hope makes no sense

if you're just a bundle

of physical particles.

Life has no meaning

or no significance

if that's all we are.

If you're just

a chemistry experiment,

well,

what's the point?

But in fact,

everybody knows

that that's not true,

don't they?

Okay.

In fact,

as you listen to me,

you think,

no,

that can't be true.

You have plans.

You are able

to say to yourself,

I have hopes.

There are things

that I want to do.

There are people

I want to meet.

There are things

I want to see.

There are things

I want to achieve

in life.

There is good

and there is evil

and you know it.

And you know

that there are things

that are good.

You know that there are

things that you ought to do

and you don't always do them.

But you know

you ought to do them.

And there are things

that you know

that you should not do

but you end up doing them.

You are more than chemicals.

What are you?

Well, you are spirit

as well as body.

There is more to you.

There is more to you

than just your physical components.

You are made,

the Bible tells you,

in the image of God.

And what that means

is not that physically

we look like God,

not at all.

No,

our spirits,

in our spirits,

we have a resemblance to God.

And that resemblance

has been spoiled

and it has been ruined

by our sin

but nevertheless

it remains to some extent.

We are made

in the image of God

and we have spirits.

You have spirits.

That's why you think

some things are good

and some things are evil,

some things are right

and some things are wrong.

Because you have

this resemblance to God

who is the source

of all good

and who opposes all evil.

And that's why

you can be happy

and why you can be miserable

and why you can love

some things

and hate other things.

That's why you can be

very content

and peaceful

and it's why you can be

agitated in your spirit.

because your spirit is real.

And that's your experience.

That's why you can say

I.

That's why you can say

that you know

that you exist

in distinction

from other people.

You have a sense

that you are you

because you have a spirit.

It is not just

physical chemicals

and so on.

You wouldn't have that sense.

You are conscious

of yourself.

You are spirit

as well as body

because you are made

in the image of God.

So we need

this truth about God

to help us understand

ourselves

that we're spirits.

We are like God

although we're very different

from him

in many senses

but in that sense

we are like him.

We have a spirit

as well as a body.

Now number two

we need to understand this

to understand our sin.

Can you see that sin

disobedience

begins inside of us?

If you like

in our spirits

sin is not just

a matter of doing

wrong things.

Sometimes we think that

don't we?

Telling lies

committing adultery

those are things

that we do

with our bodies.

They are sin

but if we understand

what we're thinking

about this morning

we'll see these things

begin within us.

They don't start

with our bodies.

They start in our spirits.

It's why Jesus says

out of the heart

comes evil thoughts

murder

adultery

sexual immorality

theft

false witnesses

lying

slander.

They're actions.

That is described

in those lists.

It's a list of things

that we do

but they come

from the heart.

And when he says

heart he doesn't mean

internal organ

that pumps blood around.

He means your inner self.

He means your spirit.

That's where those evil

actions and thoughts

come from.

And God sees all that

because God is spirit.

And if your spirit is wrong

and God is a spirit

he sees our spirit

and he looks within us

and he sees us clearly

exactly as we are.

Not just in what we do

but in our thoughts

in our plans

in our imaginations

in our desires

and it's not difficult

for him to see.

It's not a problem for him.

We are laid bare

before him.

It's what the psalmist

said isn't it?

You discern my thoughts

from afar.

It's not difficult

for God to do.

He can see what you're

thinking now.

He can see how bored

you are now.

It's not a problem for him.

David says in that same

word doesn't he?

He says even before

a word is on my tongue

Lord you know it completely.

How does he know that?

How does he know that?

Well he knows the future.

He knows everything

that's going to happen

but it's more than that.

David is saying

he knows your spirit.

He knows what's in you

and Jesus says

it's from your heart

that comes out

these terrible things.

He knows this morning

what you're going to say

before you say it.

He knows the thoughts

before you think them.

Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12

Hebrews 4:12

says the living word

of God

that is Christ

penetrates the division

of soul and spirit

of joints and marrow

discerns the thoughts

and attentions of the heart.

Christ knows

all that we are

in every way

to the very depths

of our being.

Christ knows you

better than you know yourself.

He knows that all

is in our spirits

inwardly.

Nothing is hidden.

That's where our sin

originates.

That's why we're

fallen creatures

because sin

is in the very depths

of our being.

That's why we're

unacceptable to God.

It's why thinking about God

makes us uncomfortable

because we become conscious

of our sin.

And the more

we understand this

the more we understand

how terrible my sin is

in the sight of God

and why I need a saviour.

why I need a saviour

who can truly

wash me

from my sin

who can take away

the sin

at the very depths

of my being

and not just my

outside actions

but he can deal

with my heart

and he can create

a new heart

within me.

And it's only the blood

on the cross

that can do that.

Your self-help

your kind of reformation

isn't going to help you.

And that's why

the Bible says to you

really clearly

you must trust him.

You must come

to Jesus Christ

for forgiveness

of sins, yes

but for a washing

from the inward

filth of your heart.

And if you come

to him

and you will find

if you put your

trust in him

that you will find

he cleanses

your spirit.

And I know

people in our society

they think this is nonsense

they think this is just

made up to make us

feel better

but the Bible

has taught us this

for thousands of years

and millions of people

have found it to be

true around the world

it's true.

That if you come

to Christ

you will find

forgiveness

for all your sins

and you will find

that inwardly

as well as outwardly.

You can be cleansed

from your sin

and forgiven

and reconciled

with God

so you need

to understand this.

Lastly

we need to understand

this

we need this

so that we might

be those who

worship in spirit

and in truth.

Can you see

there's a connection

here between

what we're thinking

and what we're doing

this morning

worshipping God.

Our worship of God

as we gather

in this way

on the Lord's Day

your worship of God

is to be spiritual.

True worship of God

doesn't require

a beautiful building

or architecture

it doesn't require

great clothing

or choirs

or all the rest of it.

It is to be orderly

yes

it is good

to have somewhere

reasonably comfortable

to meet

and safe

but true worship

does not require

beauty in those things.

the essence

of worship

true worship

is inward

it's the state

of your heart

as you come

this morning.

That's not to say

that the things

that we do

and the things

that we say

outwardly

and how we do it

is completely irrelevant

don't misunderstand me

but it begins

in the heart.

The heart of true

worship

is inward

and God

is a spirit

and those who

worship him

Jesus says

must worship him

in spirit

and in truth.

We've thought of

the fact that

God is invisible

if you think

of the second commandment

it forbids us

to make any image

of God.

We're not to have

any pictures

or representations

of God

of any kind

it's a direct

transgression

of the commandment.

It's why many

Christians over the

centuries

have taken that

to mean that

pictures of Jesus

should be forbidden

because he is God

we're not to make

any image of God.

We're to take

our ideas about God

not from pictures

or paintings

but from his word.

And we're to worship

him in spirit

and in truth

and the truth

of God's word

informs our worship

and it tells us

what he's like

and so when we

come to worship

whether it's privately

at home as families

or whether it's

a gathering like this

it's our hearts

and in our minds

that we come

to prepare to worship.

And we come

confessing our sin

acknowledging our guilt

because if we're

not doing that

we're not actually

worshipping in truth.

We're not recognising

who we truly are

in the sight of God.

We're not recognising

his holiness

and his righteousness

and so we come

humbly focusing on God

remembering that

we're coming to him

the creator of all things

without beginning

without end

with all power

and knowledge

who rules all things.

And so when we come

on a Sunday morning

we're not primarily

coming to meet

with each other

although it's great

to meet together.

We're coming

first of all to God

and so we need

to remember

when we gather

on a Sunday morning

get your head

and your mind

in that right condition

of humility

and reverence

before our holy God.

That's why formality

is such a plague

in worship isn't it?

Because you might look

like on the outside

you're singing with gusto

but in your heart

you're thinking about

what you're doing

during the week.

Your heart's not engaged.

It can look

can't it really lively

or it can look

really sombre

but the same problem

can be there.

And we're to worship

in spirit and truth.

When we read

the Bible

we listen

and we remember

that God is speaking.

That it's not just

the person

the minister

reading the scriptures

it is God

speaking to us.

And when you listen

to the sermon

our mind's fully

engaged

it's not elsewhere

because it's the Lord

Jesus Christ

speaking to us.

Formal worship

doesn't engage

the heart and mind.

And that's the problem

with it

and it's an abomination

of God.

Worship is

to be in spirit

and truth

because God

is spirit.

He's invisible.

The son of God

the Lord Jesus Christ

took upon himself

a human nature.

He became man

to show us God

and what he's like.

That we can know

God in our current condition.

Jesus Christ

died on the cross

so that you could

be washed from your sin

inwardly

and thoroughly

and completely

once and for all

if your faith

and trust

is in him

and we are to

trust him

to trust in Jesus Christ

and his death

at Calvary

for salvation

and reconciliation

with him.

God who is spirit

who is so wonderful

so kind

so compassionate

and yet he hates

sin.

He hates your sin

with all of his being.

but to trust Christ

and be saved

from our sin

and from death

and from hell.

Let's pray.

Amen.