“…But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).
If you study the New Testament carefully, you’ll find there are several Greek words translated “worship” and the one Jesus used in the scripture above is “proskuneo,” which means “to bow; primarily to kiss the hand or the feet of someone who’s highly esteemed.”
An example of this is what we read in Mark 5:22 about Jairus: “…behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet.” Jairus fell down and worshiped Jesus; he bowed to Him, probably kissing his feet, as a way of demonstrating that he understood the greatness of the One to whom he had come.
Now, l want you to notice the words the Lord used in John 4:23-24 because with those words, He brought in a paradoxical teaching on the art of true worship—the only kind that gets God’s attention. He said, “… the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). Here’s the revelation for the new creation on the modus operandi for true worship.
Jesus announced a new order of worship which abolished the old pattern and declared that the time had come when true worshippers would worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Many times in the Old Testament, we read how the people built altars of worship. At different times, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob built altars for God. When God did something significant for them at any particular place and time, they built an altar there as a memorial and worshipped there. Such worship was physically demonstrated as they bowed or prostrated, calling on the name of the Lord. All of that is past now, because we’ve received a new revelation on worship.
God is Spirit, so if you’re going to worship Him, it must have to be by the Spirit. Thus, your bowing to Him today has to be done in the spirit. That’s actually what Jesus was saying. If you’re going to kiss Him, you’re going to kiss Him through the Spirit; if you’re going to prostrate, you’re going to prostrate by the Spirit as well.
You can’t worship God today with physical things as they did in the Old Testament; that won’t be true worship. True worship has to be by the Spirit. [True worshippers, according to the Lord Jesus, are those who in their spirits bow to God as a way of revering His awesome majesty.]
Confession
I’m a true worshipper; I worship God in spirit and in truth! Today, my spirit is open to offer to Him the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of my lips, giving thanks and glory unto His Name.
Further Study Philippians 3:3 “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”Luke 10:21:“In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.”
(Taken by permission from Christ Embassy Church , aka Believer’s LoveWorld Ministries , Lagos, Nigeria. www.ChristEmbassy.org )
