God is Spirit
Intro
1. ¡§The turning point in our lives is when we stop seeking the God we want and start seeking the God who is.¡¨
¡X Patrick Morley
2. Many perceive God like one person noted: God is a lot like our pastor. I don¡¦t see him through the week and I don¡¦t understand him on Sunday.
3. A THIRD GRADERS EXPLANATION OF GOD
Written by Danny Dutton, age 8, from Chula Vista, California, for his third grade homework assignment to "Explain God."
One of God¡¦s main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn¡¦t make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way, He doesn¡¦t have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.
God¡¦s second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times besides bedtime. God doesn¡¦t have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because He hears everything there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off. God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn¡¦t go wasting His time by going over your mom and dad¡¦s head asking for something they said you couldn¡¦t have.
4. True or false, questions you should be able to answer after the sermon
(1) being in the image of God means we look like Him
(2) God does not have size or dimension
(3) Jesus Christ only looked like a man but He was not really human, but He was simply God in disguise
(4) God is made up of invisible atoms and molecules
(5) Many people have seen God in His pure form
5. Today we will focus upon the spirituality of God. When it comes to the spirituality of God, we are again on Holy Ground.
MAIN IDEA: What does the Scripture mean when it says, ¡§God is Spirit?¡¨
TS-----„³ Let¡¦s look at several conclusions about this subject and the Scriptures that under gird them.
I. God Is Spirit Means That God is Invisible and Has No Physical Body
1. That God is Spirit is declared clearly by Jesus when talking to the woman at the well:
John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
2. What it means to exist as a spirit is explained in another context by Jesus, after the Resurrection:
Luke 24:39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you behold me having.
Jesus here tells us that a spirit has no physical body.
3. As a spiritual being, God is invisible: 1 Timothy 1:17, ¡§ Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.¡¨
What is God like? This is a question, which has exercised the minds of mankind. It reminds me of the story of the little girl who was in deep concentration over her drawing. Her mother asked her what she was drawing and received the curt reply, ¡§God.¡¨ Her mother protested, ¡§But no one knows what God looks like!¡¨ The little girl replied, ¡§They will now!¡¨
4. When we read of man being in the image of God, we mean like Him in a small way; Jesus, on the other hand, was in the image of God (demonstrated God¡¦s nature) in a unique and complete way:
Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Since God does not have a body, to be in His image means to be like Him in some way; e.g., both men and women created in God¡¦s image, but there are differences between the genders¡Kspiritual natures, moral responsibility, creativity, etc.
5. Wayne Grudem defines God¡¦s spirituality as follows: ¡§God¡¦s spirituality means that God exists as a being that is not made of any matter, has no parts or dimensions, is unable to be perceived by our bodily senses, and is more excellent than any other kind of existence.¡¨
6. If God is invisible, what did people see when the Bible says they ¡§saw God?¡¨
1 Timothy 6:16 ¡§¡Kalone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.¡¨
What people saw were representations of God, manifestations of God, but not God as He is¡K
Even in Jesus people say God ¡§veiled in flesh.¡¨
ILL. "Mommy, what does God look like?" asked 5-year-old Timmy. He put down his peanut butter sandwich & took a big swallow of milk.
"Well, God is a Spirit & we can¡¦t see Him in the same way that we see people," his mother began, not knowing quite where to go from there.
"But if we can¡¦t see Him, how do we know what He¡¦s like?" he persisted.
"Well, suppose you were blind," she suggested to Timmy. "Would you be able to see Daddy, for instance?" He shook his head. "But would you know what Daddy is like?" He thought for a moment, then vigorously nodded his head.
"You¡¦d know what Daddy is like by the things he says, wouldn¡¦t you?" He nodded again. "And we know what God is like, too, by the things He says in His Word. And you¡¦d know that Daddy loves you, because he would tell you so & do everything he could for you."
"That¡¦s how we know God loves us, too. He tells us so, & He has given us so much to help us have a wonderful life. But most of all, He gave us Jesus to take away our sins & to show us what God is really like."
"And even though you couldn¡¦t see Daddy - if you were blind - you could hear his voice & feel when he is near. And in the same way, through Jesus we can hear God¡¦s voice & feel Him near, too. That¡¦s why, even though we can¡¦t see God, we can be very certain what He is like."
Little Timmy picked up his sandwich. "I know," he exclaimed, "We don¡¦t see God outside. We see Him inside." Timmy¡¦s right, isn¡¦t he?
II. God Is Spirit, But He Differs from Created Spirits
1. What created spirits? Angels/demons and the human spirit
2. God is uncreated, all powerful, and limited only by His own character
3. He does not have size or dimension
(1) space is a created entity; did not always exist
(2) Romans 8:39, ¡§neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.¡¨
4. All of God is at every point of creation. Psalms 139:7-10, ¡§Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
5. We should not think of God as large or small; He is small enough to be completely present everywhere, yet all creation cannot contain Him.
1 Kings 8:27 "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
6. That is why any representation of God is a false representation:
Deuteronomy 4:23-24, ¡§Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden. For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.¡¨
III. Spiritual Beings May Take Upon Physical Form
1. Angels appeared repeatedly in the OT as men
2. God appeared many times as a man (theophany)
(1) appeared to Abraham before He destroyed Sodom, wrestled with Jacob, appeared to Joshua as a captain, was sometimes referred to as THE angel of the LORD, appeared to Gideon¡¦s parents
3. In the New Testament, God became a man; the Second person of the Godhead, God the Son, is forever melded to Jesus the Man¡K
IV. We Human Beings Are in the Image of God, So We Have A Limited, Created Spirit
1. Now I understand soul and spirit to be more or less synonymous¡Kthe terms define differing aspects of our non-material nature
2. It is our spirit that is able to commune with God: Romans 8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Philippians 3:3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh--
Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
3. Where does our spirit come from? Does God create our spirits individually while in the womb, or did He create all our souls when He created Adam and Eve and we inherit our spirits much like we do our genetic structures?
(1) Christians are divided over this; I believe we inherit our souls, otherwise we have God creating sinful souls, and that seems to me to contradict God¡¦s holy nature.
(2) Wherever they come from, our human spirit is invisible, like God¡¦s. It is that spiritual nature, among other things, that sets us apart from animals¡K
(3) When we are born, our soul/spirit is active. When we talk about being born spiritually dead, we are talking about our spiritual connection to the true God; lost people can be very spiritual, but the kind of spirituality that connects to the true God takes a work of His grace¡K
If you think of our souls as a telephone system, lost people make calls and connect all over the place, but they don¡¦t have the true God¡¦s number¡K.
CONCLUSION
1. What about you? Do you know the difference between religion and a personal relationship with God through His one and only Son, Jesus Christ?
2. Have you connected to the true God, believing that Jesus died to pay for your sins and rose again?
3. Have you turned from your sin and turned to Jesus?
