Spiritual Act of Worship
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–Today there are so many people who believe in God and who worship God. And also there are so many different ways in worshiping God. It seems like everybody has his or her own way of worshiping God. In this situation, if you bring up the question of a right way of worshiping God, many will blame you for your narrow-mindedness and rigidity. People tend to believe everybody has freedom to choose his or her way of worshiping God. The way of worshiping God is a matter of personal choice which should not be constrained by anybody else.
Proper Ways Of God-Worship
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–However, when we look at the bible, God does not seem to accept all the worships equally by blessing them all. Rather, God seems to be pleased more over a certain type of worship than others. We can see this example from the story of Cain and Abel.
Genesis 4:2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Even though Cain and Abel both worshiped God, God accepted Abel’s offering but not Cain’s. This story reveals that God has preference for certain types of offerings. And also through this story we have to realize that we must worship God in the way God is pleased with to receive blessings from God.
God-Worship In the Law Of Moses
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–We can find similar examples in the Law of Moses too. Even though many says that we can worship God in whatever way we choose to. This is completely wrong when we look at the laws and regulations God gave to His people. God could have simply commanded them to worship Him any way they want. Instead, God specified everything in an act of worship: time, place and manner.
The Place of Worship
In this worship of God, the bottom line was that people must not worship God with their own accord. Rather, they have to follow very strict regulations. First, God did not allow his people to worship him any place they want. Rather He appointed them a place of worship so they could go to worship Him.
Deuteronomy 12:5 But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go
The Time of Worship
The place God has chosen for his people was the temple in Jerusalem which King Solomon established later. Also, God did not allow his people to come to him any time they want to meet him. If they did, God punished them for their lawlessness.
Leviticus 16:2 The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die.
The Manner of Worship
And third, God gave them a specific manner of worship: the choice of animal, the amount of wine and bread, etc. The whole Book of Leviticus itself contains all the regulations of worship. According to this regulations and laws, the priest of God worshiped God. They worshiped God in a tabernacle and later in a temple. And they worshiped God at God’s appointed times, that is, the festivals of God. Also they followed all the required regulations God set up for the worship. Most of their worships included shedding the blood of an animal for the forgiveness of sins.
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth
In our time, however, this is not the right way of worshiping God. Jesus said that we must worship God in spirit and in truth not in a physical temple, but in a spiritual temple. (John 4:23) Just as Paul said, the temple worship according to the Law of Moses was just a copy and shadow God gave us to teach us the reality of worship. (Hebrews 8:5) Again, he teaches us that we have a better tabernacle or temple to go to worship God.
Hebrews 9:11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation.
He teaches us that there is another temple which does not belong to the physical world. The reality of the temple is in heaven. Then what is the true spiritual temple? This heavenly temple is very important to us because this the place that we must go to worship God.
The Spiritual Heavenly Temple
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–Then what is the spiritual temple which we must go as God’s people to worship God and receive blessings?
Revelation 21:22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
According to the Book of Revelation, God teaches us that in the heavenly Jerusalem city is not physical temple. Rather, there is the reality of temple in the city, that is, the Christ or the Lamb. In other words, the reality of the temple is the Christ himself. The temple is a place where God dwells by putting his Spirit in it. On the other hand, when the Christ appeared, he put the Spirit of God in his body. For this reason Christ called his body as temple.
John 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
What God wanted to teach us through the temple worship in the Law of Moses was the reality of the temple, Christ who we must find and go to worship God.
God’s Appointed Time
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–2000 years ago the Reality of God’s temple, Christ came down to this earth. He was teaching his disciples to come to him, the true temple of God. Just as God gathered his people to the physical temple at the appointed time, Christ was gathering his people toward himself during the festivals of God.
On the night of the Passover he gathered his people, and let them know that he was the reality of a sacrificial animal. He let them know that the true forgiveness can be attainable only through his flesh and blood, not with animal sacrifice. And on the last and greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacle, he was gathering his people to give them blessings of eternal life.
John 7:37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
The True Temple We Must God To Worship God
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–According to the bible, the Christ would come again in the last day. Then how would he appear? The book of Revelation says that God would put his tabernacle among his people.
Revelation 21:2-3 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
The bible says that God would establish his dwelling place or the temple among his people again in the last day. Does this mean he would establish a physical temple in the city of Jerusalem in the land of Palestine. Definitely not. Paul said the temple we must seek now is not the physical temple, but spiritual temple the Christ.
God Appears As Man In The Flesh
Therefore, the only possible conclusion is the Christ would appear as man in the flesh for the second time as reality of temple by putting the Spirit of God in his body. The bible testifies about the Christ who appears in the last day like this:
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
Jesus in his first coming gathered his people to him the reality of the temple so that they can worship God in spirit and in truth by following and obeying the teaching of God. In the same way, the Revelation teaches about the reality of the temple, the Spirit and Bride who give his people the water of life, eternal life.
The Spirit represents the Lamb or the Second Coming Christ (Rev 19:7, 21 :9). This prophecy tells that Christ would come as man for the second time and gather his people to him the reality of the temple that they can worship God and receive the blessings of eternal life. However, this time he comes back with his bride of the Lamb, God the Mother who can give us the water of life.
Come to the Spirit and the Bride
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–Through this teaching we can see that Christ would appear again in the flesh as the reality of the temple and gather his people to give them blessings of eternal life. Therefore, to worship God in spirit and in truth the very first thing we must do is to know the Spirit and the Bride or Father and Mother who appear as man in the flesh. Since they are the true temple of God we must come to them to worship God during the festivals of God. In that way, we can worship God in spirit and in truth and receive the blessing of forgiveness and eternal life.