What God Wants Everyday

 

What God Wants Everyday

John 4:23-24

Subject: Worship

Theme: God wants genuine heart-felt Christ-centered worship from each believer throughout each day.

Introduction:

We know many things are done in the name of worship in churches and stadiums, but does God accept these sometimes-sincere gestures? What kind of worship is acceptable to God? The focus should not be on the congregation whether saved or lost, but on God we presume to adore.

Worship basically means to “express by attitude and possibly by position one’s allegiance to and regard for deity—‘to prostrate oneself in worship, to bow down and worship, to worship.’ Mt 2:2.^[1]

Worship can also mean “to bow the knee….”

Worship takes various forms involving lifestyle actions of devotion, service, and obedience, treating daily life as a sacrifice to our great God. In John 4:24, Jesus states: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth”. Actual worship is not bound by location but is an internal reality—sincere devotion (spirit) rooted in the authenticity of God’s Word and His very nature (truth).  

Lesson:

Some keys to remember critical facts about “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) requirement of our Lord Jesus:

• “God is a Spirit”: We must realize that God is not tied to one location for our worship. Because God is not limited by physical form, worship is not restricted to specific places like temples, mountains, or even church buildings.
• God is Spirit asserts that “God is not one Spirit among many. This is a declaration of His invisible nature. He is not confined to one location. Worship of God can be done only through the One (Jesus) who expresses God’s invisible nature (1:18) and by virtue of the Holy Spirit who opens to a believer the new realm of the kingdom (cf. 3:3, 5; 7:38–39).”^[2]
• “In Spirit”: Signifies that worship comes from the heart—real genuine, legitimate honest admissions—guided by the Holy Spirit, and is not merely external ritual, formal procedure or ceremony, or ignorant conventions.
• Jesus announced to the woman that from now on worship of the Father would be in spirit and truth. The Jewish people had reduced worship to outward forms and ceremonies. They thought that by religiously adhering to the letter of the law, and going through certain rituals, they were worshiping the Father. But theirs was not a worship of the spirit. It was outward, not inward. Their bodies might be bowed down on the ground but their hearts were not right before God. Perhaps they were oppressing the poor, or using deceitful business methods.^[3]
• “In Truth”: Indicates that worship aligns with God’s essential nature, the true declarations of Scripture, Jesus Christ— “The Truth”, the teachings of Christ. We must worship according to the truth of Jesus’ person and work, for He is the truth (John 1:14; 14:6) and, thus, the solitary way we may truly worship God.
• True worshipers are those who realize that Jesus is the Truth of God (3:21; 14:6) and the one and only Way to the Father (Acts 4:12). To worship in truth is to worship God through Jesus.^[4]
• In spirit and truth…. This is what matters, not where, but how (in reality, in the spirit of man, the highest part of man, and so in truth). All this is according to the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:5) who is the Spirit of truth (John 16:13). Here Jesus has said the final word on worship….^[5]
• The Father’s Expectations: The Father seeks (like a shepherd pursues a lost sheep, like a farmer expects fruit, or like an investor requires ROI) such genuine adoration. 
• The Father is seeking true worshipers because He wants people to live in reality, not in falsehood. Everybody is a worshiper (Rom. 1:25) but because of sin many are blind and constantly put their trust in worthless objects.^[6]

Christ ideas contrasts with rigid, traditional, or location-based worship, focusing instead on a personal, authentic connection to God. 

Conclusion:

Unfortunately, many people offer God ‘worship’ that satisfies their cultural ideas, and this can be seen in churches and large auditoriums. Churches also have programed the ‘worship services’ to be more people centered omitting the fact that it is God we have gathered to worship. While some of the cultural ideas are acceptable, we must note carefully what God himself stated as a requirement.  

Because God is spirit, we as genuine worshippers must connect with Him sincerely through the Holy Spirit and in accordance with the truth of Jesus’s teachings. Let us freely give God our Father precisely what he is looking for: genuine heart-felt Christ-centered worship from each one of us believers throughout each day He gives us to glorify Him.

 

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^[1] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 539.

^[2] Edwin A. Blum, “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 286.

^[3] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1485.

^[4] Edwin A. Blum, “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 286.

^[5] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Jn 4:23.

^[6] Edwin A. Blum, “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 286.