When asked by the woman at Jacob’s well where people should go to worship God, Jesus replied, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) This concept of spirit deserves to be further explored.

Richard Strauss in his classic book The Joy of Knowing God elaborates, “Spirits are invisible… Because God is invisible, not only can we know Him, but we can know Him apart from our physical senses. We do not have to see Him or feel Him to know Him. We have spirits too, you see. God is spirit, but we have spirits housed in our physical bodies. And when our spirits are made alive toward God through the new birth, we have the capacity to commune with Him in our spirits, anytime, anywhere, and under any circumstances. Communion with God does not depend upon external things because it takes place in the spiritual part of our being. That was the point of Jesus’ comment to the woman at the well. Since God is a spirit, we must worship Him in spirit. Worship is not primarily a matter of physical location, surroundings, form, ritual, liturgy, or ceremony. It is not a matter of creating a certain kind of mood or atmosphere. It is a matter of spirit. Worship is the response of our spirits to God’s revelation of Himself.” Strauss continues, “It is difficult for us to grasp this truth since our spirits live in physical bodies and our physical bodies inhabit a physical universe. Our occupation of the physical makes us try to put a relationship with God into that same realm. We want to be inspired to worship Him by lavish cathedrals, great art, pleasant sounds, lovely aromas, and beautifully worded liturgies. Our religious natures cry out for religious symbol, images and pictures to help us create a mood for worship. We think we have to be in a church building and follow certain prescribed procedures. God says, ‘You cannot reduce me to physical things that can be experienced with your senses. I dwell in the realm of spirit and that is where I want to meet with you…’ We know Him and enjoy Him in the spiritual realm, apart from the physical senses.” (Richard L. Strauss, The Joy of Knowing God, copyright 1984, Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., pages 46-47)

 Here is identified two opposing forces – the kingdom of God, and what we have been calling Traditional Religion derived from Babylon. One involves a spiritual experience with God while the other is a physical manifestation of men attempting to create an earthly atmosphere of God’s presence. One draws it worshippers from earthly construction to spiritual realities while the other gravitates the mind from the unseen to a more tangible religious experience tailored to engage our physical senses. The previous bypasses human authority and connects by faith with God in the spiritual realm, the latter only seeks divine interaction through the authority of human superintendence.

This is not to say God doesn’t have anything to do with our material world. After all, He created it. The Bible states that “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” (Psalm 24:1) He lays claim to all the gold and silver, and cattle on a thousand hills. (See Haggai 2:8; Psalm 50:10) Material things is not the problem. It is when we substitute earthly things for God that the difficulty arises. Like making images of gold, silver and wood to represent God, something the Lord explicitly forbids in the Ten Commandments. While we constantly gravitate towards a relationship with Him through physical interaction, He counters by bringing us into circumstances that force us to seek Him through the spirit. It’s kind of like a father trying to teach his child to ride a bike. First, he allows training wheels until the time arrives to drop them off. When Jesus sent the seventy disciples out for evangelism, He instructed them to take no physical provisions with them, only the gospel message, and completely rely on the Spirit for the adventure. (See Luke chapter 10) Later his disciples filled with their religious pride, said, “Lord, look at that Temple,” but Jesus informed them it was to be removed. (See Mark chapter 13) They kept relying on training wheels, and God kept removing them. They had a tangible, physical relationship with God in the person of Jesus. They saw him, felt him, heard him, smelt his presence, and then what happened? In John 14 he told them He was leaving to go prepare a room for them in His Father’s mansion, and that they couldn’t go with Him. His physical presence was being removed. But, then what did He tell them? He would send them His Spirit! His Spirit taps into our spirit allowing us to serve Him by faith. Peter said, “You love him even though you have never seen him.” (1 Peter 1:8)

Nothing has changed. In these last days God is still looking for people to experience Him in the realm of the Spirit, serving him by faith. And, what is faith? It is the “substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) Traditional Religion is the antithesis of such an experience. It seeks the impossible, to create a tangible god, but this cannot be for He is spirit. This is the religion of Babylon that has been carried down to our time from Nimrod’s family. All it ever accomplishes is the creation of another idea of another false god, another statue to pray to, another anti-Christ seeking to usurp the Lord’s authority. It seeks control of the world’s material wealth, but more insidiously it wants control of men’s minds – human worship. This is the test for the followers of Christ going forward. Our fallen natures keep gravitating towards Babylon, and God keeps calling us out. (See Revelation chapter 18)

Babylon is going to fall, and then Jesus will return co-joining the spirit and physical with His presence. He promised He would. Until then, we know that when the material is taken from us our faith will not give way. God’s word to us lays it out this way, “when all you own is taken away from you, you accept it with joy. You knew you had better things away waiting for you in eternity. Do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord, no matter what happens. Remember the great reward it brings you. Patient endurance is what you need now, so you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And a righteous person will live by faith. But I will have no pleasure in anyone who turns away. But we are not like those who turn their backs on God and seal their fate. We have faith that assures our salvation.” (Hebrews 10:34-38)