“Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”” (John 4:21–24, ESV)
What Is God Made Of?
Have you ever had a child ask you the question, “What is God made of?” Children aren’t the only ones asking that question. Wayne Grudem says, “People have often wondered, what is God made of? Is he made of flesh and blood like ourselves?…Is God made of matter at all? Or is God pure energy? Or is he in some sense pure thought?” (Systematic Theology, p. 186).
How would you answer that question?
God is Spirit
Jesus answers that question for us very clearly. When speaking with the woman at the well, he says, “God is spirit” (John 4:24).
Herman Bavinck helps us understand what that means: “The term was used to mean that God is a unique substance, distinct from the universe, immaterial, imperceptible to the human senses, without composition or extension.” (Reformed Dogmatics, 185). So, God is not made of the same things we see on earth. He is distinct from creation. He is distinct from anything in the universe.
No Images
This is why God doesn’t allow us to use images in our worship. He says, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” (Exodus 20:4, ESV). That makes sense, doesn’t it? Since God is not made of anything that is in the sky or the earth or the sea, we should not try to create anything to represent Him in that way. It would be misleading and lower God to the point of being a creature.
Worship In Spirit
This is why Jesus says, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23–24, ESV). Since God is Spirit, the only way we can truly worship Him is in spirit and truth. Our worship doesn’t revolve around certain spaces and places. Our worship isn’t focused on material things. Our worship is in spirit and truth.
Our Spirit
This is considered a Communicable Attribute because God has also given us a spirit. God is only spirit. We are made of body AND spirit. So, as I’ve already mentioned, the communicable attributes are dimly reflected in us. Yet, we still have this in common with God—our spirituality.
Grudem ties all of this together saying, “Nevertheless, the fact remains that God has given us spirits in which we worship him (John 4:24; 1 Cor 14:14; Phil 3:3), in which we are united with the Lord’s spirit (1 Cor 6:17), with which the Holy Spirit joins to bear witness to our adoption in God’s family (Romm 8:16), and in which we pass into the Lord’s presence when we die (Luke 23:46; Eccl 12:7; Heb 12:23; cf Phil 1:23-24).” (Systematic Theology, p. 188).