The Attributes of God - God is spirit - Invisibility - Jn 4:1-26 & Ex 33:12-23 (Sermon 3)

Last time we looked at the way God revealed his Eternity to Abraham & Moses

1. God revealed his Eternal Nature to Abraham through his need for a Dwelling Place

• God made an Everlasting Covenant with Abraham back in Ur of the Chaldees.
• After Isaac was born God provided a Permanent Dwelling Place at Beersheba.
• Only then did God reveal his Name of Everlasting God to Abraham.
• He is the One who provides an Eternal Salvation & an Eternal Dwelling Place.

1. God revealed his Eternal Nature to Moses, before he died without entering Canaan

• God taught Moses how the Dwelling Place of God's People is NOT in this world.
• He taught Moses that God HIMSELF is the Eternal Dwelling Place of his people.

We now come to another Attribute of God that is difficult for us to understand.

When Jesus was travelling through Samaria he met "The Woman at the Well" (John 4)

During their conversation, Jesus taught this woman two of the most basic truths in Scripture.

The First Truth Jesus taught this woman was that God is Eternal (John 4:14):

• After asking her for a drink from Jacob's well, Jesus taught her about Living Water;

"It will become a spring of water welling up to Eternal Life."

The Second Truth Jesus taught this woman was that God is spirit (John 4:24).

• Because Jesus knew about her marriage problems, she recognised him as a prophet.
• Then this Samaritan woman said to Jesus:

Jesus responds to the woman's comment by making a profound statement about God:

• There was a bitter dispute between the Jews & Samaritans over the rival claims of Jerusalem & Gerizim as the true place of worship, but Jesus refuses to argue about it.
• Instead of arguing, Jesus tells her about the genuine nature of worship.

"A time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the

Father in spirit & truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.

God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit & truth" (John 4:23-24).

This is actually the first occasion in Scripture when this truth is stated explicitly.

One writer says: "This truth is apparent from what had been revealed in the

Old Testament, but it had never been put into plain words."

Note that the A.V. translation is misleading here: "God is 'A' spirit."

• In the Greek, there is no indefinite article before the word "spirit".
• Jesus is NOT saying that God is 'a' spirit, in the sense that he is one spirit among many.
• He is not a spirit in the same sense that the angels are spirits.
• Rather, his meaning is this: "God's essential nature is spirit."

• Furthermore, the word spirit is placed first in the Greek sentence for emphasis.

The Puritan Stephen Charnock said:

"God is a Spirit above spirits. No spirit can clearly represent him: the angels, that are

great spirits, are bounded in their extent, finite in their being, & of a mutable nature."

• God is described as Infinite Spirit. There is no sense in which he can be more spiritual.

God is spirit - The QUESTION to ask is this - What does this Attribute of God mean and what relevance does it have for the life of the believer?

FIRSTLY: God is Invisible; therefore we can only know God by faith.

The Apostle John says:

"No one has seen God, but the only Son … He has made him known" (John 1:18).

The Apostle Paul calls God (Colossians 1:15; 1 Tim 1:17):

"The invisible God" and "The King eternal, immortal, invisible."

This truth is reflected in the Hymn of Walter Chalmers Smith:

"Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes; Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise."

It is common knowledge that we cannot see a spirit.

• No matter how intimately we know someone - we cannot see their spirit.
• God made human beings with both a Body and a Spirit.

• Whilst you are able to see your body, you cannot see your spirit.
• Your spirit lives inside your body, and departs from your body when you die.
• It can be said that your spirit is the real you.
• It is your spirit that thinks, and listens when you read God's Word.
• It is your spirit that loves, and feels happy or sad.
• Whilst nobody can see your spirit, you can know that it is a reality living inside of you.

The theologians say that God is Incorporeal - which means that God has NO BODY.

Because God is spirit, we cannot see Him - God is Invisible

• God is completely spirit and that is why he is invisible.
• Nevertheless, God sees us and he hears us - God loves us and cares for us.
• God reveals his truth to us and allows us to communicate with him.

In the Scriptures, we read of people who have seen visible manifestations of God:

• God used such manifestations to reveal himself to men and to communicate with them

Remember how we read of Moses coming face to face with God.

• We read in Exodus 33 of how Moses went into the Tent of Meeting.
• The pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance.

It is clear from the context that this does not literally mean that Moses saw God's Face.

• Neither does it imply that Moses was speaking to a God who looks like a man.

• The expression speaking face to face with God simply means that Moses spoke intimately with God. He communicated with the Invisible God - the God who is spirit.

This fact is made perfectly clear in the passage which follows (Exodus 33:18-20):

• Moses received only a brief glimpse of God's Glory -

Nevertheless, his face was so radiant and shining bright that Aaron and

all the Israelites were afraid to come near him (Exodus 34:29-30).

God spoke to Moses face to face - but God would not allow Moses to see his face.

• It is clear that seeing God face to face is NOT the same thing as seeing the Face of God.

• Speaking with God face to face means speaking with him on a

personal & intimate basis, as a friend speaks to a friend.

The experience of Moses teaches us that God is Invisible;

Moses communicated with God face to face, but he could not see the Face of God.

- Moses could only communicate with God by faith.

- He communicated with God, who is spirit, through his own spirit.

A W Pink points out that:

"God is spirit, therefore he can only be known spiritually."

• Because God is invisible, we can know him in a spiritual sense, not in a physical sense.

• We do not have to see God or feel God to know him.

God is spirit. Therefore, we can only know God because he has given us a spirit.

- God is spirit - but we also have spirits within our physical bodies.

The problem is that naturally, our spirits are dead in sin.

• This is why the New Birth is so vitally important.
• In order to communicate with God who is spirit,

we must be Born Again of the Spirit of God.

Remember what Jesus said to Nicodemus (John 3:5-6):

"I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the

kingdom of God. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit."

• If man is to have any hope of a true relationship with God who is spirit,

his own spirit must be alive toward God.

• When our spirits are made alive toward God through the new birth,

we have the capacity to communicate with God in our spirits.

Paul makes this relationship between our spirits and the Holy Spirit very clear:

"By him (the Holy Spirit) we cry 'Abba, Father'. The Spirit himself testifies with

our spirit that we are God's children" (Rom 8:16).

• Because our communion with God is on a spiritual, rather than a physical, level,

we can commune with him anytime, anywhere, and under any circumstances.

This is why Jesus said to the woman at the well:

"God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit & truth" (John 4:24).

The Apostle Paul reminds us that:

"We worship by the Spirit of God" (Philippians 3:3).

The Puritan Stephen Charnock said:

"God is of a spiritual essence. Therefore he must be worshipped with a spiritual worship."

Jesus is saying to the woman at the well:

"Because God is spirit he cannot be confined to a particular place."

What matters is NOT WHERE you worship God, but HOW you worship God.

• Because the Messiah has come, worship is no longer confined to Jerusalem.
• When God took on humanity at the incarnation, God chose to dwell

not only among his people, but 'IN' his people.

• When Jesus ascended into heaven the Holy Spirit came to indwell God's people.
• It is the Holy Spirit working in our spirit which enables us to worship God, who is spirit.
• Because God is spirit our worship is not confined to particular places & circumstances. We can worship anywhere because God's presence among us is spiritual, not physical.

Both Paul & Jesus are saying that our worship must be Spirit-led & Spirit-controlled.

• The actual place & building are not important.
• The important thing is the act of worship itself, and the spirit in which we come to worship.

Note how we are to worship God in spirit AND in truth.

• During worship, the Holy Spirit prepares our minds & hearts to receive God's Word.
• The Spirit brings about a change of heart, and enables us to continue in the Apostles' Doctrine. Indeed our love for the Truth is evidence that our spirits are alive to God.

This teaching about the Invisibility of God can only be understood BY FAITH:

Therefore, the Invisibility of God is linked in Scripture to the Faith of the Believer:

• The invisibility of God means that, if we are to know and experience the presence of God, we must rely on something other than our physical sight.

The Apostle Paul says: "We live by faith, NOT by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Hebrews tells us about the relationship between FAITH & things that are NOT SEEN:

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This

is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe

was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what is

visible" (Heb 11:1-3).

God is spirit - The QUESTION to ask is this - What does this Attribute of God mean and what relevance does it have for the life of the believer?

FIRSTLY: God is Invisible; therefore we can only know him by faith, that is,

SECONDLY: God is a Living Person whom believers can know in a personal manner.

• When we think of God as spirit, we must be careful to think of Him as a Personal Spirit.
• Our God is NOT an inanimate object.
• Our God is NOT like a pagan idol with a mouth that cannot speak, eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear, and hands that cannot accomplish anything.

Remember how the Psalmist compares our God with pagan idols (Psalm 115:2-12):

"Why do the nations say, 'Where is your God?' Our God is in heaven; He does

whatever he pleases. But their idols are silver & gold, made by the hands of men …

Trust in the Lord - he is our help & shield. The Lord remembers us and will bless us."

• Pagan idols are incapable of doing anything, because they are made by the hands of men.
• But our God is the Living God who fills Heaven & Earth (Jeremiah 23:24).
• He is the Living & Sovereign Lord who does whatever he pleases (Psalm 115:3).
• He is the One who loves us, meets our needs & blesses us with every Spiritual Blessing.

We must never think of God as Something which we cannot describe.

• Rather, we must think of God as Someone. Think of the Person of God the Father.
• Our God is a Person, and NOT some kind of impersonal force which

acts without purpose or reason. Our God is ALIVE & ACTIVE Forever and Ever.

Remember how the very word spirit means 'breath'

• We know that breath is the evidence of life. No one can live without breath!
• Throughout Scripture God is called the Living God - the God who is spirit or breath.

The Psalmist says:

• The Psalmist's spirit cries out for fellowship with the God who is spirit - the Living God.

When the Children of Israel came to the River Jordan, Joshua said:

"This is how you will know that the Living God is among you …As soon as the

priests who carry the ark of the Lord set foot in the Jordan, the water flowing

downstream will be cut off and stand in a heap" (Joshua 3:10-13).

• They will not be able to see God because God is spirit - he is invisible.
• BUT, they will know that the Living God is present.

• God will display his Sovereign Power by holding back the Jordan.

The Apostle Paul spoke about the Thessalonian Christians, saying:

"Your faith in God has become known everywhere … They tell how you turned to

God from idols to serve the Living & True God" (1 Thess 1:8-9).

• They had turned their backs on Lifeless Idols, to serve the Living God.
• Although God is spirit, he is a Living & Personal Being, who is the Only True God.

It may be argued that the essential nature of personality is Self-consciousness and

Self-determination and that the Living God has BOTH:

• God's Name of Jehovah, teaches us that He is Conscious of his Personal Being.
• The Name Jehovah means "I AM who I AM" (Exodus 3:14).

God is saying: I am the Self-conscious One; I am the Self-existent One; I know who I am

• Only a Person who is aware of his own Self-consciousness could make such a statement. A lifeless pagan idol could never possess such a name.

A W Tozer said: "A more positive assertion of selfhood could not be imagined than those

words of God to Moses: I AM that I AM. Everything God is, everything that is God,

is set forth in that unqualified declaration of independent being."

The Living God also possesses Self-determination:

• He has the freedom to choose his own course of action.

Remember the Word of God to Moses:

• An impersonal force could not speak and give logical directions like that.

Remember again what God said to Moses:

"I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom

I will have compassion" (Exodus 33:19).

Remember what God said to Isaiah:

Because God is a Living Person, we can know him personally:

• If God were merely an inanimate object or an impersonal force we would have no hope of having a personal relationship with him.
• Only the Living God can make himself known to us through his Eternal Word.
• Only the Living God has the Power to intervene in our lives.
• Only the Living God has the Power to help us in time of need.

Stuart Olyott says:

"On the very first page of our Bible we read of God speaking, and this continues all

the way to the last page. We learn again and again that it is possible to know God.

This could not be possible if He were just a force or an influence which we could

never describe."

Remember what Moses said about his relationship with God (Exodus 33:11):

• It is impossible to have such a relationship with an idol of stone or wood.
• Such an intimate & personal relationship is only possible with the Living God!

Remember what the Lord Jesus prayed in his High Priestly Prayer:

"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,

whom you have sent" (John 17:3).

• Jesus leaves us in no doubt whatsoever that we can have a living, personal, and eternal relationship with the Living and True God.

Jim Packer, in his book Knowing God, had this to say about our relationship with God:

"Firstly, Knowing God is a matter of personal dealing, as is all direct acquaintance

with personal beings. Knowing God is more than knowing about him; it is a matter of

dealing with him as he opens up to you, and being dealt with by him as he takes

knowledge of you. … Secondly, Knowing God is a matter of personal involvement,

in mind, will & feeling. It would not be a fully personal relationship otherwise."

• We can only speak like that if we believe in a personal relationship with the Living God.
• Knowing God is about having Personal Dealings with a Living Person.
• Knowing God is about having a Personal Involvement with a True Living Being.
• We cannot have a personal relationship with an impersonal force, which doesn't exist.
• We cannot interact in a personal way with an object which has no true existence.

God is spirit - The QUESTION to ask is this - What does this Attribute of God mean and what relevance does it have for the life of the believer?

FIRSTLY: God is Invisible; therefore we can only know him by faith, that is,

SECONDLY: God is a Living Person whom believers can know in a personal manner.

THIRDLY: God is Immaterial; therefore we must not put our hope in material things.

• God is spirit and therefore God is Immaterial - He has NO MATERIAL existence.
• By that we do not mean that God is insignificant or unimportant.
• By saying that God is immaterial, we mean that God is what the theologians refer to as incorporeal - God has no physical form; God has no physical body.

The Scriptures often refer to God appearing to Moses:

• When the people of Israel were at Mount Sinai, the Lord said to Moses:

• Moses went up the Mountain to meet with God.

"Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire …

Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered" (Exodus 19:18-19).

• The Lord Himself made an important comment about this incident:

"The Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words

but saw NO FORM; there was only a voice" (Deuteronomy 4:12).

- In other words, Moses heard the voice of God, but he could not see a Body.

The Lord Jesus made the same kind of statement about God the Father:

"The Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me.

You have never heard his voice nor seen his form" (John 5:37).

• Both the Old & New Testaments indicate that God has NO FORM.
• That means that God has no physical body.

Again, the Lord Jesus tells us quite categorically:

"Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see;

a spirit does not have flesh & bones, as you see I have" (Luke 24:39).

• Since God is completely spirit - we can say quite categorically that

God does not possess a Physical Body.

An apparent problem seems to arise here:

Some passages refer to God as though he has a Body.

For example, Scripture mentions God's arms, ears & eyes; his feet, hands, & mouth.

"Surely the arm of the Lord is not short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear" (Is 59:1)

"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those

whose hearts are fully committed to him" (2 Chronicles 15;9).

"Moses & Aaron, Nadab & Abihu, & 70 elders of Israel went up and saw the God of

Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made with sapphire, clear as the

sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of Israel"(Ex 24:9-11).

"Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities & good things come?"

"Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes

from the mouth of God" (Lamentations 3:38 & Matthew 4:4).

None of these references to bodily parts are meant to be taken literally.

• Theologians call these references Anthropomorphisms - a word meaning "human form"
• They are symbolic representations, used to help human minds understand God's actions None of these references are intended to negate the fact that God is spirit.

• God has no material substance. God is not dependent on any material things.
• God dwells completely in the realm of the spirit.

The Scriptures clearly teach that God is Immaterial

• God is spirit - Therefore, God does not have a Physical Body.

The Scriptures make it quite clear that believers put their Hope in the God who is spirit:

• This fact has clear implications for the Christian Life.

The Scriptures leave us in no doubt on this matter:

Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount is very clear:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and

where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,

where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For

where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:19-21).

• God does not measure our future security in terms of our Material Wealth.
• If we love & serve the God who does not have a Material Substance, then surely our hearts & minds should be centred upon Spiritual things, rather than Material things.
• Our True Riches are in Heaven rather than on Earth.

The Apostle Paul says:

"Set your minds on things that are above, not on earthly things" (Colossians 3:2).

Remember that that "Our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20).

Again, the Lord Jesus says:

"O you of little faith. Do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we

wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that

you need them. But seek his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will

be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:30-33).

• Again, the emphasis is on the Wealth of the Spiritual Kingdom, not on Worldly Wealth.

Remember Jesus' pertinent words to the Rich Young Ruler who kept God's Law.

• Wealth, in and of itself, is not the real stumbling block.
• The problem arises when the love of wealth becomes detrimental to spiritual growth.
• God wants us to find our future security in him, not in financial & material security.
• The God who is spirit commands us to store up Spiritual Treasures in Heaven.

It is possible for us to nod in agreement with this teaching, and then just carry on storing up treasures on earth, rather than concentrating on spiritual treasure.

• Have you ever really put this teaching to the test?
• Have you ever given all your wealth away, & then relied on God to provide your needs?

• Do you give as much attention to developing your Spiritual Life as you do to Wealth?
• OR, do you spend so much energy working for your Material Security that
• you have little energy left to serve the Living God?
• Where are your priorities? Are they Spiritual or Material?

The Parable of the Rich Fool gives a clear WARNING to believers about having WRONG PRIORITIES in life (Luke 12:16-21):

• The Rich Fool stored up a grain mountain in his barns.
• When his barns became too small to store bumper harvests, he built bigger barns.

• Then God said to this man (Luke 12:20-21):

"You fool! This night your life will be demanded from you … This is how it will be

with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God"

• To be rich toward God is to grow in spiritual graces;
• To be rich toward God is to increase your level of holiness.
• To be rich toward God is to invest the material wealth that you possess, which is
• over and above your daily needs, in the Extension of God's Kingdom.
• That is Real Spiritual Wealth.
• That is what will bring Real Spiritual Security.