From Indwelling Life, To True Worship, To Christ Centered Mission

Three things I desire for followers of Christ found in John 4

3 key verses in John 4:

1. (v13-14): Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
2. (v. 23-24): Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
3. (v. 31-34): Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something." But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about...My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."

So a brief summary of a progression of faith that can be gathered from these verses is: from being filled with the wellspring of life to worshiping God in spirit and truth to doing the will of the Father.


I. Being filled with the wellspring of life

When I read this verse recently, I immediately thought of Jeremiah 2 where God is rebuking the Israelites through Jeremiah for their idolatry. It says in Jeremiah 2 that the heavens are shocked and appalled as they look down on humanity committing two major sins: The Lord says, "They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water," (v.12-13). This image is so incredibly powerful to me of heavenly beings looking down on humans in a desert wasteland turning away from the only good thing- this gushing spring of fresh water- and instead frantically pouring dirty water that they are hoping to drink into a cracked cistern that immediately absorbs the water so they can't drink it at all, leaving them parched and empty. This is a true picture of the consequences and emptiness of idolatry.

In this verse in John 4, Jesus is making a really profound statement that this spring of living water (referenced in Jeremiah 2 which is talking about himself) can now dwell deep inside of us. Not only will Christ enable us to turn back towards that spring of living water away from our cracked, broken cisterns, but he will actually put that living water within us, bubbling up to eternal life, which is knowledge of him as defined in John 17:3! We no longer have to be slaves of sin, the devil, idoloatry (inordinate affections for other things besides God), or ourselves, but are set free to treasure God above all else and find our satisfaction, righteousness, and identity in Him.

In John Piper's book called God is the Gospel, he beautifully comments on what he means by the title of the book: "When I say that God is the Gospel I mean that the highest, best, final, decisive good of the gospel, without which no other gifts would be good, is the glory of God in the face of Christ revealed for our everlasting enjoyment. The saving love of God is God's commitment to do everything necessary to enthrall us with what is most deeply and durably satisfying, namely himself. Since we are sinners and have no right and no desire to be enthralled with God, therefore God's love enacted a plan of redemption to provide that right and that desire. The supreme demonstration of God's love was the sending of his Son to die for our sins and to rise again so that sinners might have the right to approach God and might have the pleasure of his presence forever."

This indwelling of God and personal reconciliation and intimacy with Him is the foundation and basis for everything else in the Christian life!

II. Worshiping God in spirit and in truth

The main thing I want to focus on in this section is the question what does it mean to worship God in spirit? I feel like God has given me insight through great teachers and through His Word into some answers to this question. As a note before diving in: it is helpful to meditate on these truths because we so often think that worship is primarily something done in our body or soul, not our spirit. But if God wants us to worship him primarily in spirit, what is the litmus test for how we are doing in this? It can't just be how many tingles or tears we have while singing worship songs to him, nor can it just be using our bodies in a way that is honoring and pure before Him, though these are important for sure. There must be something more, so here we go. There is a lot in this section so hopefully it is coherent:)

1. Dependence on God: To put no confidence in the flesh, but rather to have the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

Philippians 3:3 says, "For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh." The context of this verse is Paul commenting on all of the religious, self-righteous things he used to depend on to make him right with God which he now considers complete garbage in comparison to being found in Christ and having a righteousness that comes from Him and is by faith. Apart from the work of Christ, Paul sees his own works and right standing with God as being absolute poop. If Paul, the most pure, zealous, law abiding, and devout religious person of that time, said this, then how much more do we also need a righteousness from Christ that comes by faith?

So elaborating further, what does it mean to put no confidence in the flesh? A few brief reflections on what I think it means to put no confidence in the flesh:

• Poverty of spirit: What is poverty of spirit? According to scholar DA Carson, "poverty of spirit is the personal acknowledgement of spiritual bankruptcy. It is the conscious confession of unworth before God. As such, it is the deepest form of repentance. Poverty of spirit becomes a general confession of a man’s need for God, a humble admission of impotence without Him."
• Identifying with the sick, not the righteous: "When the Pharisees asked Jesus why he hung out with sinners, Jesus responded, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." 
• Identifying with the blind: After Jesus healed the blind man in John 9, the Pharisees were furious bc Jesus healed him on the Sabbath. They refused to believe that his miracles were a sign of Him being the Messiah. After the man is healed, he is brought in and questioned. After this, Jesus comes to the man to tell him who he is, and the man believes in him. Then Jesus says to him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” Some Pharisees standing nearby ask if he is saying they are blind, to which Jesus responds, “If you were blind you wouldn’t be guilty. But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.”
• Quote by Graham Tomlin: A person (all of us) has to be brought to a point where he realizes that his actions, goodness, religiosity, actually count for nothing before God, and he, in a sense, has to be made powerless before God. The sinner can only approach God with empty hands, not full hands. Not hands that are full of “virtues” and things that we can offer God and say, “look, you really ought to be pleased with me because of these things I have.” No, they have to be empty. God needs to strip us away from the things that we think are important, virtuous, worthy, etc. Like in the Psalms when God brings them to a point of crying out to God because they have nothing left. The psalmist begins to see that maybe this experience of despair that I'm feeling about myself is actually not a barrier to my acceptance before God, but it's actually the very qualification for it! The very thing I need is this profound sense that I have nothing to offer. As long as I think I have something to offer, there's not a lot that God can do for me."
• Martin Luther once somewhat comically said: "God only saves sinners. He only teaches the stupid. He only enriches the poor. He only raises the dead." So what do you want to be if you want to get saved? You want to be a sinner, stupid, poor, and dead. If you think you're anything other than that, there's not a lot that God can do for you."

2. (This one is basically the same thing as number 1 but from a slightly different angle): To trust in the sacrifice and work of Christ upon the cross to usher me into God’s presence, and throw myself upon his mercy.

(Read Hebrews 9:1-15 and 9:22-10:23.) As a little background to understanding what it means to worship God in our spirit, it is important to look at the difference between the Old Covenant and New Covenant tabernacle or "temple." In the Old Covenant, the tabernacle (place of worship) was separated into three main parts: the outer court, the holy place, and the most holy place. Anyone could come into the outer court and offer sacrifices for sin and uncleanness. The main significant items in the outer court were the sacrificial altar and the bronze laver. The sacrificial altar was the place where sacrifices of burnt offering were presented, the blood sprinkled, and the fire kept ever burning. All parts of the Tabernacle had to be sprinkled with blood from that altar, and it was the only way of access to the presence of God. The bronze laver was a large vessel full of water for washing before entering into the sanctuary. No one could pass through the door until he had washed here. Next in the holy place there was the table of showbread, the golden lampstand (burned continuously), and the altar of incense (placed closest to the veil separating holy place from most holy place). Lastly, in the most holy place, the presence of God dwelt, and only one piece of furniture resided there: the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat. There was no created light (sun) and no artificial light but God’s own “Shekinah” glory that lit up the Holiest Place. As the high priest entered once a year, he entered with a bowed head, unsandalled feet, and bells. No human voice was heard, only the voice of God. The tabernacle and the events that occurred here were treated and viewed with the upmost sanctity, seriousness, and reverence. Sacrifices were offered again and again to receive forgiveness from sins, and a guilty conscience could never be appeased.
  
Now what is the New covenant tabernacle? God's people individually and collectively (the church, see Eph. 2:19-22). As individuals, our bodies have become the new dwelling place of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body"), and our very bodies mirror the Old Covenant tabernacle. Because we have three parts to our essence (body, soul, and spirit as seen in 1 Thessalonians 5:23) our physical body is reflective of the outer court, our soul (ie. thoughts and emotions) is reflective of the holy place, and our spirit is reflective of the most holy place.

When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain separating the holy place from the most holy place was literally torn down the middle in the Jewish tabernacle, reflecting the establishment of a new covenant. And what was the difference in this covenant? God would now dwell in the spirits of his people, writing his laws upon their hearts, empowering them with His Spirit, forgiving them of all sin and cleansing their guilty conscience, and enabling them to worship him in their spirit, where he would now dwell and be present with them anywhere and everywhere. In order to appreciate the significance of this, it is so important to meditate much on the seriousness of sin, the holiness of God, the lack of access even God's chosen people had to God before Christ, and the severe mercy and love of God in coming to us as a human and dying a humiliating death on a cross. Some key verses to demonstrate how Jesus' death rent the veil that "kept God from us and us from God":

• Heb 9:24 “For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf.”
• Heb 10:19-22: Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

What did the sacrifice of Christ do for us as declared in Hebrews 9 and 10?

• Secured our redemption forever (v.12)
• Purified our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God (v. 14)
• Enabled all who are called to receive the eternal inheritance  (v 15)
• Set us free from the penalty of sin (v. 15)
• Has removed sin once and for all (v.26)
• He made us holy once for all time (10:10) and forever made perfect those who are being made holy (10:14)
• He can now put his laws in our hearts and write them on our minds (v. 16)
• Will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds (v. 17)
• Now no need to offer any more sacrifices (v. 18)
• Now we can boldly enter heaven’s most holy place (v. 19) right into the presence of God with no guilt (v. 22)

What is the conduct of someone about which all of the above is true? Paul says in Phil. 3:16: "Only let us live up to what we have already attained," and in Eph 4:1: "I beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God."

3. (still answering the question what does it mean to worship God in our spirit?) Since Jesus is our model, we seek to enter the Most Holy Place (ie worshipping God in our spirit) in the same way that He entered it, through the death of his flesh and through complete surrender of his will, summed up in the word "obedience."

Key verse for this part: Hebrews 10:5-10: "Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.' First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

So we see in this passage that Jesus established the new covenant and entered the most holy place (where we worship God in spirit) by surrendering his will and offering his body. In our case, we follow in that way by the crucifixion of the flesh and the surrender of our will.

There are so many verses relating to this topic of surrender, crucifixion of self and flesh, and obedience, for this is the Way of Christ that leads to resurrection life and power. We follow in his footsteps in our actions while knowing that we have only been ushered and allowed into the presence of God because of what Christ did! Through his blood shed on the cross, he entered the true heavenly tabernacle into the presence of God to offer himself pure and spotless on our behalf. We can never earn entrance into the presence of God, but we are granted this privilege as we are lovingly carried by Jesus, the spotless lamb who covers our blemishes, into this place. Once we are in this most holy place before God's throne, what will we do but fall on our faces, lay our crowns before the throne and say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being," (Revelation 4). When we more fully see God as he is, how beautiful he is, how satisfying he is, and the love he has for us, there is no other response than to surrender and obey Him, the One worthy of praise and glory. This is how we remain in the most holy place of his presence and worship him in our spirit.

A few key verses about surrender and obedience are:

On surrendering our will (all Jesus' words):

• John 5:19: "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise."
• John 6:38: "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me."
• Matt. 26:39: "Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.'"
• John 5:30: "I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me." 
• Matthew 16:24-25: "Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

On obedience: 

• Romans 8:12-14: "Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."
• Galatians 5:16 & 22-25: "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
• 1 John 3:2-3: "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure."

There are so many more verses I could choose to write, because the New Testament is just filled with them, but that shall suffice for now.

III. People on mission with Christ:

I so greatly desire for my nourishment to come from doing the will of God and finishing his work. It is not our mission or us creating mission, but Christ’s mission and us joining him where he is already working. His kingdom is advanced when we do his will, and there is no greater calling, purpose, or thrill than being apart of His Kingdom advancing. How do we discern his will? We can’t apart from intimacy and seeking him with our whole heart and in walking with him. Unfortunately there is no formula apart from intimacy with Him. However, one thing that has helped me understand what God's will aims at is realizing that God cares more about who I am becoming than what I am doing. God has revealed so much of his will to us through His word. Let us seek to implement the will of God that we already know for sure and he will correct us if we go astray: "If you leave God's paths and go astray (to the right or to the left), you will hear a Voice behind you say, `No, this is the way; walk here'" (Isa. 30:20,21).

A few key verses for how we are to follow in Christ's footsteps in carrying out his mission to the world:

• Ministry of reconciliation to the world: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21: So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
• John 3:17: God sent his son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. 
• John 20:21 As the Father has sent me, so I also am sending you.