Worship in the Spirit

I wanted to write what the Lord has spoken to me regarding worshiping God in the Spirit. I don’t have this figured out in my own life or if I can even explain properly what God has been telling me. But I have learned by writing this and meditating on it and I feel it has help me come closer to the Lord. So this is a disclaimer and I think it varies and is different for everyone.

We know that in the beginning Adam and Eve were in perfect fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden. Genesis Chapter 1-3. When sin came in all humanity was separated from this perfect fellowship with God. From that point till Jesus came God had His people build alters, the Tabernacle, and the Temple to worship Him. In Exodus through Joshua God freed His people from Egypt and as they traveled and camped they lived in shelters. God gave them the plans to build the kind of tabernacle they would assemble, tear down and reassemble as they followed God. There was a court yard, Holy place, and the Most Holy Place where God dwelt. The high priest went in for the sins of all the people once a year with a rope tied around him in the presence of God. The rope was in case the priest died in the presence of God. In 1 Kings chapter’s 5-8,

1 Chronicles 28 thru 2 Chronicles 8, God had King Solomon build a temple where His people could come and worship Him. Solomon’s father, King David was a great man of God and loved the Lord and desired to build the temple. 1 Chronicles chapters 17, 21 & 22 tell this story. An angel led King David to the land where the temple would be built and he built an altar there. But it was God’s plan that Solomon would build the temple, even though he was young. 1 Chronicles 22:6-8, “Then David sent for his son Solomon and instructed him to build a Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. “My son, I wanted to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God,” David told him.  “But the Lord said to me, ‘You have killed many men in the battles you have fought. And since you have shed so much blood in my sight, you will not be the one to build a Temple to honor my name.”

In 2 Chronicles 5 they brought the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant to the temple into the Most Holy Place. Verse 7-10, “Then the priests carried the Ark of the LORD’S covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple—the Most Holy Place—and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim.  The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles. Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left Egypt.” In verse 13-14, “At that moment a thick cloud filled the Temple of the LORD. The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple of God.” In 2 Chronicles 7:15-16 God tells Solomon this; “My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place.  For I have chosen this Temple and set it apart to be holy—a place where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.”

This is very brief but it reminds me that everything was built according to God’s plans and timing. Including the process and preparation the priest then had to go through to be in the presence of God. The sacrifices people made to be in the presence of God and the attitude of their heart. Because they were approaching a holy, powerful God and He required them to come in His presence with a pure heart, fear, and reverence. How special it is to be in the presence of God and how easily it can be taken for granted. This is an extraordinary gift we have been given from God and is one of most importance in our life but how easily we can be led astray from worshiping our Lord.

When Jesus came and died on the cross for the sins of all humanity and the curtain was torn in the temple that separated us from the Most Holy Place with God. At that moment and till Jesus second coming all who accept Him can receive the Holy Spirit come in the presence of God and have eternal life. Mark 15:37-38, “Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last.  And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” What Jesus did is hard for the human mind to fully grasp.

To be able to worship God in the Spirit is a beautiful happening or process that can take place in a person because of what God has given or does inside a believer in Jesus Christ. These verses help me understand how this can happen in a person. We have to accept Jesus as our Lord and savior and we are reborn spiritually. John 1:12-13, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.  They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”  John 3:3&5-6, “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.  Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.  When we are reborn spiritually we receive the Holy Spirit and God gives us a new changed heart.” Ezekiel 36:25-27, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols.  And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.  And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”

Jesus explains to the woman at the well in John 4:1-26 that a time is coming soon when you won’t have to go to a certain place or temple to worship God. I will be inside of you, your body will be a temple of the Holy Spirit and you can worship me anytime anywhere. John 4:23-24, “But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.  For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?

You can read God’s word, even the demons know God’s word, come to the temple and raise your hand in worship and serve and help others. But you cannot worship God in Spirit and truth without His Holy Spirit in you and a new heart that he gives you and being cleansed by Jesus. John 15:3, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” Colossians 2:11, “When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision--the cutting away of your sinful nature.” John 17:17, “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.”

Because of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in us we have a heart that desires to worship God and the freedom to worship God in the spirit when we want.