In John4:23-24(Amp) Jesus says, "A time will come, however is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers. God is a Spirit (a Spirit Being), and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)."
The Father is seeking people who worship in Spirit and Truth, but how do we do so? Jesus went on in John6:45-6(Amp), saying, "It is written in the Book of the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God (have Him in Person for their Teacher). Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father comes to Me. Which does not imply that anyone has ever seen Him except He Who was with the Father Who comes from God; He Alone has seen the Father."
We're born-again and know we're born of the Spirit, but we still haven't seen the Father with our natural eyes or senses. It would be awesome if we could have actually walked with and seen Jesus, like His disciples did. We read in John14:8-9(Amp), "Phillip said to [Jesus], Lord, show us the Father (cause us to see the Father)-that is all that we ask; then we will be satisfied. Jesus replied, Have I been with all of you for so long a time and do you not recognize and know Me yet Phillip? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How then can you say, show us the Father?"
The disciples saw Jesus wrapped in flesh, as a Man, but couldn't see beyond the flesh into the Spirit. God is Spirit. Would we have been able to recognize Him and the Father in Him? Do we still seek to see and believe by what we feel and after the things in the physical world, instead of the Truth of God's Word? After His Resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples, where we read about His encounter with Thomas in John20:28-29(Amp), which says, "Thomas, answered Him. My Lord and my God. Jesus said to him, Because you have seen Me, Thomas, do you now believe (trust, have faith)? Blessed and happy and to be envied are those who have never seen Me and yet have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied) on Me."
How do those of us who have never seen Jesus, trust and rely on the Father? We do so by seeking Him, by and through the Word and Spirit, according to Jesus' teaching in John6:63(Amp). Thus, He says, "It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life-Giver); the flesh conveys no benefit whatever (there is no profit in it). The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you are Spirit and Life."
Most of us would love to touch Him, see Him and hear Jesus speak to us, like the people did during His earthly ministry, but God's Word says that we have a better relationship with Him now, than those people did. How can this be? We are now new creation spirits, by the new birth. God is a Spirit and we are spirit. God is seeking those who will worship Him in Spirit and Truth.
Jesus is "the Word made flesh," but the flesh only covered the Spirit of God's Word. Everything Jesus did, He did by the Spirit within Him, Who is none other than God Himself. John3:34(Amp) tells us, "For since He Whom God sent speaks the Words of God (proclaims God's Own Message). God does not give Him His Spirit sparingly or by measure, but boundless is the Gift God makes of His Spirit."
Jesus repeatedly said, "It is not Me but the Father in Me that does the work." We keep seeing Him by His flesh, but it was the unseen Spirit within Him, Who did all the works. The people couldn't see the Spirit, but only His flesh, so they couldn't recognize the Father when seeing Jesus. We doubt God's Word of healing and/or deliverance today, because we want to "see" before we can believe. Jesus said that, "The Words I speak to you are Spirit and Truth (reality)." Do we believe the Spirit and Truth or do we still need to see God with our natural eyes? The One Whom God sent (Jesus) only spoke God's Word, so God gave Him the Spirit without measure, according to John3:34.
The Holy Spirit wrote through Paul in 2Cor.5:16-17(Amp), "Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a purely human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value). No, Even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint (as a Man), yet now we know Him no longer in terms of the flesh. Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
As the new creation family of God, we don't see Him as the Man from Nazareth, or the Man on Calvary's cross or as the Man in the tomb, but by the Word and the Spirit. We see Him as the Resurrected Lord of All creation and exalted High Above the heavens and earth. We see Him by the Word, which is Spirit and by Truth, which is His Word. We have a better relationship than the flesh and carnal mind could ever have. He lives in us and we live in Him. We have become one Spirit with the Lord Himself. We must learn to see God by His Word and by faith in His Truth. If we wait until see Him in our flesh, then we're exhibiting unbelief and lack of faith in God's Word.
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