God is Life (The Spirituality of God – 2).
Q. What does it mean to say that God is spirit?
A. To say God is spirit is to say that God, being the source of all life, has and is life in and of Himself, and is self-existent, self-sufficient, invisible, simple and personal in His being and nature.
In John 4:24, the Lord Jesus categorically states that: “God is spirit” (see also Deut 4:12, 15-16). Confessions like the Belgic Confession (Article 1) are thus spot on to identify the spiritual nature of God. But what does this actually mean? What does it mean to say that God is spirit? It’s a difficult question, and probably one that strikes many Christians as somewhat abstract. Tell me about God’s love! His mercy! Speak to me of His goodness! But His spiritual nature? Well… let’s just let the theologians handle that one. At least, that’s what we might say if we gave the matter any real thought at all!
But let me say, this question is actually very important. Allow me to expand on that and show you why. As you know, you yourself are a spiritual being. The Bible clearly teaches this. As an example, 2 Corinthians 7:1 implies that we are creatures of both “body and spirit.” Now while many Christians may give scant attention to understanding God’s spiritual nature, certainly they are intensely interested in their own spiritual life. I mean, aren’t you? Don’t you desire to have a healthy and vibrant spiritual life? Assuming that you do, and every true believer should, allow me to put it this way: understanding God’s spiritual nature is foundational and life-giving in our own spiritual life. It really is very important that we therefore get a clear understanding in our minds as to what exactly “spirit” is, and this understanding is rooted in the nature of God as a spiritual being. Without this understanding, our spiritual life itself may well suffer as a result.
So we see something of the importance of our question, but we haven’t begun to answer it yet have we? What does it mean to say that God is spirit? I want to begin trying to answer this in two steps. It is helpful first to consider our own spiritual nature, and from there to set out into the “unknown” of God’s spiritual nature. In doing this, we must be careful to remember that God is not like us (Ps 50:21), but nonetheless in a limited and creaturely way, we do share in God’s spiritual nature and thus can gain insight here.
So then, in what sense are you a spiritual being? Have you ever considered that question before? As a general introduction, I want to begin by describing your spirit as the entirety of your inner life. Proverbs 20:27 poetically expresses this: “The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts.” Ephesians 3:16 speaks of Paul’s prayer for believers that the Spirit of God would strengthen them in their “inner man”. These passages express our spirituality using the broader idea of a whole inner life.
Now that word, “life”, is important. We could correctly think of “spirit” in a broad sense as the force of life within a person. In our own experience we see this when a person dies don’t we? When that happens, we see very clearly that the force of life in that person (their spirit) departs, and the body becomes inanimate. The inner-life force of that person has departed and gone back to him who gave it (Ecc 12:7). This idea of the spirit as being “life” is one well attested in scripture. Ecclesiastes 8:8 makes a contrast between spirit and death, thus showing them to be opposites. Ecclesiastes 11:5 is even more clear, noting that “the bones in the womb of the child” receive “spirit”. What’s interesting in this particular verse is that the idea of “spirit” is used as a direct substitute for the idea of “life”, and so life and spirit clearly have a very close and perhaps even interchangeable relationship. Isaiah 42:5 makes the same inseparable link between spirit and life.
We’ve seen the basic sense in which our spirit is our inner life. What then does this teach us about God’s spiritual nature? Seeing this close, almost interchangeable relationship between “spirit” and “life” opens up a very important insight into the spiritual nature of God: that God is life, has life in Himself, and is the source of all other life. Scripture thus testifies that life is the innate condition of His being (Jer 10:10), and that as a living being God has had life from all eternity. So it is that Moses declares in Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” He is the living God, and has always been the living God.
For us, on the other hand, we have received life (Gen 2:7; Ps 139:13; Ecc 11:5). It is not something we have of ourselves, but something we have of God. We have received our spirit from Him, and He sustains our spirit (Job 34:14-15). Of Himself, however, He has this life as an innate and eternal condition of His being. So then, to say that “God is spirit”(Jn 4:24) is first and foremost to say that God is life, and that all other life subsists in and proceeds from Him (Jn 1:3-4).
Now how is that relevant to you? A far better question is: how is it not relevant? In Job 34:14-15 we read: “If He should set His heart to it and gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.” Whether you are a believer or not, you exist at His good pleasure. It is within His power to call any one of us into eternity at an instant. If it is not right between us and God, this is a terrifying thought that ought instantly send us to God, pleading for mercy (which He will readily give through Christ!). For those in Christ Jesus, this fills us with a certain sense of His indescribable immanence. You and I are only a breath away from home at any given time, and even here He is not far from any of us, for our life is sustained by Him (Acts 17:27). As His people, therefore, we now stay here at His pleasure, and must be ready to depart at any time. Yet also the eternal life that is ours in Christ is ahead of us! In 1 John 2:17 we read that “the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” It is our hope in Christ that this is our destiny.
In this world we taste a spiritual mingling of death and life. Death as the principle of sin wages war against our soul (Rom 7:23) and moves in life and society around us. Life as we are even now united to Christ who is our life (Rom 5:21). In that fair place, however, when He will be all and in all (1 Cor 15:28), death at last will be banished, and all will be life forevermore! We have now only the dimmest perception of the glories before us. In Psalm 16:11 the psalmist exalts in anticipation: “You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
As you consider that your very life is in the palm of God’s hand, consider your standing with Him. Do you abound in thankfulness? Is your life being poured out as a thank offering to Him who gave it? Or is there little time in your schedule to praise and thank your Maker? Perhaps you have no relationship with Him at all. Whatever the case, the answer is always the same: we must come to Christ for life. He is the life for all men (John 1:3). If you have never believed in Christ, now is the time. If you have been living life as a lukewarm Christian, now is the time to be done with such apathy. In 2 Timothy 4:6, the Apostle notes in his parting words: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.” As we await the day of our departure, let us too pour out our lives, for that is why God gave them to us. What opportunities are before you this week to be spent in God’s service? What opportunities do you have to pour out your life for the good of others?
Soli Deo Gloria