I just realized this morning that in John 4:23 the Lord Jesus says “But an hour is coming, and it is now…” – this shows that there was a change of the age!
In the past/our religious way, it used to be different, BUT now, the true worshippers worship God in spirit and in truthfulness!
How was it in the past/according to our own concept and how is it now? Here are some examples:
- We used to worship God – He was objective, outside of us, great and mighty; God was the Creator to us, the one who made us.
Now, we worship the Father – He is subjective, indwelling us, even in our spirit; God is our Father, who begot us & loves us. We worship the Father in the divine dispensing. - We used to revere God, even to fear Him, and worship Him outwardly, even physically.
Now, we worship the Father in a pleasant and joyful way by drinking Him – by touching Him in spirit. - A priest or a designated person had to contact God for us, and tell us His will.
Now we can personally come to God, touch Him, and enjoy Him by drinking of Him! The way we know His will now is by being one with Him in drinking & eating of Him. - God could not be touched – He dwells in unapproachable light – we should obey His word, His commandments.
Now, God is within us as the Spirit in our spirit; He mingles Himself with us, and He fulfils His commandments in us. - We use to think that to contact God you need some special conditions to be met: silence, seclusion, separation, a long period of time, a special condition of the heart, special prayers, a special dedication, etc.
What God actually want is for us to habitually and continually drink of Him, in whatever situation/environment we are in – by contacting Him in our spirit!
The age we live in now is the New Testament age – The worship that we render God, who is our Father – intimately and organically related to us – in life, is an enjoyable one: we drink of Him as the Spirit! To contact God the Spirit with our spirit is to drink of the living water, and to drink of the living water is to render real worship to God! John 4:23-24 is understood very well in light of John 4:14,
But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.
We worship God in the divine dispensing of the divine Trinity – God the Father gets the worship, God the Son is the fountain of water from which we drink, and what bubbles over/springs up from within as we drink is the Spirit of life! We love to worship our Father because it is so enjoyable – our worship is our experience of drinking the living water, the Spirit. Without drinking Him as the living water, we cannot have a subjective worship in the divine dispensing of the Triune God. Lord, keep us turning to You to contact You in our spirit! Keep us drinking of You today!
