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God is happy when we worship Him in spirit; God's eternal economy is focused on and is carried out by our mingled spirit—the divine Spirit mingled together with our human spirit as one spirit—John 4:23-24; Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 1:9.
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God is happy when we are one with Him in His ministry to carry out His eternal economy; in the Lord's ministry we care only for the divine dispensing of the Triune God, embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit, into His chosen people—Eph. 1:9-11; 3:2, 9-10; 2 Cor. 3:3, 6; 1 Pet. 4:10.
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We must be a people in whom, with whom, and through whom God may have His good pleasure; we must be "determined…to gain the honor of being well pleasing to Him" (2 Cor. 5:9) by being one with Christ as the One who sacrificed Himself on the cross to produce new wine to cheer God and men (Judg. 9:12-13; Matt. 9:17).
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God will be happy with our glorification—"The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed upon us. For the anxious watching of the creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God…The creation itself will also be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans together and travails in pain together until now. And not only so, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan in ourselves, eagerly awaiting sonship, the redemption of our body"—Rom. 8:18-19, 21-23; cf. Eph. 1:4-5.
Morning Nourishment
John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.Rom. 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers.
God’s New Testament economy is focused on our human spirit and is carried out by the divine Spirit and the human spirit being mingled together [cf. 1 Cor. 6:17]. Paul says, “To me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). Who is Christ? Is He not God? Who is “me”? It is Saul of Tarsus, a mere man. How could a man live God? We do not understand very well, but we can enjoy what the Word says by eating it. When the Word says that we are joined to Him in one spirit, we reply, “Hallelujah! I am a man, but I have a spirit! I am one spirit with the Lord!” (CWWL, 1978, vol. 2, “Life Messages, Volume 1,” p. 458)
Today’s Reading
In John 4:23 and 24 we are told that God is to be worshipped in spirit. The word in may be considered as an instrumental preposition and can therefore be translated “with.” We worship with our spirit. This indicates that our spirit serves as an organ. We see with our eyes, hear with our ears, and worship with our spirit. When we say we worship in spirit, we mean that we worship in the realm of the spirit. When we say we worship with our spirit, we mean that the spirit is the part of our being by which we worship. The spirit then has become not only the new person, the inner man, but also the new organ with which we worship God.The word worship in Greek implies also the thought of service….The word serve [in Romans 1:9] is translated “worship” in some other versions. Whether we say worship or serve, the meaning is the same. Our worship is our service to God; our service to Him is also our worship. When we worship Him, we serve Him; when we serve Him, we worship Him.
The most pleasant thing in the eyes of God today is that we remain in our spirit. May we not want to say anything apart from our spirit. May we not want to go anywhere or do anything without being in our spirit. All day long “in spirit” should govern us and direct all our activities. If we speak, think, move, and act in spirit, we are victorious, holy, and spiritual. We will be pleasant not only to ourselves but to God and others as well. Such a daily life is a good pleasure to God. A Christian life and a church life that are in spirit are what please Him.
The day will come when we will all be glorified. We will be with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. In that day God will be beside Himself with excitement and will call Satan’s attention to us: “Satan, look at My children! My children are glorified!” Surely this thought is hinted at in Romans 8: “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed upon us. For the anxious watching of the creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God….The creation itself will also be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans together and travails in pain together until now. And not only so, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan in ourselves, eagerly awaiting sonship, the redemption of our body” (vv. 18-19, 21-23).
The recovery is for God to regain His good pleasure. Surely today’s Christianity is no source of joy to Him. We must be a people among whom God may have His good pleasure. We are now living and walking according to the pleasure of God. That pleasure will reach its climax on the day that we are glorified. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 2, “Life Messages, Volume 1,” pp. 457, 463, 422-423)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” chs. 8, 10, 14; CWWL, 1987, vol. 3, “The Scriptural Way to Meet and to Serve for the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” ch. 26