Have you ever noticed how in movies featuring alien races, they are almost always humanoid? That is, they have the same basic body shape we do, but with a few variations. That’s largely practical. The actors portraying the monsters are, of course, human. The fact is, we tend to interpret everything by how it resembles us.

God exists as a spirit, apart from a body. Perhaps that’s why the King James translators referred to the third person of the Trinity as the “Holy Ghost,” although today we say, “Holy Spirit.” God’s Spirit is above and beyond all creatures, even those who stalk the night — whether they be real or in our imagination.

Although God is Spirit, the Bible is full of anthropomorphisms, a word which comes from the Greek: “anthro” for human and “morph” for shape. Human characteristics are ascribed to God. His eyes search through the earth. His arm is stretched out. His ear is inclined. All those statements are true, but God doesn’t necessarily have physical eyes, arm, or ears.

God describes himself with physical attributes to help us understand him better. He calls us to do the same thing in reverse. He breathed life into our physical bodies. He calls us to worship him with our breathed-in spirit, in our innermost being, like the marrow in our bones. That “spirit” determines what our bodies do.

If we love God in our spirit, his truth will make a difference in our lives through his Holy Spirit.

Father God, thanks for the gift of your Spirit who indwells me. Grow my practice of worshipping you in spirit and in truth and transform me so that I become more and more like you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Go Deeper — Think of an alien you have seen in the movies or on TV. What makes it like us humans, and what doesn’t? What can make you more Christ-like and what won’t?

Read FurtherHow to be Filled with the Holy Spirit.



Tags: Holy Spirit John 4
Photo Credit: Tiago Gerken