JOHN iv. 24. “God is a Spirit.”
So far as our knowledge goes, we know of the existence of
only two substances—the one, with qualities that are known
to us by our senses, we call matter; and the other, known
only to us by conscience, is spirit. God is a Spirit, inas-
much as He possesses none of the qualities of matter, and
is a living, sensitive, conscious, intelligent, voluntary being.
God is entirely spiritual. He is confined to no material
organization, has no part in material sins or passions.
Several important and interesting facts follow from this
truth.
I. God is invisible. We can see only that which is
formed. It is no imperfection of our vision that we can-
not see a spirit. The superstitious may dismiss their fears,
for they never have seen, they never can see, a ghost.
II. God assumes no infallible form as the token of His
presence—the form in which He abides. A form has
limits, so it cannot be a form. A body infinite could not
be seen, for it would have no boundaries to give it space.
God cannot assume a material form, for it would confine
Him in a portion of the universe.
III. God has occasionally assumed forms by which He
is manifested most specially to some of His people. He
appeared in the tabernacle, in a pillar of cloud; He ap-
peared to Moses in the burning bush; He appeared to
Isaiah and to Daniel.
IV. The presence of God is revealed in a personal mani-
festation in the humanity of Jesus Christ. He dwelt in
the bush, He led Israel in the desert, He was the Angel of
the Covenant, and in the Incarnation He became the in-
visible God. His body is assumed for all eternity, and it
is not revealed that we shall ever see God in any form save
in the face of Jesus Christ.
J. T. Duryea, D.D.