We don’t begin with algebra and calculus in first grade but with simple adding, then subtracting, multiplying, fractions and so forth.  We master each of these disciplines then we moved on to more difficult concepts, each building on the previous.  Education in every facet is that way.  Our understanding of God, however, doesn’t always mirror this model of learning.  For example, I was taught at a very young age that God was omnipresent (everywhere), omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing) and infinite.   At the age of seven or eight these were concepts which I simply could not grasp.  It is true that I learned about David and Goliath, Noah and the ark, Adam and Eve, Moses and the Ten Commandments, the parting of the Red Sea, Jesus healing the blind and many other Bible stories as a very young child, but the explanation as to how Jesus was able to raise Lazarus from the dead was that He was omnipotent.  God was able to know that I took a chocolate chip cookie because He was Omnipresent and Jesus knew the thoughts of men because He was omniscient.  I don’t doubt for a minute any of these characteristics of God but I must confess that these were difficult concepts to grasp as a young child, yet these concepts haven’t gotten any easier even with years of studying God’s Word and a Masters in Divinity to my credit.           

     I must confess that I have felt a little uneasy at times when a child or close friend would ask questions like, “how can God be everywhere and eternal?”  “What does it mean that He is eternal?” or “how can He know everything?”  These are really excellent questions, yet most of the answers that we often offer up as explanations are unsatisfying even to our children.  I remember a number of years ago when I was teaching 6^th grade these questions were raised in class and honestly I am not sure some of the more astute students were completely satisfied with the answers given.  Since then I have had some time to reflect on this and I believe I am a little better equipped to answer these important questions. 

     The key to answering these questions is almost so obvious that we miss it.   God is a Spirit.  (John 4: 23, 24)  But what is a spirit?  We often equate spirits with the ghosts that are portrayed in movies like “Ghost”, “Beatlejuice” or any number of other science fiction horror movies.   You may catch a glimpse of a ghost/spirit out of the corner of your eye or if you are spiritually receptive you may be able to “feel” ones presence or even see and interact with it like other physical beings.   You may temporarily be able to see through it like a mist or a vapor and it may have the rough form of a person that can appear and disappear at will; at least that is the way ghosts/spirits are often portrayed by Hollywood and by many myths and legends that have been passed down for generations.   Could this possibly be what John is referring to in chapter 4 when he states that “God is a Spirit?”   It should be obvious that this concept of a spirit falls very short in a number of ways, since it fails to account for God being omnipresent, omnipotent, infinite and perhaps even omniscient since these “spirits” are localized and have limited power. 

     The problem lies in the fact that we are material beings and a spirit is something completely different.  This is not to discount the fact that God created man as body and spirit.  (Some make a distinction between spirit and soul)  Most people don’t question the fact that we posses a spirit but we are most aware of the fact that we are flesh and blood.  It is difficult for us to distinguish the spirit part of us from our physical self, although I believe that the soul is what really makes you, you.  It is what makes us different from the rest of the animals.  It is what makes you self aware (“I think therefore I am”), creative, inquisitive, passionate (at least about some things), opinionated, self confident, reserved or outspoken.  While our spirit is responsible for our personality and many of our abilities, we still live in a world that consists of matter.  Our homes have boundaries consisting of walls, floors and ceilings.  We live and work in specific locations and have interactions only with those in our immediate presence, with the exception of communication through devices such as cell phones, computers and radios.  We are generally completely unaware of any activity which is not within our immediate line of sight or earshot.  Although we are both body and soul, it is the body part of us that dominates the way we see and interact with the world.   It must also be understood that while we posses a spirit, our spirit is not on par with God as a Spirit.  Our spirit is not omnipresent, omnipotent or omniscient, although it will live for all of eternity.  There are similarities in our spirit since we were created in the image of God but there are certain characteristics that belong solely to God.

      I don’t believe it is possible to give a completely adequate definition of spirit.  Webster’s definition of spirit indicates that it is the spirit that animates and gives life, sentience (being self-aware) and intelligence.  He also equates the spirit with ghosts and a higher power.   Although there may be some value in Webster’s definition, it certainly doesn’t settle the issue.  Again, it must be understood that God as a Spirit is something completely different from our material world.  A spirit does not consist of atoms, molecules, electrons, quarks or photons.  A spirit does not consist of anything which is material or of this realm.  God being a spirit is outside of creation or the material world but can and does interact with it.  It is true that His Son has taken on flesh but at the same time remains God and thus a spirit. He has two natures:  one being a true body and thus fully man; however, He is still a Spirit and truly God.  He processes two natures, yet He is one person. A difficult concept, yet clearly taught in the New Testament.

     Because God is a spirit and outside of creation we must think completely differently about Him.   The limitations of time and space that apply to us as physical beings simply do not hold true to Him.  He can’t be detected directly by our instruments since He is not of this realm.  Our senses were not made to detect Him.  We can’t see, hear, taste, smell or touch Him unless He chooses to reveal Himself.  It is difficult for us to imagine something that our senses can’t detect.  In grade school we studied about Helen Keller.  At the age of three she became ill and this illness left her deaf and blind for the rest of her life.  I tried to imagine what it would be like to be Helen Keller but that simply was not possible.  Her only link to the world was through the senses of taste, touch and smell.  She lived in a silent, dark world with nothing more than her own voice in her head, the touch of Anne Sullivan’s hand and the smell and taste of food.  Undoubtedly, Helen Keller’s perceived world was very different from our perceived world.   Despite these limitations Anne Sullivan was able to overcome many of these obstacles and in a real but limited sense, she revealed a world to Helen Keller that she could not perceive.  That is what God’s Word does for us.   

         Our physical world is very different from what we know about God.  He is everywhere.  We don’t know of anything that is everywhere in the physical realm.  He is all knowing.  I can’t remember my third grade teacher’s name.  He is all powerful.  There are times when I have trouble getting our new puppy to obey me.

     Despite the fact that God is a Spirit, we still think of Him in physical terms.  Some paintings depict Him as an old man in a white robe with a long white beard.  The book of Revelations depicts Him as seated on a throne (examples would include 4:2-9, 5:1,  7:10) but it must be remembered that the Bible often depicts spiritual truths in material or earthly language to help us understand difficult concepts.  Anne Sullivan would use the touch of her hand on Helen Keller’s hand to communicate to her.  But how do you describe by touch what the color blue looks like or the symphony of sound and color from a Fourth of July firework presentation or the vivid, yet often subtle, colors of a Key West sunset.  Can words really adequately describe God as a Spirit anymore than touch can describe the beauty of the Grand Canyon or freshly fallen snow?  In the afore mentioned passages God is depicted as ruling His creation but an all present, all powerful, all knowing God cannot be relegated to a simple old man sitting on a throne.  The apostle John, the writer of Revelations, did see a throne and something of God’s glory upon it but these passages are meant to visually depict for our benefit that God is indeed ruler of all and that He is Holy, Righteous and Just.  But He is also much more.

    So how do we understand God as a spirit?  Maybe He can be best described from our perspective by what He is not.  He is not material.  He doesn’t consist of matter.  He isn’t bound by the laws of nature.  He isn’t bound by time or space.  Not a very satisfying definition is it?  I was sitting on a Boing 737 waiting to take off from Washington DC recently.  I looked out the window and saw another 737 sitting next to us.  I though for a moment about the Wright brothers first flight a little over a hundred years ago.  My mind then went back two, four, eight hundred and more years.  Could Plato, Julius Cesar, the apostle Paul or Martin Luther possibly imagined what a 737 would be?  If you could go back in time and describe it to them would they believe you?  Would words be able to adequately describe a 737 so that they would have a complete and accurate picture of one in their minds?  I suspect they might try to understand it in terms of what they knew but it would be very different than the reality.    

     There are some things which you simply have to experience to truly understand and I believe the concept of God being a spirit is the ultimate example of that, yet when we understand that He is a spirit many of the attributes of God are at least logically comprehensible.  It is good for us to think upon these things and expand our understanding of God.  Just as Plato could have never really understood the concept of a 737 or Helen Keller experienced the color blue, we are also poorly equipped to grasp the mysteries of God, but don’t let that stop you from trying.  Don’t let your physical and material limitations limit your understanding of who God is as a Spirit, after all what makes you, you is your spirit and being aware of that can help in our understanding of God.  In many ways conventional wisdom just doesn’t work but the anticipation of really knowing is what keeps us looking forward to the day when we see Him as He is.