Latest / Reformed Thinking / Worship God in Spirit and Truth | John Piper
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome to Reformed Thinking, and now for today's deep dive.
- 0:03We often find ourselves pulled in, well, so many directions,
- 0:06don't we? Our attention feels constantly
- 0:08fragmented, and it can be increasingly difficult to figure
- 0:12out what truly holds ultimate meaning, or even just how to
- 0:14Orient our lives in a way that genuinely counts.
- 0:18We're all looking for something solid, something to build our
- 0:20lives around, something that gives purpose, stability.
- 0:23Today. We're taking a deep dive into
- 0:25some really potent ideas from John Piper.
- 0:28They're all centered on this remarkable command.
- 0:30Jesus gave to adore. God in spirit and truth, and
- 0:34this isn't just about, you know, what happens on a Sunday
- 0:36morning, Piper argues. It's a vision.
- 0:37For our whole existence, this material really offers a pathway
- 0:40to understanding what it means to genuinely connect with God,
- 0:43not just superficially, but at the very deepest core of our
- 0:46being. We'll be looking closely at why
- 0:47Jesus made such a, well, radical declaration about how and where
- 0:51we direct our adoration and what it really signifies to a door in
- 0:54spirit and truth. And maybe most strikingly, how
- 0:57this call? To a door utterly reshapes,
- 0:59well, every. Aspect of our lives OK, let's
- 1:02get into this. Let's unpack this fascinating
- 1:04concept. Yeah.
- 1:05And what's especially compelling here, I think, is how universal
- 1:08this idea of really is. Piper, in his exploration of
- 1:13these biblical truths, he suggests that every single human
- 1:16being, whether they recognize it or not, maybe consciously, maybe
- 1:19unconsciously, structures their life around something they value
- 1:23supremely. This isn't just, you know, a
- 1:25religious impulse, he argues. It's an inherent part of being
- 1:28human, this treasured thing, whatever it might be for
- 1:31someone, it inevitably becomes the center.
- 1:33It shapes our emotions, drives our desires, influences our
- 1:36thinking, and, well, ultimately dictates like.
- 1:39The ultimate North Star for our lives.
- 1:41Exactly the thing our deepest affections gravitate towards.
- 1:45And this understanding from the sources really pushes us,
- 1:48doesn't it? It prompts us to scrutinize what
- 1:50that cherish treasure is for each of us.
- 1:52It brings up a really crucial question for anyone listening.
- 1:55If you were to genuinely look at your own life, you know your
- 1:58time, your energy, your goals. What truly captures your utmost
- 2:02affection? What's the supreme value around
- 2:04which your existence is actually built?
- 2:06That's a. That's a big observation, isn't
- 2:07it? That everyone, religious or not,
- 2:10is fundamentally wired to direct their adoration somewhere?
- 2:14Piper's work makes this really clear.
- 2:16People find something significant enough, important
- 2:19enough, to shape their whole existence around it.
- 2:23And he defines this adoration not just as like a formal
- 2:26religious act, but as that deep governing impulse, the thing
- 2:30that compels us to build our life around what we supremely
- 2:34value, shaping our feelings, our will, our thoughts, our actions.
- 2:37It's not just a Sunday thing. It's a core human experience for
- 2:41everyone. You think about it.
- 2:42Maybe it's the pursuit of wealth, or personal achievement,
- 2:45or social status, or even certain relationships.
- 2:49We dedicate our lives, our inner being, to something.
- 2:52And that point is absolutely central to getting the magnitude
- 2:55of what Jesus was teaching here. As these texts lay it out, even
- 2:59the most secular individuals value something highly enough to
- 3:02order their lives around. It becomes their ultimate
- 3:04concern, right? The object of their deepest
- 3:06affection, even if they never use the word adoration.
- 3:09It's like an internal compass, directing their daily choices,
- 3:13their long term goals, their emotional investments, how they
- 3:16behave. Think about someone who puts
- 3:19everything into career advancement, sacrificing maybe
- 3:22leisure, relationships, even health for them, their career or
- 3:26the success it promises that effectively becomes their
- 3:29cherished treasure, the thing they adore.
- 3:31Or maybe someone whose main drive is just comfort and ease.
- 3:33Yeah, exactly. Then every decision gets
- 3:35filtered through that lens. So the question for each of us
- 3:38then really becomes, what's at the core of my compass?
- 3:41What is the supreme thing I value, the thing my life
- 3:44gravitates toward and which in turn dictates my very existence?
- 3:49So it seems we're all built with this innate capacity, this need
- 3:52to adore, to Orient our lives around something.
- 3:54But Jesus command wasn't just go adore something, it was very
- 3:57specific. Adore God in spirit and truth.
- 4:02And that phrase, it points to complete reorientation, A
- 4:05radical shift from older ways of thinking about where and how one
- 4:08gets near to God. It's a call to line up with
- 4:10what's real and true about God, and it's coupled with an
- 4:14authentic spiritual awakening stirred up by that reality.
- 4:17This marks a really distinct change in how people approach
- 4:20the divine, shifting the focus from, say, external geography to
- 4:24internal spiritual realities. It feels like a profound
- 4:28internal revolution. Absolutely.
- 4:31And if we connect this to the broader context of Jesus's
- 4:33ministry, His words to the Samaritan woman in John 4,
- 4:37specifically verses 23 and 24, they were just a striking,
- 4:40almost subversive announcement. Remember, she came to him with
- 4:43this long standing theological argument asking about the
- 4:46correct location for adoration, her mountain in Mount Jerusalem
- 4:50or Jerusalem. Yeah, she lays it out plainly.
- 4:52Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews say that
- 4:56in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.
- 4:59And that wasn't a small question, was it?
- 5:00It represented a deep historical cultural divide.
- 5:03Definitely not small. And Jesus's response?
- 5:06It didn't just pick a side. He turned her attention away
- 5:09from geography altogether. He pointed to something
- 5:12astonishing happening right there in her presence.
- 5:14He said, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on
- 5:18this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you adore the Father.
- 5:21But the hour is coming and is now here, when the true adores
- 5:25will adore the Father in spirit and truth.
- 5:28For the Father is seeking such people to adore him.
- 5:30Right, And then God is Spirit, and those who adore Him must
- 5:34adore in spirit and truth. That was an incredibly bold
- 5:37statement for that time to declare the hour was now here,
- 5:41when adoration in Jerusalem would cease to be the main or
- 5:43even exclusive way that challenge centuries of deeply
- 5:47held religious practice and belief for both Jews and.
- 5:50Samaritans, absolutely. Their whole religious systems
- 5:52were structured around these specific sacred places.
- 5:55So the essential question becomes, what gave Jesus the
- 5:58authority to say something like that, something that would
- 6:00fundamentally shake up these established ways of thinking?
- 6:03Why was the era of geographically tied adoration
- 6:06ending? Well, the profound answer laid
- 6:09out in these texts is that Jesus presented himself as the
- 6:12long-awaited Jewish Messiah, the woman herself.
- 6:15Since something was coming, she said.
- 6:17I know that Messiah is coming, He who is called Christ.
- 6:20When he comes, he will tell us all things.
- 6:22And Jesus's response? Yeah, just stunning.
- 6:25Yes, a breathtaking claim, one that carried immense theological
- 6:29weight. I who speak to you am He.
- 6:33His arrival, His presence, fundamentally meant the
- 6:36Messiah's Kingdom had begun. This wasn't just a slight
- 6:38adjustment, it signified A distinct, fundamental alteration
- 6:42in how people approached God. The Messiah's very person was
- 6:46taking center stage. His being was becoming more
- 6:49significant than the physical location of the temple.
- 6:51Wow. This wasn't a minor tweak to
- 6:53rituals, it was a cosmic reorientation.
- 6:55And what's really striking, as the sources bring out, is how
- 6:58Jesus didn't just say these radical things, he embodied
- 7:01them. He directly challenged these
- 7:03deeply rooted religious institutions.
- 7:05Piper highlights that fascinating instance when Jesus
- 7:07made that audacious declaration right in the Jerusalem temple,
- 7:11right? He declared, destroy this
- 7:13temple. And in three days I will raise
- 7:15it up. And the sources tell us, people
- 7:17around him were just bewildered, utterly confused.
- 7:22They immediately thought of the physical building.
- 7:24Yeah. They pointed to its scale, its
- 7:2546 year construction, its central role in their religious
- 7:29life, their national identity. They couldn't.
- 7:31Imagine it. But John the Gospel writer
- 7:33clarifies it for us. He makes sure we get the true
- 7:35meaning of Jesus's words, he writes, but he was speaking
- 7:39about the temple of his body, the.
- 7:41Temple of his body. Yes, meaning Jesus himself would
- 7:44become the new temple, the new ultimate meeting place with God.
- 7:49It was a visible, powerful sign that access to God wouldn't be
- 7:52about physical location or stone structures or sacrificial
- 7:55systems tied to a building anymore.
- 7:57So his resurrection the in three days part.
- 7:59Exactly. His impending resurrection would
- 8:02establish him as this new living point of encounter with the
- 8:04divine. It was a direct declaration that
- 8:07his person, his very being, would supersede the grandest
- 8:10physical structure dedicated to God.
- 8:13It meant the presence of God would now be found fully and
- 8:15finally in Him. That really represents a huge
- 8:18shift in thinking. For centuries, the temple was
- 8:21the place, the unique place God's presence dwelt, where
- 8:24atonement happened, where people could truly meet with God.
- 8:28For Jesus to claim he would be the new temple, he was asserting
- 8:32a unique divine role, essentially saying I am the
- 8:36place where God meets humanity now.
- 8:38Yes, and it wasn't just an isolated statement, either.
- 8:41Piper's analysis also points us to that other instance.
- 8:44Remember when Jesus's disciples picked grain on the Sabbath?
- 8:48Oh right, and they got criticized for it breaking the
- 8:50strict Sabbath rules, the religious customs.
- 8:53And how did Jesus respond? He didn't just defend their
- 8:56actions based on need. He referenced an Old Testament
- 8:59story drawing a parallel to King David feeding his men with the
- 9:02sacred bread. The bread only priests were
- 9:05supposed to eat according to the law.
- 9:06Right. So by citing that, Jesus hinted
- 9:09that the higher principle was at play than just ritual rule
- 9:11following. But then he stated it
- 9:14unequivocally. I tell you, something greater
- 9:16than the temple is here. Something greater than the
- 9:18temple. Yes, Matthew 12.6, meaning the
- 9:22Messiah, the Son of David, was present right there, ready to
- 9:26occupy the Temple's central, ultimate position.
- 9:30Jesus wasn't just making a subtle claim about his status.
- 9:32He was asserting supreme authority, an authority that
- 9:36went beyond even the temple and the religious law tied to it.
- 9:39He was signaling that the old order, focused on a physical
- 9:43temple and specific rules was giving way to a new reality
- 9:46centered entirely on him, a direct.
- 9:48Pointer to his messianic identity and the new covenant he
- 9:51was bringing in. That's right.
- 9:53So when Jesus told the Samaritan woman that adoration wouldn't be
- 9:56confined to that mountain or Jerusalem anymore, but would now
- 9:59be in spirit and truth, it was a clear radical statement.
- 10:03A whole new way of drawing near to God had dawned with the
- 10:06Messiah's arrival. This implies that external
- 10:08geographical concerns were being superseded by internal spiritual
- 10:12realities. The physical location became
- 10:14less relevant because the spiritual reality of Christ's
- 10:16presence had come to dwell among us.
- 10:19Yes, the location faded in significance.
- 10:21So the question really stops being where you adore.
- 10:24And becomes how? How genuinely is your spirit
- 10:28awakened? How truly is it moved by the
- 10:30truth of God? It's fundamentally about
- 10:32authenticity, isn't it? The internal disposition of the
- 10:35heart, not just geography or outward ritual.
- 10:37Precisely that shift from physical place to spiritual
- 10:41reality is a core part of Jesus's new way of adoration.
- 10:45The external places, Samaria, Jerusalem, they get replaced by
- 10:48the internal realities, spirit and truth.
- 10:51This means what truly matters now isn't where you adore, but
- 10:54whether you adore God according to the truth, the revealed
- 10:57reality of who God is in Jesus, and whether your spirit is
- 11:00authentically quickened, authentically moved by that
- 11:02truth. It shifts the whole focus under
- 11:04the condition of the adorers heart and mind.
- 11:06Yes, it requires A genuine internal resonance with the
- 11:09object of adoration built on a clear understanding.
- 11:12OK, so we've established this monumental shift from where to
- 11:15how, and those two key components of how are spirit and
- 11:18truth. Let's dive deeper into what
- 11:20these really signify in this context.
- 11:23The material from Piper emphasizes that all adoration in
- 11:26truth is now adoration of Jesus and through Jesus.
- 11:30That seems absolutely critical central point.
- 11:32How does this double emphasis on Jesus define the truth aspect?
- 11:36It's a crucial distinction, absolutely.
- 11:38The coma truth here is that adoration now takes place
- 11:40through Jesus. Why?
- 11:41Because he is the temple. He's the place where we
- 11:43encounter God. The biblical narrative presented
- 11:46in these sources details His sacrifice, His life poured out,
- 11:50his bloodshed for the forgiveness of sins, his body
- 11:53given as a ransom. This act opened the pathway
- 11:57through his crucified and risen body.
- 11:58Reconciliation with the Holy God became possible, and this is a
- 12:01critical theological point. Without Jesus's blood is a
- 12:04mediating sacrifice. Without His perfect
- 12:07righteousness acting as our go between, sinful humanity simply
- 12:10cannot offer acceptable adoration to a perfectly holy
- 12:12God. So our axis is entirely
- 12:14dependent on his work, his atonement.
- 12:17Entirely, it's the indispensable means for drawing near to the
- 12:21divine Presence. That's a very clear picture of
- 12:24how adoration is offered through Jesus.
- 12:26He's the necessary mediator. It makes sense that for sinful
- 12:29people to approach a holy God, a perfect mediator is needed.
- 12:32But the sources also make that other bold claim.
- 12:35Adoration is directed to Jesus himself because he is God.
- 12:40That's a huge theological assertion.
- 12:43What evidence does this material pull from the Gospels to back up
- 12:46Jesus's divinity and therefore his worthiness to be adored?
- 12:50Well, the sources detail how Jesus showed his divinity both
- 12:53directly and indirectly through his words, through his actions.
- 12:56For instance, he did things only God can do, like forgiving sins.
- 13:00We see that in Mark chapter 2. Right.
- 13:02And the religious leaders immediately knew what that
- 13:04implied. Exactly.
- 13:05They recognized it as blasphemy if He were just a man because
- 13:08they knew only God could forgive sins.
- 13:11Furthermore, He accepted adoration from His disciples.
- 13:13It's recorded in Matthew 14 after He walks on water they
- 13:16adore Him, and again in Matthew 28 after His resurrection.
- 13:20And if he were merely a prophet or a great teacher, accepting
- 13:23that adoration would have been unthinkable, blasphemous.
- 13:27Utterly blasphemous it would be usurping God's unique glory.
- 13:31He also claimed eternal pre existence.
- 13:33Remember John 8.58? Truly, truly, I say to you,
- 13:36before Abraham was, I am. I am that unmistakable echo of
- 13:40God's name from Exodus. Yes, a direct claim to eternal
- 13:43uncreated being, aligning himself directly with the divine
- 13:46name Yahweh and. What about his relationship with
- 13:49the Father? The sources mentioned evidence
- 13:51there too, showing his unity with the Father.
- 13:53Indeed, Jesus repeatedly spoke of his unity with the Father in
- 13:56John 14.9. He says whoever has seen me has
- 13:59seen the Father, indicating that to see him was to see the very
- 14:02essence of God. And maybe most powerfully, John
- 14:0510.30. I and the Father are one.
- 14:08Not subtle hints. These are direct, unequivocal
- 14:11claims of divine unity, divine equality.
- 14:13Exactly, and because of these truths, the material emphasizes
- 14:17John 5.23 everyone should honor the Son just as they honor the
- 14:21Father. So any adoration that doesn't
- 14:24honor the Son may be because it fails to see his divine person,
- 14:27or maybe fails to acknowledge his mediating work fundamentally
- 14:30doesn't honor the Father who sent him.
- 14:32OK, so adoration and truth means both adoration of Jesus
- 14:36recognizing his divine nature and adoration through Jesus
- 14:39acknowledging his unique role as the reconciler.
- 14:41It's a dual reality, can't separate them for authentic
- 14:44adoration. One flows from the other.
- 14:46You need both. That gives us such a clear,
- 14:49robust picture of truth in this context.
- 14:51It's about grasping the factual, revealed reality of who God is,
- 14:56specifically as he's revealed in the person and work of Jesus
- 14:59Christ. But what about the other part in
- 15:00spirit? The sources note this refers
- 15:02mainly to our human spirit, but there's also this vital
- 15:04connection to God's Holy Spirit. What is that essential link?
- 15:07How does their spirit become capable of this kind of genuine
- 15:10spiritual adoration? Yes, the phrase in spirit in
- 15:13John 4.23 does refer primarily to our human spirit, but it's
- 15:17intrinsically linked to God's Holy Spirit, as Jesus Himself
- 15:20states in John 3.6. Remember, that which is born of
- 15:23the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is
- 15:26the Spirit. Born of the Spirit is Spirit.
- 15:28This is a crucial theological concept.
- 15:30It means that until the Holy Spirit supernaturally quickens
- 15:33our spirit, gives it new divine life, our human spirit remains
- 15:39fundamentally unresponsive in a spiritual sense.
- 15:42It's dead, unable to truly grasp or adore God.
- 15:46So authentic adoration only comes from a spirit made alive,
- 15:49made sensitive and responsive by God's Spirit.
- 15:51Exactly. Without this work of God's
- 15:53Spirit, our spirit is described in these texts as being, well,
- 15:56dead and unresponsive. It doesn't even qualify as a
- 15:59living spirit in the context of genuine communion with God.
- 16:02This divine quickening is the absolute precondition for true
- 16:06spiritual engagement. So it's not just an intellectual
- 16:09grasp of truth, then? It has to be more.
- 16:11It's an internal, active and divinely initiated engagement.
- 16:15This spirit made alive by God's Spirit is absolutely central to
- 16:19adoration. The sources are clear.
- 16:22Adoration without this internal spiritual vitality is dead or in
- 16:25vain. Jesus himself said it
- 16:27powerfully. This people honors me with their
- 16:29lips, but their heart is far from me.
- 16:31In vain do they adore me in Matthew 15.
- 16:34What does that teaching tell us about the condition of the heart
- 16:36and spirit in genuine adoration? How does it separate true
- 16:39adoration from just, you know, outward religious motions?
- 16:43That passage really underscores it.
- 16:45A heart and spirit, genuinely alive, awakened, engaged with
- 16:48God. That's a non negotiable
- 16:49requirement. Jesus was contrasting authentic
- 16:52adoration, the kind that flows in spirit and truth, with that
- 16:55external superficial kind. The kind focused on lip service,
- 16:58empty rituals, or maybe just being in the right place.
- 17:01What makes adoration authentic isn't only that the mind grasps
- 17:05the truth of Jesus, his divinity, his Atonement, his
- 17:08Lordship, but also that the adoring spirit experiences A
- 17:11profound awakening, is genuinely moved by the truth the mind
- 17:16holds. So the whole person engagement a
- 17:19deep resonance between understanding and affections.
- 17:22Yes, true adoration is an internal reality first, which
- 17:27then expresses itself outwardly. That distinction feels really
- 17:30crucial, means you could know all the facts about Jesus, hold
- 17:33all the right theological propositions, maybe recite creed
- 17:36perfectly. But if your spirit isn't moved,
- 17:38if there aren't genuine affections, if your heart isn't
- 17:40awakened to God's worth by the Holy Spirit, then something
- 17:43absolutely vital is missing from what Jesus calls true adoration.
- 17:47Correct. It becomes just a dry
- 17:48intellectual exercise, no living fire of affection.
- 17:52And Piper consistently argues this point.
- 17:54A person holding the truth about Jesus but lacking affections for
- 17:57God, awakened by that truth, is not truly adoring in spirit and
- 18:01truth. Now this isn't saying truth is
- 18:03secondary, not at all. Rather, it's saying truth must
- 18:05quicken the spirit. It must lead to that heartfelt
- 18:08response. And the reverse is also true.
- 18:09Right affections based on wrong ideas about God aren't genuine.
- 18:13Precisely. Affections built on false views
- 18:16of God or on a distorted picture of who Jesus is aren't genuine
- 18:20adoration either, no matter how fervent they might feel.
- 18:24Jesus commands both adoration in spirit and in truth.
- 18:27You can't have one without the other.
- 18:29Not for genuine life shaping adoration.
- 18:31The mind must grasp the truth of who God is in Christ, and the
- 18:35Spirit must be authentically, supernaturally moved by that
- 18:38truth, valuing God above everything else.
- 18:41This duality ensures adoration is both informed and heartfelt.
- 18:44Yes. OK, so we've really dug into how
- 18:46adoration is centered on Jesus, the new temple, and how it must
- 18:50be this authentic engagement of our quickened spirit with God's
- 18:52revealed truth. But what's really striking and
- 18:55maybe the most challenging part is how John Piper then extends
- 18:58this concept. He argues that all of life is
- 19:01adoration. Now that is a monumental shift
- 19:03from thinking of adoration is just a Sunday thing or something
- 19:07limited to formal religious services or even just private
- 19:11prayer times. What does this truly mean for
- 19:14our everyday existence, our work, our home life, art
- 19:17interactions, even our leisure time?
- 19:19How does all that fit into this expansive idea?
- 19:21Well, this vision truly implies that adoration applies to every
- 19:26single aspect of life, not just planned gatherings or moments of
- 19:30explicit devotion. Remember the heart of adoration
- 19:33as we've discussed lies in our minds true view of God the truth
- 19:36part and our spirits genuine affections for God the Spirit.
- 19:39Part right, the head and the heart aligned.
- 19:41Exactly when those two are In Sync, when we truly see God's
- 19:45glory and worth in Jesus for who He is, and our spirits are
- 19:48captivated by that reality, then all of life becomes a potential
- 19:52stage for adoration. This means whenever we display
- 19:55God's worth, maybe through words, maybe through actions
- 19:57that flow from a spirit holding Him as He truly is, we are
- 20:00adoring in spirit and truth. So that can happen anywhere.
- 20:03Anywhere at your workplace, in the quiet moments at home,
- 20:06during conversation with a neighbor, or yes, certainly at a
- 20:10gathering for adoration with other believers.
- 20:12The location or the specific activity doesn't define it or
- 20:16limit it. So if I'm sitting at my desk,
- 20:19say, designing software or maybe a parent doing chores at home,
- 20:23or even just enjoying a hobby, if my spirit is genuinely moved
- 20:27by God's truth in that moment and my actions or words, maybe
- 20:32even just my internal attitude, display His worth, that's
- 20:36adoration, Yes. Wow, that really expands the
- 20:39scope far beyond what many people, myself included,
- 20:42sometimes typically think of as worship or adoration.
- 20:44It does. It almost sounds like a
- 20:45continuous state of being, doesn't it?
- 20:47It really does. And it is, in a sense, a
- 20:49continuous, comprehensive orientation of 1's whole being.
- 20:52What truly matters, that we see God's glory in Jesus.
- 20:54That's the truth component, the objective reality of his
- 20:57infinite worth. And we treasure him a love all
- 21:00else. That's the spirit component, the
- 21:01subjective heartfelt response from this internal wellspring,
- 21:05from this treasuring part we then overflow into our daily
- 21:08lives. And a primary way this overflow
- 21:11shows itself as the material highlights is by treating others
- 21:14with self giving love for their good.
- 21:16Love for others is adoration. Yes, because think about it,
- 21:20this isn't just being moral or nice, it's an act of adoration.
- 21:23Because few things show God's beauty and His character more
- 21:26clearly than his people loving others sacrificially.
- 21:29It reflects his own love. So for those who truly follow
- 21:32Jesus, their entire existence from the mundane to the
- 21:35magnificent, from thought to deed, should take this form of
- 21:39adoration. It becomes a continuous outflow
- 21:41then, valuing God supremely and showing His value through our
- 21:44lives. That's the vision.
- 21:46This huge concept of all of life is adoration brings us to
- 21:49another really interesting idea. Piper unpacks the essential
- 21:53connection Jesus makes between adoring God and, well, aligning
- 21:57our lives with him. Our sources make a strong,
- 22:00almost surprising link between adoration and what's called
- 22:03acting for God. Or serving God in some
- 22:05translations. Right.
- 22:07It's not just a feeling or a thought.
- 22:08It's about action, about our daily conduct, the fundamental
- 22:11direction of our lives. How does Jesus illustrate this
- 22:14connection, especially when he was facing temptation?
- 22:18Yes, Jesus powerfully illustrates this in The
- 22:20Wilderness Temptation. Remember when Satan tried to get
- 22:24Jesus to adore him, tempted him to bow down and receive all the
- 22:27kingdoms of the world? Jesus responded with absolute
- 22:30clarity, quoting Deuteronomy. Be gone, Satan, for it is
- 22:34written, you shall adore the Lord your God, and him only
- 22:36shall you act for or serve. That's Matthew 4.10.
- 22:39Now traditionally acting for God or serving God was often tied to
- 22:44specific religious ministry in the temple, priests doing
- 22:47sacrifices, specific devotional duty.
- 22:49Right, very specific roles and actions.
- 22:52But with is presenting himself as the new temple, the ultimate
- 22:55meeting place with God, this action of adoration gets
- 22:58radically reframed. It moves beyond just specific
- 23:01religious duties or confined locations to something far more
- 23:03pervasive, something that includes all of life.
- 23:06So if acting for God isn't just about temple rituals or specific
- 23:10religious jobs anymore, what does this new kind of acting for
- 23:14God actually look like in practice according to Jesus?
- 23:18The sources cite? Matthew 6.24 is giving a really
- 23:21illuminating and frankly surprising insight here.
- 23:24It is surprising for many. What does that passage show us
- 23:27about how we truly act for God, and how does it challenge maybe
- 23:29our conventional ideas of service?
- 23:31Well, Matthew 6.24 provides this counterintuitive insight into
- 23:35what acting for God means for Jesus.
- 23:37He stated no one can act for 2 masters or serve 2 masters, for
- 23:42either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be
- 23:45devoted to the one and despise the other.
- 23:47You cannot act for God and money.
- 23:49Money or mammon? Right.
- 23:51And the context isn't just about avoiding greed in some abstract
- 23:54way. It's about exclusive devotion to
- 23:56a single master that controls your life.
- 23:58What's so fascinating is that acting for God is put right
- 24:01alongside acting for money. That's the real puzzle, isn't
- 24:05it? How does one act for money?
- 24:07Money doesn't have needs like a person does.
- 24:09It doesn't need our help or emotional support.
- 24:11It's not alive. Exactly.
- 24:13It's not about helping money or fulfilling its needs.
- 24:15It's about ordering your entire existence around its perceived
- 24:19worth and what it can provide for you.
- 24:22You act for money by holding it as such a cherished treasure
- 24:27that you arrange your whole life to benefit from what money can
- 24:30give you, whether that's security, pleasure, status,
- 24:33power. Money, in this analogy, becomes
- 24:36the driving force, the cherished treasure shaping your emotions,
- 24:40your will, your thoughts, your behavior.
- 24:42It becomes the ultimate value your life is built around and
- 24:45directed towards. You don't serve money's needs,
- 24:48you Orient your whole being towards it as your ultimate
- 24:51good. Precisely.
- 24:52So if that's what acting for money means, and that analogy
- 24:55reveals something very different about how we act for God and
- 24:58imply something far deeper than just performing religious duties
- 25:01or rendering him a service, as if God needed something from us.
- 25:05Exactly right. It clarifies that we don't
- 25:07assist God. We don't fulfill God's needs.
- 25:09God is infinite. He lacks nothing.
- 25:11In fact, Mark 10.45 tells us the Son of Man didn't come to be
- 25:15served, but to serve and give his life instead.
- 25:18We act for God by holding Him as such an infinitely cherished
- 25:22treasure that we arrange our entire life to benefit from what
- 25:25He and only He can provide for us.
- 25:28And that's the crucial difference from money, yes.
- 25:30What God can do for us, above all other pleasures, is to be
- 25:34everything we have ever truly longed for.
- 25:36He's the ultimate, inexhaustible fulfillment for all our deepest
- 25:40desires for joy, satisfaction, meaning, security.
- 25:44He is the treasure. That's a really significant
- 25:47thought. It completely reframes service
- 25:49and adoration. It's not about what we do for
- 25:51God, like fulfilling His needs, but what we do with our lives in
- 25:54response to Him being our greatest treasure, our ultimate
- 25:57fulfillment. So the ultimate consequence of
- 25:59redefining adoration and service this way is that all of life
- 26:02becomes this single, continuous act of adoration.
- 26:05Is that right? Therefore, yes, all of life is
- 26:06indeed acting for God. It signifies that every single
- 26:09decision, every pursuit, every interaction, every moment of
- 26:13work or rest is shaped by our deepest longing to maximize our
- 26:17experience of God's supreme worth in Jesus.
- 26:20That perspective means our daily routines, financial choices,
- 26:24relationships, career goals, everything becomes, in this
- 26:28sense, an act of adoration, either for God or for some other
- 26:33cherished treasure we've put in His place.
- 26:35It's a continuous, comprehensive orientation of 1's entire being
- 26:38towards whatever we value most. So it seems we really do come
- 26:42full circle. We end where we started, with
- 26:44this universal truth. Everyone directs their adoration
- 26:48towards something. Consciously or unconsciously, we
- 26:51all place supreme value on something that shapes our lives.
- 26:54It's inescapable. In an affordable part of being
- 26:56human, we're designed to adore, to build our lives around what
- 27:00we cherish most, to find our ultimate satisfaction and
- 27:03meaning in something. That's the inescapable reality
- 27:06this material confronts us with. Yes.
- 27:08And against that backdrop, Jesus issues this clear radical
- 27:12directive that every person in the world should align their
- 27:14life with God's infinite worth, as it's uniquely revealed in
- 27:17Jesus. Which immediately requires some
- 27:19genuine self-assessment from each of us listening.
- 27:21It does. What am I truly holding highest
- 27:24in my life? What really directs my thoughts,
- 27:26my affections, my decisions, my actions?
- 27:29What is the master I'm serving? The treasure.
- 27:31I'm living for it. Calls for a critical look at
- 27:34your own internal compass, doesn't it?
- 27:35Stripping away any illusions about what truly governs your
- 27:38life. And then it calls for a very
- 27:39specific response, not just agreeing intellectual.
- 27:41Well, far more than that. It's an invitation to ask Jesus
- 27:44himself to illuminate our understanding.
- 27:46Yeah, to help us genuinely see his glory and value, and
- 27:51crucially, to quicken our spirit so we truly hold him above all
- 27:54else. This changes life from just
- 27:57observing rules are doing outward religious things to
- 28:00living an existence that is fundamentally defined by our
- 28:03adoration of Him. It's an invitation to a radical
- 28:06reorientation of what gives life its deepest meaning and ultimate
- 28:09direction. This teaching, then, it really
- 28:12shifts the focus from external compliance to a profound
- 28:16internal affection and a whole new vision of reality.
- 28:19The command is to build your entire life around the infinite
- 28:22worth of God in Jesus, allowing that supreme value to shape
- 28:25every aspect of your being and your doing.
- 28:28Living as though God in Christ truly is your greatest treasure.
- 28:32Your highest. Good.
- 28:33Your deepest satisfaction. Yes.
- 28:35It's not just a Sunday sermon idea.
- 28:37It's a blueprint for total life reorientation, an invitation to
- 28:42constantly, consciously realign our affections with the glory of
- 28:46God. This has been a deep dive into
- 28:47the true nature of adoration, how Jesus completely reframed it
- 28:51for his followers, and what that means for your entire life.
- 28:55It's not about where you adore some distant mountain or
- 28:57historic temple, but fundamentally how in spirit and
- 29:01in truth. And above all, whom Jesus
- 29:03himself our ultimate access to the Father.
- 29:07As you think about this deep dive, consider those radical
- 29:09implications of Jesus taking the place of the temple.
- 29:11If he truly is the new and living meeting place with God,
- 29:15if access to the divine is now found in his person and his
- 29:18work, what's the next logical step for you in your
- 29:21understanding of how you approach God?
- 29:23How might this reality reshape your daily habits of seeking
- 29:26Him, relating to Him? Yeah, that's right.
- 29:28This material really calls for more than just nodding along to
- 29:31a theological concept. It prompts a deep rearrangement
- 29:34of our affections, the very orientation of our lives.
- 29:38That's a powerful thought to hold onto and really wrestle
- 29:40with. We hope this deep dive is giving
- 29:42you a fresh perspective, maybe a pathway to a richer, fuller
- 29:45understanding of adoration and understanding that extends into
- 29:48every corner of your life. Until next time, keeps seeking
- 29:51His worth.