God Beyond Religion: Worshipping in Spirit and in Truth

Gen 1:2  “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

John 4:23-24  “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.  (24)  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

 

What is the nature of the creative source, God? According to Jesus and the author of Genesis, the creative source, God is Spirit. In Genesis the Hebrew word translated as spirit is ruach and it means the sacred breath. It is the source of life, or in other words, the life-giving breath. It is the breath, wind that produces material substance. So then, according to Jesus and the author of Genesis God is Spirit. What is the nature of breath and wind? It is movement of air, but it cannot be seen. It can only be seen by its effects. For example, on a cold winter day in Michigan, one can see the breath when the warmness of the air meets with the cold air temperatures, and it is visible as moving steam. Or, at a birthday party, when the honoree blows out the candle one can see the movement of the flame until it goes out and then one can see it move the remaining smoke. Likewise, if one is outside on a windy day, one can see the leaves move on the trees as a result of the unseen wind, or if one is in an arid place once can see the dust blow around by virtue of the wind. However, one cannot really see the breath or the wind as it is first and foremost an invisible force.

 

Let’s see what other religious traditions say about the nature of God. “The Tao that can be understood is not the eternal, cosmic Tao, just as an idea that can be expressed in words is the source of all spirit and matter; expressing itself, it is the mother of all created things.  Not to desire material things is to know the freedom of spirituality; and to desire them is to suffer the limitations of matter.  Yet these two things, matter and spirit, so different in nature, have the same origin.  This unity is the mystery of mysteries, and the gateway to spirituality.”  ~Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching.  Ancient Renewal. Kindle Edition. Here you have Lao Tzu, in 500 BCE stating that the source of all creation is both spiritually and materially is the Tao, expressing itself. "The Spirit of the perennial spring is said to be immortal. She is called the Mysterious One.  The Mysterious One is the source of the universe. She is continually, endlessly giving forth life, without effort." ~Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching . Ancient Renewal. Kindle Edition. Here you have Lao Tzu stating that the Tao is ever creating spiritually, and this is stated in the Hermetica as well, quoted below. 

 

Turning to the Hermetica, an ancient Egyptian writing from at least 5,000 BCE, or over 7,000 years ago stating this. Here is an excerpt from the book by Tim Freke and Peter Gandy entitled “The Hermetica, the Wisdom of the Ancient Pharoahs.” “God is Oneness. Everything is a part of one Supreme Being. Like the number one, which is the source of all subsequent numbers, God is the source of all. Yet just as when the number one is divided or multiplied by itself it remains one, so God constantly remains the Oneness. Because he unites every thing, his nature is paradoxical. He is the creator who creates himself. He is always hidden from us, yet he is also the world around us. He has no particular name, because all names refer to him. God is the Supreme Mind. He is everywhere and always. The human mind is an image of the Supreme Mind. Through the power of the imagination it can roam the universe and be, like God, in all times and all places. Hermes tells us that if we truly understood the extraordinary power of the human mind, we would then know the nature of God. Everything exists as an idea within the Mind of God. He creates all things, in the same way that our own minds create thoughts. Just as the nature of mind is to think, so the nature of God is to create. This is not something he did at the beginning of time. He is doing it continuously. God is 'constantly creating creation', and will never stop.” The Hermetica, the Wisdom of the Ancient Pharaohs, Freke Tim, Freke Publishing page 31. 

In the chapter cited here you can find the actual writings of Hermes on this subject but it is too long to insert here. It is found in the chapter III “The Being of Atum.” Atum is the name that Hermes gave the one supreme creative source of all that is. Further, in the Egyptian tradition Hermes is really the Egyptian Thoth. The point here is that even religions that are accused of polytheism have one supreme creative source. All point to the fact that this one supreme creative source is a parent, is spirit and is absolute truth. One of two things are true here. Either Jesus and Lao Tzu received mystical revelation about the nature of God or they were familiar with the Hermetica. I personally believe, they received mystical revelation.